Poll: Ireland’s favourite male sports personality
The Phillip Lee Sport Report, which surveyed 1,000 adults aged 16 to 75 online in October 2016, names McGregor as Ireland’s favourite sports’ personality. Former Ireland and Munster player Paul O’Connell ties McGregor as the country’s most popular male sports personality. The report found Katie Taylor to be Ireland’s most popular female sports personality, coming ahead of Sonia O’Sullivan, Cora Staunton, Annalise Murphy and Dearbhal O’Rourke.
Named most marketable Irish person for 2017
McGregor is named the most marketable Irish person for 2017, beating 2016’s number one Paul O’Connell who now lies in second place after his rugby retirement. Robbie Henshaw is third, followed by Katie Taylor. On McGregor’s success, the company that ran the survey says:
I think it’s ultimately down to momentum, a lot of brands try to align themselves with where there is momentum. They want to be associated with success.
McGregor, Rousey biggest part of 2016 record UFC PPV views
McGregor and Rousey drew the biggest pay-per-view buys in a record year for the UFC. Approximately 8,370,000 buys were sold on 13 shows in 2016, an all-time record average of 644,000 buys per show. This compares with 550,000 average per show in 2015 and 265,000 in 2014. Most shows were small but McGregor, Rousey, and UFC 200 did one million buys plus. With Rousey’s future undetermined, and McGregor taking a break, the outlook for 2017 is weak.
Garret knocks out Heron in 1.13 seconds
Garrett records the world’s fastest knockout, with a head kick that flattens Heron in 1.13 seconds.
Named one of Forbes ‘30 under 30 Europe’
McGregor is named in Forbes’ 30 under 30 in Europe list. Forbes:
Known for his aggressive fighting style, this versatile mixed martial arts fighter has both lightweight and featherweight championships under his belt. And The Notorious, as he’s known, is making money with every punch: A single fight in August earned him a $3 million purse.
SI.com’s MMA Fighter Of The Year
McGregor is awarded SI.com’s MMA Fighter Of The Year.
Entering 2016, McGregor was established as the brightest star in the sport, and by the end of the year he was the sport as he transcended into the mainstream and earned S.comI’s MMA fighter of the year award. His pursuit of two titles was a storyline that played out over nearly the whole calendar year and transfixed fans. He headlined the biggest event in the sport’s history with one of its most iconic moments. Even though he was temporarily sidetracked from his ultimate goal by Nate Diaz, he smashed pay-per-view records in every one of his fights…In pop culture, McGregor made appearances on late night television shows like Conan and garnered a role in the forthcoming season of Game of Thrones. He played a character in the latest Call of Duty game. He was tapped for a role in the new xXx movie before pulling out to focus on the Diaz rematch. His trademark strut has become iconic in sports with world-class athletes around the globe mimicking the champion. Cristiano Ronaldo went and trained with McGregor in Las Vegas and McGregor went to Jennifer Lopez’s birthday party.
GQ: McGregor fourth best dressed man of the year
GQ Magazine names McGregor as the fourth the best dressed men of 2016. The list was compiled by Giorgio Armani, Sarah Burton, Tom Ford, Elton John, Paul Smith and Vivienne Westwood. Drake beats lat year’s winner, Eddie Redmayne, to the top of the chart. McGregor:
There are two things I really like to do and that’s whoop ass and look good.
Third place in CBS ‘Fighter of Year’ awards
CBS Sports gives McGregor third place in its UFC Fighter of the Year award.
Now, before you start throwing stones, please remember that McGregor is the only fighter on this list to even suffer a loss in 2016. The Irishman continues to do some of the craziest things in the sport, bringing in more fans than any other fighter. McGregor fought twice at 25 pounds above his original weightclass. People questioned McGregor’s decision to take on Diaz at 170 pounds originally in March and those calls got louder after he lost via submission. But when he came back in August and earned a majority decision win, as has been the case throughout his UFC career, Conor got the last laugh.
First place goes to heavyweight Stipe Miocic.
ESPN.com fighter of the year
ESPN.com awards Frampton “Fighter of the year”:
No other fighter in 2016 scored such an impressive combination of victories in high-profile bouts against elite opponents — in multiple divisions, on the road — with one of them a contender for fight of the year.
Frampton:
It’s been a great year for myself. I’ve fought on the road twice against two good fighters. The biggest win for me was the Leo Santa Cruz fight. He was a three-weight world champion and most of the press and bookies picked him to win. You can see the difference in how I reacted at the end of both fights. I knew I was a better fighter than Quigg, but the Santa Cruz victory was the one I got more pleasure from. Being even considered as a fighter of the year is a huge honor for me and very humbling. But the thing is, I’m kicking off 2017 with a bang and it has the potential to be even better than ’16.
Knockout of the Year nomination
McGregor’s four punch combination knockout of Eddie Alvarez that secured his second UFC title last month in New York is nominated as one of four candidates for UFC Knockout of the Year. The other nominees are Stipe Miocic, Fabricio Werdum, Paige VanZant and Bec Rawlings.
Rolling Stone’s UFC Fighter of the Year
Bising is awarded Rolling Stone’s UFC Fighter of the Year. The magazine:
Bisping is one of the longest-tenured fighters on the UFC roster. He debuted in June 2006 after winning Season 3 of The Ultimate Fighter reality series and, since then, it’s been a roller coaster of triumphant highs and forgettable lows. After all the ups and downs, Bisping seemed destined to end his career as a high-quality fighter with a polarizing personality who could never quite reach the pinnacle of the sport. Then 2016 came along, and his 10th year in the UFC ended up as his best.
Named RTÉ Sport Sportsperson of the Year
McGregor is awarded RTÉ Sport Sportsperson of the Year. As part of the show McGregor talks in a video about his success, and about fighting Floyd Mayweather.
I can go now and conquer the boxing scene. That’s a very serious thought and a very serious conversation that is happening. I certainly don’t need him (Mayweather). I pick some local schmuck and still do big numbers. Of course the Floyd fight is the fight the public want to see. It’s the fight we all want to happen.
Conor McGregor talks to Clare McNamara after a year which he call the 'culmination of his life's work'. https://t.co/0AY8QPqGyu
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) December 17, 2016
Ireland’s Most Admired Sports Star of 2016
McGregor is named ‘Most Admired Sports Star’ in Ignite Research’s ‘Sports Sentiment Index’ getting 16% of the vote. Katie Taylor takes second place, with 14%. From a sample of 1,000 adults aged 18 to 65, one in every three aged 18 to 34 say McGregor is the Irish sportsperson they admired most. McGregor beating Alvarez is the second most memorable moment, and McGregor winning two belts is voted the third greatest sporting achievement of the year.
GQ’s ‘Most Stylish Man of the Year’ nomination
McGregor is nominated as a contestant in GQ Magazine’s ‘Most Stylish Man of the Year’. The contest is in the form of a tournament bracket, with 64 contestants. McGregor’s first round match-up is against comedian Kevin Hart. If he wins, McGregor will face the winner of Drake and DJ Khaled in the second round. Voting is here.
Both men here are known for putting stitches in people (that is, the literal kind and the ROFL kind). When it comes to their personal style, both have displayed a level of fearlessness that should be commended. Hart prides himself on his humble attitude and dedication to fitness, while McGregor is a braggadocios cage fighter with a dedication to not giving a damn what anyone thinks. (The man wears fur coats like the rest of us wear peacoats.) Where Hart makes up ground is with his Nike deal, which allowed him to design and release his own sneaker in 2016.
147th ranked in sport and entertainment world
McGregor places 147th in Fansided.com’s annual Fandom250 list, which charts the fanbases of some of the most famous names across the world of sports and entertainment. McGregor is the highest mixed martial artist to be included, ahead of Brock Lesnar (214) and Ronda Rousey (230). He is the eleventh ranked sports star on the planet, with only the likes of LeBron James, Lionel Messi and Muhammad Ali above him. Fansided:
Conor McGregor has the most loyal and faithful fans in combat sports. As Mark Wahlberg put it, the UFC’s reigning lightweight champion has become “the face of the UFC,” and that’s largely due to his signature trash-talking, over the top fashion sense and natural charisma.
Donald Trump: Time’s ‘Person of the Year’
Trump is Time Magazine’s Person of the Year. In the article, Trump talks about his position as president elect:
What amazes a lot of people is that I’m sitting in an apartment the likes of which nobody’s ever seen. And yet I represent the workers of the world. I’m representing them, and they love me and I love them. And here we sit, in very different circumstances.
He talks about seeing a news story on NBC about the Carrier plant featuring a union representative and a plant worker talking in a bar.
[The man looked at the camera and said] ‘We want you to do what you said you were going to do.’ I said, I never said they weren’t going to move, to myself…He energized me, that man. And I called up the head of United Technologies.
He also talks about young illegal immigrants:
We’re going to work something out that’s going to make people happy and proud. They got brought here at a very young age, they’ve worked here, they’ve gone to school here. Some were good students. Some have wonderful jobs. And they’re in never-never land because they don’t know what’s going to happen.
Nominated for RTÉ Sportsperson of the year
Frampton makes the shortlist for the RTÉ Sportsperson of the Year. Other sportspeople shortlisted include UFC fighter Conor McGregor, rugby player Jamie Heaslip, and Olympic rowing medalist Paul O’Donovan. The winner is determined by fans, who can vote for Frampton by texting ‘E’ to 53125 (Ire & NI only), or by voting online here. Voting closes Monday 12 December at 10am with the winner announced live on Saturday 17 December. The award ceremony will be screened the same day at 9pm.
Nominated for RTÉ Sportsperson of the year
McGregor makes the shortlist for the RTÉ Sportsperson of the Year. Other sportspeople shortlisted include rugby player Jamie Heaslip, boxer Carl Frampton and Olympic rowing medalist Paul O’Donovan. The winner is determined by fans, who can vote for McGregor by texting ‘I’ to 53125 (Ire & NI only), or by voting online here. Voting closes Monday 12 December at 10am with the winner announced live on Saturday 17 December. The award ceremony will be screened the same day at 9pm.
Passes three million monthly page views
Newslines passes three million monthly page views for November 2016, beating the previous record of 2.6 million in August 2016.
UFC 205 generated 14 Billion social media impressions
UFC 205 generated 14 Billion social media impressions, which consist of Facebook likes, Twitter interactions and Instagram shares. By comparison the most recent Superbowl achieved 4.3 billion impressions. While the Euro’s in France earlier this year earned 3 billion.
