Conor McGregor‘s popularity eclipses every other mixed martial artist in the world. This is a bit surprising given that purely in terms of his skills, ability, and record, about a dozen fighters are ahead of the bombastic Irishman. However, not many non-UFC fans are actually aware of why this is, including stand-up comic and talk show host Bill Maher.

The comic had UFC legend Chuck Liddell on his ‘Club Random’ podcast on YouTube, where he asked the former UFC light heavyweight champion the reasons behind McGregor’s unprecedented popularity.

Chuck Liddell explains why Conor McGregor is so popular

Bill Maher asked Chuck Liddell why Conor McGregor was more popular than any other UFC fighters. Liddell felt it was a function of various factors and skills possessed by the former two-division champion that led to his popularity. He felt McGregor’s loud, bombastic personality, exciting striking-first style of fighting, and knocking out opponents such as Jose Aldo in spectacular fashion combined with the UFC’s marketing prowess made ‘Notorious’ the most popular fighter in the history of the sport.

“He’s a smaller weight class. Marketing, he was exciting, he won when he needed to, he won excitingly, knocked guys out. He had a personality, and he was pushing it. And he got huge. He beat some bad guys… he beat [Jose Aldo], knocked him out in the first round. Conor got him mad talking trash before the fight, he ran right across the ring, got knocked out,” he told Maher.

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Liddell felt that the Dubliner’s penchant for spectacle and his trash talk are also important factors behind his popularity. McGregor’s 13-second knockout of Aldo was made possible because of him having goaded the Brazilian to rush him due to his trash talk leading up to the fight.

McGregor’s UFC 229 fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2018 is, to this day, the most commercially successful MMA event in the history of the sport. ‘Mac’s acrimonious trash talk, where he insulted ‘The Eagle’s family, ethnicity, country and religion was a major factor behind its success. As uncertainty looms over his return to the octagon after over two years of inactivity, McGregor is looking to cash in a huge paycheck.

McGregor reiterates desire for Manny Pacquiao boxing match

Conor McGregor was in Saudi Arabia to attend the ‘Day of Reckoning’ boxing card on December 23 that featured boxing superstars like former heavyweight champions Anthony Joshua, Deontay Wilder (who lost to Joseph Parker in a massive upset), as well as the likes of Dmitry Bivol, and Daniel Dubois. In interviews given at the event, the Irishman reiterated calls for a boxing match against boxing legend Manny Pacquiao in Saudi Arabia. Although the Filipino and McGregor were involved in a lawsuit which Pacquiao lost and has to pay up $8 million, they were spotted sitting across each other in Saudi a few months ago.

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“The Mac has lots to offer and loads to deliver. They are talking Manny here in Saudi. The lads in the UFC aren’t really talking any,” he told talkSPORT. It is easy to see why ‘Mac’ would want to fight a retired Pacquiao: the money. ‘Notorious’s biggest payday of his career came when he fought Floyd Mayweather in their 2018 crossover boxing super-fight. Would you be interested in watching McGregor take on Pacquiao in a boxing match?

Watch This Story: Conor McGregor Beefs With Nate Diaz, Dustin Poirier, Joe Rogan & Tony Ferguson On The Same Day