5 UFC fighters who can be as popular as Conor McGregor

#1 Khabib Nurmagomedov

Love him or hate him, there’s no way you can ignore his presence on the scene

This is a relatively counter intuitive choice to compare with Mcgregor but the fact remains, we have still seen very little of Khabib.

I say this not because he has not been tested against elite competition which he has (RDA and Michael Johnson) but to say that he has wiped out the division would be a joke.

He needs the elite competition to bring out the best in him and the Tony Ferguson fight would be the perfect test for him. On the other hand, it is not just about fighting when it comes to bringing in the big numbers.

For the American audience, Khabib is the perfect heel as a Russian, orthodox Muslim fighter who stays true to his faith, even going so far as to not train or fight during Ramadan and is quick to snap when his faith is brought in discussion.

As much as it is a pipe dream for now, if Khabib manages to steam roll through Mcgregor as he did through Johnson, he could easily replace McGregor as the international MMA star who represents the sport.

A possibility that I see manifesting with a very high probability, especially given the sheer population of Russia.