3 Business Lessons From The Floyd Mayweather/Conor McGregor Fight

Can you really learn 3 business lessons from watching the Floyd Mayweather/Conor McGregor fight?

Yes, indeed!

Actually, you can go back to when the rumors of this fight first started, and make a complete case study out of this.

There has been A LOT of hype leading up to this fight.  In fact, at times it became an out-and-out circus, which many believed disrespected the sport itself.

Be that as it may, it has been one of the most talked about sporting events of recent times.

Here are 3 business lessons from the Floyd Mayweather/Conor McGregor fight I have been contemplating:

Business Lesson #1:  You Don’t Get Big Rewards By Staying Inside Your Comfort Zone

It is human nature to want to stay inside your comfort zone.

I get it.

I do it too.

In fact, I am sure both Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather like to stay within their comfort zones as well.  Like I said, it is human nature.  However, if you ONLY stay within your comfort zone, you are not likely to get your unfair share of rewards.

In this fight, both Mayweather and McGregor went well outside their comfort zones.

Floyd Mayweather had been sitting atop the box world as a king of the sport.  He had forty-nine fights in which he went undefeated.  His entire professional career, he never lost.  He hadn’t fought in two years. Floyd Mayweather had gone out on top.  However, he went out at 49-0, missing that benchmark of fifty wins without a single defeat.  He stated the only way he would come out of retirement was to face Conor McGregor, a mixed martial arts beast.

McGregor is twelve years younger, taller, and bigger than Mayweather.  McGregor has a two-inch longer reach, as well.  In fact, the only column in which Mayweather has the advantage is in their net worths…McGregor is worth $22 million and Mayweather is worth $650 million (both estimated through CBS Sports).

Conor McGregor is in his prime, and sits atop the Ultimate Fighting Championship as one of the greatest MMA (mixed martial arts) fighters of all time.  He has won multiple titles.  He has won 17 of his last 18 matches.  McGregor once knocked out an opponent in the first 3.5 seconds of a fight.  He earned $3 million dollars in his most recent MMA fight.  But here is the catch…he did all this in MMA, not boxing.

So why would Conor McGregor agree to a boxing match (not an MMA match) with one of the greatest boxers of all times?

Why would Floyd Mayweather agree to step in the ring with an opponent who has incredible knock out power, is younger, and bigger than he is?

The Big Reward.

For both of these athletes, by stepping out of their comfort zones, they have the opportunity for HUGE rewards.  There is a lot on the line as far as their professional careers, and egos go.  However, both fighters regardless of outcome will know 2 things:

1)  They both overcame extreme odds and have cultivated the spirit of a true champion.

2)  They both will make an incredible payday.

It is estimated that Floyd Mayweather will make at least $100 million for this fight, whether he wins or loses.  McGregor will make at least $30 million, regardless of the outcome.  This is ten times the amount he made on his last fight.

I would call that a pretty damn big reward!

Business Lesson #2:  If You Are Going To Be an Entrepreneur, You Need To Excel At Self Promotion

 

As I mentioned in the beginning of this post, there has been a ton of hype around this fight.  A big part of that hype has come from the two competitors themselves.  A lot has changed in the way these fights are promoted, which has changed how much each fighter earns over the past few years.  By taking an entrepreneurial stance, both Mayweather and McGregor were able to negotiate much larger payouts for themselves.  In fact, both fighters actually started their own promotion companies so they could create multiple streams of income from the fight.

Since their paydays for this fight is centered on how many people bought tickets, or purchased the Pay Per View through Showtime, it only makes sense that they would both be doing a hell of a lot of self promotion.

It is bigger than just the payday for this one fight however.

Floyd Mayweather has a huge following of boxing fans.

Conor McGregor has a huge following of MMA fans.

However, just because you are a fan of one sport, doesn’t mean you automatically like the other.  By strategically crossing over the two sports, both fighters have the opportunity to increase their fan base.  By doing so, they create the opportunity for their promotions companies to create footholds in both sports, and thus ensuring they will continue to earn well after they retire from fighting.

Business Lesson #3:  You Have To Believe In Yourself, Even If No One Else Does

Let’s face it…both Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor believed they were the better fighter.  One of them must be wrong (unless the match was called a draw, but that wasn’t the outcome).

They both thought they had what it took to beat the other in the ring.

If Mayweather thought he would lose, he wouldn’t risk coming out of retirement after having never lost a fight.

McGregor on the other hand, would not have talked as much trash as he did if he truly didn’t believe he had what it would take to knock out Mayweather, and come out on top.

On top of that, you have millions of fans on both sides, literally berating the other camp’s fighter.  A brief scroll of any social media site would show the deep seated believe by the fans that “their” fighter was the better option.

Both Mayweather and McGregor were aware of this, of course.  They both had to fight off the uncertainty and self doubt that type of criticism must create.

Ultimately, they both must believe they are the best of the best.  If not, they would have beaten themselves before they even stepped in the ring.

This holds true in business as well.  If you don’t believe in your product, service, company, and ultimately your own skills, you will never make it to the top of your field.  You have to believe that you are capable of greatness, even if no one else does, because that is the only way to prove your naysayers wrong.

These are just 3 of the business lessons from the Floyd Mayweather/Conor McGregor fight that I will be spending some time contemplating.  What other business lessons did you come up with?