UFC superstar Conor McGregor answers questions about Call of Duty
UFC superstar and current featherweight champion Conor McGregor is known for dominating in the Octagon. He is on the cover of the EA Sports UFC 2 video game and will also appear in Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, which is set to release next month. FanSided had a chance to speak with the champ and picked his brain about the popular franchise.
Conor McGregor and the Call of Duty video game franchise have a couple of key things in common. One of them is that they’re both champions. McGregor is currently the UFC featherweight champion. On the gaming industry side, Call of Duty has received numerous Game of the Year awards across several iterations.
The other thing McGregor and COD have in common is they’re both record setters. In his fight at UFC 202 against Nate Diaz, the record for highest selling pay-per-view in UFC history was broken with 1.65 million buys. Conor also holds the record for fastest title victory in UFC history — he defeated Jose Aldo in 13 seconds at UFC 194. This is why he’s generally viewed to be the face of the UFC.
Call of Duty has also been the face of the first-person shooter genre in the gaming industry for nearly a decade. It has also set many sales records. The franchise’s most recent installment, Black Ops III, set a record with $550 million in sales for the first three days of its launch. This gave Activision, publisher of the popular game, the biggest entertainment launch of 2015. It even beat out the box office’s Jurassic World and its opening weekend. Black Ops III also set a record in customer engagement where players logged over 75 million online hours in the game’s first three days.
McGregor’s involvement with video games is already established as he is the featured male cover athlete on EA Sports UFC 2. However, that appearance is an obvious one that anyone could have guessed. His next involvement will take place in the latest Call of Duty iteration, scheduled to release on Nov. 4: Infinite Warfare. He will appear in the game as the main story’s protagonist facing off against actor Kit Harington. Harington is best known for his role as Jon Snow on the HBO hit series Game of Thrones.
FanSided caught up with the UFC icon and interviewed him regarding his role in the latest COD. Here is what “The Notorious” had to say.
LOS ANGELES, CA – JUNE 15: Treyarch’s Game Designer Director, David Vonderhaar introduces ‘Call of Duty Black Ops 2’ during the Sony E3 press conference at the L.A. Memorial Sports Arena on June 15, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. The Sony press conference is held in conjunction with the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) which focuses on gaming systems and interactive entertainment, featuring introductions to new products and technologies. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
How long have you been a fan of the game and what is it about the game that you love?
“You know, I was actually obsessed with this game. Call of Duty: Black Ops … when that came out I was in an apartment with my girlfriend and I would literally be up all night. She would wake up at 6:40 a.m. to go to work and I’d still be up playing the game. When she would wake up, I knew it was time to go to bed and not go on any longer. I would go to sleep and when she came back from work, I knew it was time to get up. I would go training for two hours and then come back and play again until 6:40 a.m. This was the process that went on for a long while and I was actually hooked on the game. So when the opportunity presented itself for me to be in the game, I was all over it.”
Based on the astonishing online hours logged by the Call of Duty franchise, it shouldn’t be a shocker that McGregor was a part of it. He’s far from the first athlete that loves and embraces his love for video games. Conor also mentioned that he grew up playing games including Grand Theft Auto, Metal Gear Solid and a few soccer titles. However, the two franchises that he truly loves are Call of Duty and obviously the UFC games.
McGregor added: “Those were the two that we were really obsessed with and now we’re involved in them. It’s really been a crazy ride.” It definitely has been a crazy ride for the Dublin native who is not only the face of the UFC, but will also be the face of one of the greatest video game franchises in history.
NEW YORK, NY – SEPTEMBER 27: Conor McGregor addresses the media at the UFC 205 press conference at The Theater at Madison Square Garden on September 27, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Do you still play, and if so do you play online under a secret name?
“No, I haven’t played in a long time. You know … the fight game started to take over and before I signed with UFC, it was all about training and chilling. Now there’s like a million other things so I’ve kind of been taken away from actually playing the game. But when I’m in the game, I’ll certainly have a chat open and play in a few games. I just have to be very tactical with my time and there’s a lot going on so, but I look forward to playing the game.”
McGregor’s MMA career was only two years old when the original Call of Duty: Black Ops came out in 2010. He was an up-and-coming star in the Cage Warriors Fighting Championship based out of Great Britain. During his time there, he captured the featherweight and lightweight championships. It made him the first European MMA fighter to be a champion in two divisions simultaneously.
His UFC career didn’t start until 2013 so perhaps he got to enjoy Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Call of Duty: Black Ops II before his career took off. Unfortunately, it’s more than likely that he missed out on Call of Duty: Ghosts, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and Call of Duty: Black Ops III. Therefore, Conor’s COD skills may be a bit rusty when he decides to jump into what developer Infinity Ward has in store for everyone with Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare.
Luckily, McGregor will get to take part in the beta is currently open to PS4 owners and will be available for Xbox ONE on October 21.
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (screenshot)
You’ll be playing the beta version with the fans, what are you looking forward to when it comes to interacting with the fans? Also, do you plan on trash talking?
“I mean … taking them all out one by one. That’s what the game’s about, right!? Just having fun playing the game and happy to be in it. So that’s what I’m looking forward … just fun and games.”
This answer should come as no surprise from McGregor. He’s a fiery competitor that will take on anyone. He will attempt to make history on Nov. 12 at UFC 205 against Nate Diaz. The bout will be for Diaz’s Lightweight championship. If Conor wins, then it will make him the first UFC athlete to hold a belt in two divisions simultaneously. The downside to this amazing achievement would be that McGregor has to give up one of the titles. He will not be allowed to compete holding both.
There is sure to be plenty of trash talk from McGregor leading up to the fight. He’s known just as much for his sharp tongue as he is for his fists. When asked about his intent to trash talk during the beta, Conor responded with, “I’m sure it will come up. I’m sure we will.”
Additional information was provided by a representative for the event. FanSided learned that there will be a big-time Call of Duty YouTuber that will sit on a couch with Conor. Both of them will then participate in a side-by-side chat. Chat with all of the fans will be disabled in order to prevent everyone from talking McGregor’s ear off.
The fans may be spared from him. However, the YouTuber may get the full brunt of the notorious McGregor trash talk.
LAS VEGAS, NV – AUGUST 20: Conor McGregor waits for the start of his welterweight rematch against Nate Diaz at the UFC 202 event at T-Mobile Arena on August 20, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. McGregor won by majority decision. (Photo by Steve Marcus/Getty Images)
Was it hard to film scenes in an essentially empty room?
“You know, it felt alright to be honest. They directed me well. They said they wanted something and I tried to do the best I could. The acting game freaks me the f*** out, to be honest. This one didn’t feel like that. It felt like it was planned. I’d go over and have to kick this guy in the head or grab him by the neck. It didn’t feel weird. Sometimes they try to get me to do these things that feel weird to me, but this one didn’t.”
McGregor concluded his answer with, “Maybe it was because I was in the suit and I knew it was going to be in game form. I just felt more relaxed and enjoyed it. Usually in those situations, it’s not the most enjoyable, but I actually really enjoyed this one. I’d like to actually see the game and hopefully get the game and open it up. I’ve seen clips of the scenes, but I’d like the see the whole thing.”
For someone has seemingly fearless as McGregor is, it’s interesting that he has a bit of fear when it comes to acting. However, he more than deserves a pass for it since all of his success has come from being his natural and polarizing self.
Iconic Call of Duty characters such as Captain Price, “Soap” and Viktor Reznov have “take no prisoner” mentalities just like McGregor. As the protagonist in the upcoming game, the odds are in his favor to deliver an epic performance. It could even lead to future appearances for him in the celebrated franchise.
NEW YORK, NY – SEPTEMBER 27: UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor poses for a picture during the UFC 205 press event at Madison Square Garden on September 27, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Brandon Magnus/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Will we see your character in future games?
“I hope so. We’ll see, but who knows. I’d certainly be up for that 100 percent and I would like that. We’re hoping for good numbers on this one. There’s already numbers of what the previous game has done so there’s a benchmark there. There’s records to broken and when there are records to be broken, then I get excited.”
It seems like the Call of Duty franchise breaks some sort of sales record every year. Despite their current pre-order numbers trailing behind Black Ops III, there is still a lot of confidence for Infinite Warfare’s success. McGregor is one of those people that has a lot of confidence and it shows in his following comments:
“All you have to do is look at the game. When they take your around the office of Call of Duty, you see that it’s not some small town thing. This is bigger than anything I’ve ever been involved in. It’s bigger than Hollywood.”
He finished his comments by saying, “It’s a great time to be a part of it. Hopefully it will do good. I believe..in fact I know it will be good. I know that it will smash the previous year’s record of the last game. So we’ll see…we’ll go from there.”
Unless the Call of Duty franchise and Conor McGregor both fall into a sudden void of obscurity, they are both poised for success to finish the year. This should lead to an inevitable reunion in about three years when the second installment of Infinite Warfare could potentially release.
The future is more than bright for Conor McGregor and the Call of Duty franchise. We should expect to hear about more great things from them for years to come.
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