EXCLUSIVE | Louis Smolka on Conor McGregor: ‘He’s made media and promoting another skillset’ for fighters

If it wasn’t enough with training in the various aspects of mixed martial arts, leave it up to Conor McGregor to up the game by adding the marketing of one’s self to be a highly successful MMA fighter.

This is how UFC flyweight Louis Smolka sees it, and with the way Conor McGregor has taken the UFC by storm, it’s hard to deny.

Smolka set some time aside on Wednesday from training for his UFC 207 fight scheduled against Ray Borg to speak with BJPenn.com Radio host, “Kinch” and praised “The Notorious” for his work ethic as he has seen that it is no simple matter to build up fights in the way McGregor has.

“Honestly, you know I tried to talk a bit for my last fight and do the trash talk and stuff,” Smolka said. “Man, I can’t even imagine the amount of time this guy spends rehearsing and thinking up his lines and plotting what he’s gonna say and stuff. On top of all the media coaching and keeping that persona and stuff, on top of all the work that it takes to be a fighter, I can’t even imagine how hard this guy works.”

With the various martial arts disciplines that one has to work on to be a well-rounded fighter, Conor McGregor has shown that bringing the mental aspect to the game with building up fights coupled with impressive performances in the Octagon equate to big dollars. In addition to the drilling, sparring, techniques and conditioning, a polarizing persona that will get people to either love or hate you is something a fighter should possess to get to the top of the game like “The Notorious.”

“Props to him you know,” Smolka said of McGregor. “I feel like he’s made media and promoting like another skillset, another attribute, like another niche in your resume and props to him for working on it.”

Louis Smolka is set to fight Ray Borg at UFC 207 on December 30 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Who are you picking to win? Sound off in the comment section Penn Nation!