There’s no doubt that former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion Conor McGregor is the biggest star the promotion has ever seen. McGregor holds several UFC pay-per-view records, historical feats, and has broken down barriers for mixed martial artists. He and Floyd Mayweather Jr. made history when they boxed one another last year in a huge circus act of an event.

Over the years, McGregor has become one of the biggest stars in all of sports. He has inspired a new generation of fighters which involves a more brash style of promotion, such as trash-talking. While not all might agree with the Irishman’s promotional tactics, some consider him to be a “genius.” One of those fighters is UFC strawweight competitor Paige VanZant.

Speaking to Balls.ie, VanZant put over McGregor for making himself the biggest star the UFC has ever seen:

“With Conor, people have either mixed feelings; they either love him or they hate him and that’s why he’s a genius,” Paige VanZant said. “He made himself notorious…

“There are a lot of UFC fighters who have way more wins than him but he was so intelligent, he was able to brand himself the way he did. He made the media work for him rather than him work for the media.”