A little over two months ago, Nick Langton, the chief executive of mixed-martial arts (MMA) training company Alta Global, couldn’t stop talking about his new signing.
In a stock-exchange filing on September 9th, the company said it was “thrilled to announce a partnership with Conor McGregor”, which it said “envisions McGregor eventually becoming a significant stakeholder in the company, further solidifying Alta’s influence in the MMA community”.
Langton cited McGregor’s “pivotal” role and how his “involvement is a game changer for Alta Global Group”, describing his “legacy and influence in the world of MMA and combat sports are unmatched” and that he was “honored and thrilled to have his endorsement and support”.
The company was prepared to pay handsomely for McGregor’s social media reach, offering several tranches of bonus shares that could net him as much as $14 million if he could help boost the company’s share price.
Yet Langton and Alta Global have been a lot quieter about the tie-up since the decision by a High Court jury to uphold Nikita Hand’s civil claim she was raped by McGregor in a Dublin hotel.
As various firms have moved to distance themselves from McGregor, Alta Global has kept a steadfast silence.
At its most recent investor webinar, held on Thursday evening, there was no mention at all of McGregor, and images of the fighter, once prominent in its branding, are no longer visible.
During that webinar, Langton avoided several opportunities to address the McGregor relationship and how it might affect the company.
When he was asked “who are some of the other athletes and fighters you would be looking to partner with going into 2025″ he mentioned Daniel Cormier and Laura Sanko, who he described as “obviously some of the most cherished on air talent for the UFC”, but said nothing of McGregor.
In discussing the company’s plans to leverage its growth off well-known fighters, he said he intended to “[look] into the territories that we continue to grow, to really look for fighters native to those territories that have really engaged fan bases”.
He also spent some time discussing the importance of women’s involvement in MMA, citing the discipline’s importance “from both the fitness and hobbyist standpoint and also for self confidence and personal protection”, noting that “female participation is really a core part of our DNA, and we want to exploit that further”.
Through the entire hour-long presentation, there was no reference to McGregor.
Cantillon submitted a question about it through the webinar’s Q&A platform, and sent subsequent emails to the company’s chief executive Nick Langton and its head of PR Peter Jarmain, but so far has received no response.
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