In 2023, it’s hard to type ‘UFC’ into any social media platform or search engine and not come across content from ‘The Mac Life,’ and it’s not a coincidence. Made up of a very small team of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) enthusiasts, the company works around the clock to provide up-to-date content through written articles and live coverage of UFC events.
The face of The Mac Life is Oscar Willis, who is regularly seen during fight week interviewing fighters and fielding questions to the UFC President, Dana White, at post-fight press conferences. Chamatkar Sandhu interviewed him on his podcast ‘Smack Talk With Sandhu,’ where Willis detailed his career so far in a wide-ranging conversation.
Origins of Oscar Willis’ MMA career
Oscar Willis, very much like Conor McGregor, came from humble beginnings. Before working in MMA media, Willis was working on building sites in Kent, Southeast England. He soon realized that this wasn’t what he wanted to do long term, and he began some inward reflection. Willis set out on a quest to study journalism in the United States of America, saved up some pennies, and set out on his journey.
A WWE fan initially, Willis followed Brock Lesnar’s transition as he crossed over into Mixed Martial Arts when he joined the UFC in 2008. His interest in the sport grew, and he began watching other fights from the UFC library, including bouts involving legends such as Chuck Liddell and Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson. The Content Manager of The Mac Life then became a massive fan of the sport and began to grind even harder than he already was, regularly taking time out from lectures to write articles on the latest news from the world of MMA.
During this period, Willis came across The Mac Life website and began messaging them before bravely asking for a role in the company. The first event he covered was UFC 200 on July 9, 2016, headlined by Miesha Tate against Amanda Nunes. Brock Lesnar and Anderson Silva also competed on the star-studded card, and since Willis covered the marquee event, he hasn’t looked back.
Relationship with Conor McGregor
It’s clear from the way Willis speaks that he gets along well with McGregor, who has been more engaged in the process of The Mac Life than many would think he was. Willis told Chamatkar Sandhu that McGregor would go through some of the articles with a fine tooth comb and question certain wording used, often giving his feedback in the middle of the night.
”It always surprises people how deeply engaged Conor [McGregor] can be, certainly early on when we were growing The Mac Life. He wanted to be more involved to make sure that it was going in the direction that he wanted it [to.] You know, {if] you typed the wrong word into an article, you’ll hear about it and I do mean that level of specificity”
Oscar Willis
Feeling appreciated by your employer and seniors goes a long way, particularly when you work as hard as Willis does. He feels that McGregor can see the work he puts in and acknowledges when other team members do as well. Conor McGregor is one of the biggest stars on the planet, and being a part of his team demands a strong work ethic, which Willis possesses.
Willis’ move to Las Vegas
When Conor McGregor fought Floyd Mayweather in 2017, Willis took the plunge and moved to Las Vegas to cover the event. Although the UFC already had a presence in Sin City, it was nothing like the scale it is today. It all began to change shortly after March 2020 when the world was turned on its head. The UFC moved its entire operations to the APEX and Willis was one of the few people covering the sport in Vegas. Willis credits this period as pivotal in both career development as many journalists were unable to travel to Vegas to carry out their duties due to being confined to the four walls of their home.
During the interview with Sandhu, Willis mentioned that he attributes some of his success to luck being in the right place at the right time; It’s a relatively modest assessment. Willis put himself in a position to be in the correct location(s) by taking action, boldly moving across the world to pursue a career in MMA journalism and then moving once again across the country from Boston to Las Vegas. His journey aligns more with the notion of ‘making your own luck.’
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