LAS VEGAS – There is a fine line in a sport like fighting, where the size of one's paycheck is dependent upon self-promotion nearly as much as performance.

Conor McGregor obliterated that line long ago. The Irish featherweight, who faces Dustin Poirier on Saturday in one of the key bouts at UFC 178 at the MGM Grand Garden, makes women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey look like the shy, retiring type.

The UFC's reigning King of Hyperbole still has much to prove in the eyes of many. He's 3-0 in the UFC, with wins over Marcus Brimage, Max Holloway and Diego Brandao.

It's a good start to a career, but it's hardly a reason to mention him in the same sentence as light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. That, though, is exactly how McGregor has chosen to market himself for this, the most significant bout of his young career: as the best fighter in the world.

Jones has held the UFC belt for 3 ½ years and delivered the kind of devastation in his wins that convinces those who are thinking of becoming fighters to come up with a new career plan.

McGregor hasn't accomplished a tenth of what Jones has, yet in his mind, he's already surpassed Jones as the sport's leading man.

"I'm on my own journey and my own path and I am the greatest," McGregor said. "I am the pound-for-pound greatest. I was looking forward to Jon being on the card, but with or without him on the card, I'm still going to show I'm [the] greatest."

McGregor is so over the top that at one point, this engaging young man, who could walk down the middle of Main Street in many cities in the U.S. and go completely unrecognized, talks about being like the legendary boxing champion Muhammad Ali.

It's a stupid comment on the surface, but that's what makes McGregor so lovable to so many: He's so into promoting himself he doesn't even realize, or care, how silly he may sound. He's having fun with all of the attention and bringing attention to a sport that badly needs good press.

The news last week in the UFC was a lot like the news in the NFL: One fighter was suspended indefinitely after being accused of domestic violence. A second was cut, several weeks after domestic violence charges against him were dropped, when video surfaced of him in his home holding a gun. And a third fighter, the most iconic of them all, blasted UFC management for what he said was unfair treatment of the fighters.

In light of those kinds of issues, be sure that UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta and president Dana White welcome McGregor's over-the-top nonsense. It's fun and it causes debate and fans to talk about the sport.

Professional sports are supposed to be entertainment, and a diversion from the problems of everyday life, but when guys are taking performance enhancing drugs, using recreational drugs and beating up their significant others, it's hard to stay in love with the game.

McGregor, who is a high quality fighter even if it's virtually impossible to live up to his own estimates of himself, helps bring the love of the game back for many.

He makes you laugh and makes you want to watch. He's quick with a quip and consistent in his narrative.

He's fighting in Las Vegas, long known as "The Fight Capital of the World," and he's reveling in being the center of attention.

"I'm living the dream," he said. "... I'm living a good life and I've got a very happy life right now. Everything surrounding the contest feels right, it feels beautiful. I take it in stride. I'm enjoying this beautiful town I’m in and [on] Saturday, I'm going to put on the performance of my life. I guarantee it.

"Fight week is a tough week, but right now I'm in a presidential suite and I'm living life and I'm enjoying every minute of it. I'm celebrating victory right now. I have a butler right now. Whatever you want shows up 10 minutes later. This is the life I've worked for. This is what I work hard for, day in and day out."

Of course, he'll have to back up those words in the cage, or he'll pay for it dearly. Unquestionably, he's already motivated Poirier to previously unattainable levels, and if he loses, McGregor is going to be mocked by many for his pre-fight talk.

He doesn't care. He keeps piling it on, knowing that the more attention he brings to his fights the more money will pour into his back account. There is a direct correlation.

Fighting is a business. People have to want to buy tickets and pay-per-views to watch someone fight. Being a great fighter helps do those things, but there are a lot of outstanding fighters who have never become stars because they shunned the promotional aspects of their jobs.

If one doesn't spend time on the promotional side of things, then he or she has to be a dominant champion with vicious finishes in order to make up for it.

McGregor has shown that finishing ability, but it's time to take it to the next level in terms of opposition. McGregor doesn't see Poirier as much of a threat, even though Poirier is 16-3 overall, and 8-2 in the UFC. He's ranked fifth at featherweight, four spots ahead of McGregor.

Poirier's nickname is "Diamond," but McGregor disdainfully said of him: "Pressure creates diamonds and now here we are with a so-called 'Diamond.' I don't think he's a diamond at all. He's an average fighter and Saturday night will show that."

That remains to be seen. This much, though, is true: The nominal main event of the show is a flyweight title fight between the highly accomplished champion Demetrious Johnson and Chris Cariaso.

But there's next-to-no buzz surrounding that fight and certainly nothing akin to the McGregor-Poirier scrap or the Donald Cerrone-Eddie Alvarez bout.

"You're almost right in what you're saying [that the buzz is around this fight and it's the real main event], but it's not around Dustin," McGregor said. "If Dustin pulled out and I still fought, the buzz would still be there. If I fell off, tell me where the buzz would be then? The buzz is about me. But Demetrious Johnson is one of the pound-for-pound best and let's not take anything away from him."

No one is taking a thing away from Johnson, who's clearly one of the best in the world.

But there will be plenty more people in the building on Saturday eager to see McGregor than there will be to see the champion.

Like it or not, it's a simple fact.

It's now up to McGregor, though, to prove worthy of all the hype and the buzz.

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