After the “Money Fight” with Floyd Mayweather Jr. in August 2017, not too many people thought Conor McGregor would step foot in the Octagon ever again. And who could blame him after making more in one night of boxing, than in his entire career in MMA? But only a year later, McGregor did step back into the cage to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov, and we all know that story. The man who has talked more shit than anyone else in the game got locked into that cage, with a man that not only punched his mouth closed, but talked verbally harassed him about it for the four rounds he mauled and eventually submitted him in.
Fast forward a year and we are talking about it again. McGregor stepping back into the Octagon and for the first time in over 3 years, it won’t be for a title. Will Conor be able to do something many champions fail to do after losing their title? Climb back up the ranks to deserve another title shot. I mean let’s look at the two men Conor knocked out for the titles he’s owned in the UFC. Jose Aldo, who did regain the title but immediately lost it, and the rematch for the title. And then we have Eddie Alvarez who is struggling in ONE FC. Is that what Conor’s future holds? Just chasing that dragon of once again holding UFC gold, or will he do something many can’t?
Now I know we hear it all the time. He hasn’t won a fight since 2016. And because of that, everyone thinks he’s a fraud and he wasn’t a real champion. Well under that logic, Anderson Silva absolutely sucks, because he has won one fight out of eight since 2012. Meanwhile, Conor has fought in the UFC only once since 2016. So, before we try to figure out whether Conor’s recent record decides where he ranks overall let’s take a look at his overall record.
Before his time in the UFC, he was already the first-ever “Champ Champ” oh the smaller MMA organization Cage Warriors. Showing he had the ability to take over not just one, but two divisions. Then he was signed to the UFC, where he went on a six-fight win streak, where he had only one decision and five TKO’s which gained him the UFC interim featherweight title. And not only was he out there starching every opponent that came in front of him, he then goes on to knock out the king of the featherweight division in 13 seconds. A man that hasn’t lost in just over 10 years. The only man at that time to hold the UFC featherweight title. Jose Aldo.
McGregor was then officially the most talked about UFC fighter in the world if he wasn’t already. From thinking about retiring just 4 years prior after winning the Cage Warriors’ lightweight title, to knocking out the king of the featherweight division. He seemed God-like. Like he could never be stopped. He could say I’m going to fight a gorilla, and people would bet on Conor. As 2015 ended it seemed like the era of McGregor was just starting to begin.
McGregor than eyed up his biggest challenge to date. To duplicate what he did in Cage Warriors. Hold two titles at once. And the UFC was willing to give him the shot because of how big of a draw he was. Except it fell through. RDA pulled out of the fight because of an injury, but Conor still wanted to fight. So just 3 months after winning the featherweight title, we got McGregor vs Diaz, and the first time we saw that McGregor was mortal.
Nate Diaz choked Conor out in the second round of their first fight. This is where many thought the Conor hype train would die, but as we all saw, he came back and beat Nate in a five-round brawl, and then went and did something never done in the UFC ever. He became the first-ever UFC Champ Champ. Holding both the 145 and 155 titles.
After that, he made nearly 100 million dollars in one night. Who could still be hungry after that? Conor? Maybe, but looking at that Khabib fight, he didn’t look like the cocky, exciting, extremely accurate wild-eyed fighter we’ve seen before. Is Conor nothing more than a Supernova, that finally burned out? Just some amazing athlete that peaked way too quick. Or will we be seeing the Conor of old walking into that Octagon again in January? My unbiased opinion… He should retire and enjoy his family and new business ventures. My biased opinion, please be hungry Conor. Because I miss that guy that talked all the shit he wanted to, and then when it came fight night, he backed up every-single-word.
Jim McElhone
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