Conor McGregor has got to be the most popular MMA fighter in the world. Even now, after a whole year of inactivity in the octagon, and what is more likely to be a year of inactivity to go. He is one of the most popular, controversial, polarizing, and influential people in UFC, and in MMA in general. Ask anyone to say the name of one MMA fighter, the first one that comes to his mind – chances are that it will be Conor McGregor.
Conor McGregor raised to the top of the top in MMA, seating together with the likes of Jon Jones, Anderson Silva and George St-Pierre. However, in the end, after making such a legacy and after gaining such popularity, Conor McGregor went for a free fall straight from stardom, and directly to the ground. It is fair to say, that now, after some time, Conor McGregor is a disliked fighter. A fighter that gets more criticism than praise. A fighter that doesn’t have what to do in the octagon anymore.
Conor McGregor – The Man, The Legend, The Disappointment
The MMA community once knew him to be a fighter that would take on anyone anytime and anywhere. What he did is unrepeatable and not done by anyone ever. He raised his popularity, as well as the popularity of the MMA sport and his promotion UFC to the level that no one ever could. However, as time passes, this idealistic picture of Conor McGregor keeps fading away – until it completely vanishes from the MMA scene.
One of the most interesting features of the Notorious McGregor is his ability to predict the outcome of his fights with chilling accuracy. At a press conference before the fight, Conor McGregor would describe the way he envisions the fight ends. Most of the time, he was completely right, predicting the round when he would finish his opponent, as well as the way he would finish him. He was destroying the 145lbs featherweight division and he was doing it with ease.
Outside of the ring, Conor McGregor presented a character that should be praised for his deeds as well. Oftentimes, he would donate some money to a charity of his choice and even many times met and paid for fans to come and watch him fight. He helped the local Irish communities and bought houses for them to live in after the government didn’t take care of them. At one point his eyes even got teary after he spoke about a fan that didn’t live to see him fight after he promised that he would fly him to see the fight live. He was compassionate and emotional, he was human.
During his time in the UFC, since the very beginning, Conor McGregor is cocky, arrogant, and well-spoken. When I say well-spoken, I mean his trash-talking talent was like nothing seen before him. He somehow manages to successfully play with his opponents’ minds and win the mental battle before the start of the fight.
In order to be a successful UFC fighter, trash-talking is not the only quality that you should possess. In order for your trash talk to be on point, you need to be able to back it up with skill. And in the beginning, he was able to do both.
However, as time passed by, The Notorious Conor McGregor lost his edge. He did not lose the ability to insult and trash-talk his opponents, but he evidently lost his ability to do what he promised when in the octagon.
For example, at the point in his career where he suffered his first loss in the UFC, Conor McGregor somehow managed to be humble and accept that the better man won. And most of the time, having this virtue is a massive plus for your fans. He accepted the fact that he lost because Nate Diaz showed better skill and endurance and promised that he will be back to revenge himself.
He eventually did get revenge on Nate Diaz and continued his UFC endeavors. His next step was fighting Eddie Alvarez. And he did own this fight as well. However, it was really obvious that this is a changed man. His way of speaking, his stance on many things, his choice of words has changed. While many people check this as a ‘normal’ Conor McGregor confidence, all of it felt different. The fame and the money got to his head.
This is the period when he arranged the fight against Floyd Mayweather. The whole event was cringe. From the press conferences to the jokes that Conor McGregor made… everything seemed like forced and pushed. The difference between this behavior to the behavior he had at the beginning of his career was completely different. He lost the bout but got a massive amount of money from it. And the money brought him to the bottom.
In the time to come, Conor McGregor started being very active on social media, but inactive in the octagon. He started focusing on numerous businesses, but not on MMA. The Notorious launched his whiskey company and seems like he poured all his effort and time into it. The late-night tweets about UFC were just his way of reminding the public that he is still there.
The greatest and steepest fall of Conor McGregor started before the UFC 223 event in 2018. On April 5th, he and a gang of hooligans attacked the UFC bus, full of UFC fighters. The Notorious threw a steel dolly and broke one of the glasses of the bus. This created a massive backlash, and it is the thing that boosted his fall the most.
Dana White was disappointed in him. Fellow UFC fighters judged the action as immature and absolutely unnecessary.
“What happened here today is Conor and approximately 20 guys were apparently let in through the doors by the Mac Life guys, who were credentialed here.” – Dana White, the UFC president explained the incident. “They opened the doors for them through an entrance, and they stormed the building. The group got down to the loading docks, where the fighters were getting on the buses to return to the fighter hotel, and they started to attack the buses.”
“They broke one of the windows and cut Michael Chiesa really badly. He cut his head. He cut his face. Rose Namajunas was apparently almost hit. She’s super upset right now and basically left to walk back to the hotel.” – he continued. “Obviously, this shook everybody. When 30 thugs storm a building when these guys were all cutting weight and getting ready for a fight. This is the most disgusting thing ever, in the history of the company.”
This happening left a very big stain on the UFC and on MMA as a sport. Mixed Martial Artists fought authorities in order to gain a place in the sports world. Until that point, people referred to them as savages and barbarians. As they finally accomplished it and held that reputation for more than 10 years, Conor McGregor threatened to ruin it with this one excess.
The UFC somehow managed to turn all of this to its advantage and use it as a well-needed rivalry between two competing fighters. Dana White arranged the Conor McGregor vs Khabib Nurmagomedov fight.
During the lengthy promotion of the fight, MMA fans witnessed Conor McGregor’s madness at the press conferences, where his popular trash talk started getting out of line and becoming more and more cringe to watch. People saw this as a sign that Conor McGregor is indeed changing. The man who once inspired millions and boosted the popularity of the sport became the sports’ villain. The person that many consider the King of MMA, became an alcoholic mess, spoke like a fool, and asked for opportunities to fight instead of the UFC asking him to fight as it was until this point.
“It was the darkest press conference I’ve ever been part of.” – Dana White told about the press conference before the Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Conor McGregor fight.
The actual fight is the culmination of this all. During the walk out to the octagon before the fight, something seemed massively off. Conor McGregor’s usually neat beard and hair, now seemed uneven, his character seemed off, and he was too loose taking into consideration that this is the biggest fight of his career.
When he entered the octagon, he avoided doing all of his usual acrobatics and instead started pointing at the Proper 12 whiskey logo on the canvas. For two whole rounds, he was extremely passive. It was like the fire that pushed him to fight was not there anymore.
The biggest disappointment to Conor McGregor’s fans was the absence of his ‘trademarks’ in the octagon. It was like he was a completely different fighter. There was no karate stance, there were no flashy showing-off kicks, and there was no bouncing on his feet. Instead, Conor McGregor walked on his flat feet for the first time. He showed no respect for Khabib’s abilities, or he surrendered the fight even before it started.
He eventually went on the ground and lost the bout. And this was where it was evident that we won’t see the old Conor McGregor anymore.
There were numerous incidents that followed the fight. There were rumors that Conor McGregor grabbed a man’s phone and stomped on it, and this was just the beginning. He fought some mafia associates in a bar, he hit an old man for refusing to drink his whiskey, and the incidents keep on piling. The Notorious got into a sexual assault court case, there were rumors that he has extramarital children, etc.
Ever since Conor McGregor had only three fights. What’s more important, he lost two of them. Dustin Poirier managed to win over him two times in a row, breaking his leg in the second fight and pushing him away from fighting for a while.
Now, UFC fans accuse him of using steroids. He weighs 40 lbs more since his most recent fight. The Notorious is inactive in the octagon for a year and a half. He dropped off from USADA and will most likely be out of competing for the next year as well.
While people accuse him of steroid use, Conor McGregor might be simply gaining weight due to a lack of MMA training. He might be doing weight training contributing to his muscle size only. We all know that MMA fighters have different types of training. Cardio and MMA should be the focus. Seems like, finally, Conor McGregor has this wrong as well.
A couple of days ago, he promised to enroll back in the USADA testing pool. He announced his intention to prepare for a fight.
“I am clear for testing in February. I will complete my two tests per USADA and we are booking a fight.” – Conor McGregor tweeted.
However, the MMA world is skeptical that this will happen in the foreseeable future. People see him as outdated. Seems like the magic that surrounded him has completely faded away.
Who knows, maybe he will come back. However, will he deliver? Will he be the same Conor McGregor that we all fell in love with? Or will he be the same lazy and messy fighter that fought Khabib Nurmagomedov?
What is your opinion? Are you a Conor McGregor fan? Should he retire from the sport, or you’d like to see more of him? In my opinion, he doesn’t have anything more to offer.
