UFC welterweight Matt Brown boasts the nickname “The Immortal,” and he believes that Conor McGregor is anything but. Brown is now 42, and recently appeared on The Fighter vs The Writer to discuss the future of the sport’s biggest star, Conor McGregor, and his seemingly inevitable – but long-delayed – return to the Octagon.
First of all, Brown evaluated McGregor’s chances against his opposite coach on this season of The Ultimate Fighter, Michael Chandler. “In his prime, I would pick him to beat Michael Chandler.
Matt Brown Says Conor McGregor is Past His UFC Prime, Headed For “Circus Fights”
I’m not sure Conor is actually in his prime anymore. I think he’s going to want to be out there. He wants his name in the news. He’s addicted to that, people loving him and the ego, and I think he likes getting in there and fighting. But whether he wins or loses, I don’t see him in the top-five ever again, personally.
They might rank him top-five if he beats Michael Chandler, but he’s not a true top-five guy. I don’t think he beats Beneil [Dariush], I don’t think he beats any of the top-five guys, [Dustin] Poirier, [Justin] Gaethje, I just don’t think he’s a top-five guy anymore.”
It’s been seven years since McGregor knocked out Eddie Alvarez to claim the UFC lightweight championship, becoming the promotion’s first-ever simultaneous two-division champion. Since then, he has fought only four times, losing all but one, including two consecutive losses to Dustin Poirier. The latter fight saw McGregor break his leg, causing a two-year layoff.
“He was great fighter. I give him credit. He was a great f****** fighter. I think he could have done enormous things had he kept his head on right and kept his eyes on the prize. I think he lost track, particularly after the Khabib [Nurmagomedov] loss.
I think he just completely lost track, maybe after he fought Floyd [Mayweather], but at some point he completely lost track, and I don’t see him coming back to that.
I think Chandler’s the wrong guy to be fighting in that position. I’m going to pick Chandler to win, but Conor should, with his skillset, be able to win. With that said, he will never be a top-five guy regardless — he’ll never beat a top five guy, in my opinion.” If McGregor loses this fight, as Brown predicts, it’s “circus” fights from now on for Conor McGregor.
“If Conor loses this fight, I think he’ll certainly never get back to title contention. I think that’s going to be way too uphill of a battle, but he will still be a draw.
It will be more of the circus fights like maybe it’s Nate Diaz, if they ever figure out a way to promote it — Nate’s a free agent now — but I think Conor, the way his ego works, he’s going to want to be in the spotlight still.
He’s going to want to do something to keep his name out there. But will he ever be competitive in the top-10 again? I don’t think he will, period.”
