Conor Mcgregor had something other fighters didn’t the ability to go on fire and make the entire world notice. He carried the sport and the fans on his back and took them into the cage with him.
This time at UFC 264 we witnessed a different Conor. He did not look the same at all. So I am asking at 32 is this the end of Conor?
Unlikely. They can still easily make a ton of money by doing another Dustin fight, o a Nate rubber match, an Aldo rematch or having him face Ferg or Jorge.
yes (as a cashcow no, as an elite fighter yes)
After he threatened to murder Dustin and his wife… I hope it is the end. Hope he never fights again and would not even be upset if he never made a full recovery from his injury. Complete scumbag.
BJ & Conor FOREVER
Sadly I think he’s done as an elite top of the food chain fighter who’s fighting for the title
It’s a different era now with ESPN analysts creating sound bites about Conor. Teddy Atlas brought up that before / after Floyd era haha. Steven A. Smith going crazy in his 8th grade school dance outfit saying that elite Conor is over.
Suddenly, the Paul bros aren’t so crazy as I see McGregor basically doing BMF super fights the rest of his career and losing to anyone in the top of 5 of any division.
I’m trying to understand what people saw in that fight that makes people think he’s done, or looked different. Look at the first round of the Chad Mendez fight…Chad took him down, was landing ground and pound, made it look easy. Then in round 2, Conor stopped him. If at the end of that first round, Conor threw a kick, hit the elbow and his leg snapped in half, the story of that fight is that Chad dominated and Conor has no shot in a rematch…but he didn’t break his leg in a fluky way and won by TKO a couple minutes later.
And before you say it wasn’t fluky against Dustin…it was. Thousands of kicks are thrown and checked every year in the UFC, tons of kicks hit guys elbows, and we’ve seen 4 legs snap in the history of the UFC. It’s extremely rare.
I have no clue if Conor would have won the fight, but my point is, he was on his feet throwing at the end of round 1, didn’t look tired, didn’t look hurt…so yes, Dustin looked great in round 1, but I didn’t see anything in the standup that made me think Conor was done.
As for if he’s done as an elite fighter…I guess it depends on what that means to you. I don’t think he wins another world title, but I do think he wins some other big fights in the UFC. The problem is, he’s expensive and has to headline cards, so we’re not getting something like Conor vs. Dan Hooker, or Conor vs Ferguson…it’ll have to be Conor vs Diaz, or Conor vs Holloway at 155, or Conor vs Chandler etc…he’s not getting anything close to an “easy” fight.
So yes, I think he comes back and wins, but will likely lose to Dustin in the 4th fight (I think it’s close now, but Dustin keeps working hard and getting better, and Conor will be rehabbing) but I could see Conor winning a few more fights before retiring.
It’s just hard mentally and physically to come back from a gruesome injury like that. And he’s not a young buck anymore and he’s lost a few times now. Not looking great
I think he is done with MMA.
The UFC will put him in the biggest money maker which will be celebrity boxing. And, the way things seem to go in these sports, he will lose to a Paul brother.
lol
Sure, but he lost to Khabib (best 155er ever) and Poirier (arguably best 155er of this generation not named Khabib). Justin Gaethje also lost to both of those guys, nobody said he was done.
As for the leg break…yes, it sucks, but we’ve seen Anderson come back from it. Weidman is posting insta videos of him golfing. I’m sure it’ll take a toll, but I think Conor is the type of guy who needs a purpose to put in the work. When he was trying to be champ/champ, he was trying to be a star, make $ and shut up the critics…then he did it, and had no interest in defending the belt, likely because it’s boring, and not part of the “purpose” that was driving him.
He has more than enough $, and even if he can make $30M fighting Nate Diaz, that isn’t even “big” money to him anymore. With all the other money making avenues he has, the MMA money isn’t a driver. However, now he has a reason to work hard again. Everyone doubting him, everyone saying he’s done…I think that’ll drive him more than the $.
Again, I have no clue how well he does when he comes back. Like you said, he’s not young anymore. I think he beats guys like Nate Diaz and Masvidal, but I think he likely loses to someone like Poirier. Conor is a tough matchup for most guys though. Chandler got KO’d by Oliveira, Oliveira nearly got KO’d by Chandler, and Conor has better striking than both of them. Gaethje gets hit a ton, and dropped often. It wouldn’t be shocking if Conor stopped any one of those guys.
I think Poirier is his toughest fight, or possibly Max Holloway. Durable guys with cardio and hands that aren’t likely to be hurt and stopped early will always be tough for Conor.
I agree 100%
Conor McGregor is a piece of shit. I don’t care if that gets me banned.
Maybe as a top 3 fighter but will be top 10 for the next 5-7 years. If he chooses to keep fighting.
For UG standards that was pretty PG tbh