Conor McGregor’s UFC return seems to have been put to a halt once again after the former lightweight champion announced his intentions to fight Logan Paul in India at the behest of the Ambani family. So is his MMA career over? What would then be his legacy? Journalist Stephen A. Smith doesn’t believe McGregor cares.
The rumors of a bout with topurio are false. I am in preliminary agreements with the Ambani family to face Logan Paul in a boxing exhibition in India.
I have agreed.
I will then seek my return to the Octagon.— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) December 17, 2024
McGregor hasn’t cared about his legacy for years for that matter, he claims.
“I think his legacy has been hurt over the last few years from getting his a** kicked. Dustin Poirier, Khabib Nurmagomedov… and Floyd gave him that a** kicking before… That hurt his legacy. I mean when you go that far without winning.”
The scribe claimed that he was a fan of the Irishman and admitted that Nurmagomedov fight at UFC 229 was one of the best environments he had ever been in, but McGregor got mauled by the Dagestani and has not recovered since.
He’s not wrong. Despite the vitriol McGregor exhibited towards Khabib, his family, religion, and country, the southpaw could hardly put up a fight when the time came. Khabib not only took McGregor to the ground, he also knocked him down before it even got to that.
i have never seen this clip of Khabib cursing out Conor McGregor on his stool before pic.twitter.com/GAw6PJYB0o
— ACD MMA (@acdmma_) July 15, 2024
McGregor has since looked a shell of himself.
After an extended break from the UFC following that loss, McGregor returned to fight ‘Cowboy’ Donald Cerrone at UFC 246 and secured an easy win in the very first round, sparking the hope that there was still some chance of a comeback to the top.
However, that was not to be.
McGregor’s next two fights would come against former interim lightweight champion Dustin Poirier. Poirier would not only go on to win but decimate McGregor and prove that the sport had moved past the Irishman. On top of that the second of these fights saw McGregor break his leg completely, which pushed him out of action for a good three years.
The Irishman has since only been fighting toe injuries and legal cases.
Is McGregor-Chandler never happening?
At this point, Michael Chandler better start preparing himself for the realization that he has spent the last few years in search of a big money fight that was never going to happen.
After his win against Tony Ferguson in 2022, Chandler took the mic from Joe Rogan and challenged McGregor to a fight. And the closest he got to it was during UFC 300. But then at the 11th hour, McGregor pulled out of the event citing a broken toe.
Uncharacteristically, Chandler remained patient but then eventually moved on to fight Charles Oliveira at UFC 310. Even though he lost that fight, a spirited effort in the last round meant he could launch another callout to McGregor. And so he did.
But now it appears that all the waiting has been for nothing. While Dana White has announced that he expects to see McGregor back in the octagon in 2025, it might not actualize if the Irishman actually boxes the older Paul brother.
