Did Conor McGregor lose his identity as a fighter years ago?
McGregor hasn’t fought inside the Octagon since UFC 264, which took place on July 10, 2021. McGregor broke his leg in a trilogy bout against Dustin Poirier. He had been scheduled to fight Michael Chandler at UFC 303 in 2024, but the “Notorious” one pulled out of the fight due to an injury. The bout was never rebooked, but McGregor continues to tease a return to competition.
Ex-UFC bruiser Matt Brown took to MMAFighting‘s “The Fighter vs. The Writer” to share his belief that McGregor’s identity as a fighter was shattered in his last two fights against “The Diamond.”
“Now his identity kind of got ripped apart by Dustin Poirier,” Brown explained. “Dustin took his soul. Khabib [Nurmagomedov] probably first, but Dustin kind of put the nail in the coffin on that.
“Now he’s not a winner with that identity. Now he’s not even competing anymore. That’s a lot to deal with for anyone. So you’ve got to have a little bit of sympathy on that side. It is a lot to deal with.”
Brown wouldn’t be surprised if McGregor is in a situation where he isn’t so sure what to do next, so he’s now using his past fighting days as a crutch.
“He’s probably in a situation where he retired where he’s like ‘I’ve got all this money, what the f*ck do I do now?’” Brown said. “I’ve never had that much money — like I have to say that out loud just in case you were wondering, I haven’t had that much money yet — but I know very, very wealthy people that talk about that. Like once you make a certain amount of money, your purpose in life becomes a little bit more difficult to find.”
Whether or not Conor McGregor actually steps back inside the Octagon is anyone’s guess. The former two-division UFC champion has now been away from competition for four years and he isn’t getting any younger.
