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2021 didn’t go so well for Conor McGregor. The UFC’s biggest superstar lost two bouts to bitter rival Dustin Poirier, suffering a serious leg injury in their second fight in the process.
Despite his losses to Poirier, Conor McGregor has already stated that his long-term goal is to regain the UFC lightweight title, but can ‘The Notorious’ really achieve this?
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The Irishman may not have actually lost either of his UFC titles in the octagon, but the truth is that it’s highly unlikely that we’ll see Conor McGregor with UFC gold around his waist again.
With that considered, here are five reasons why Conor McGregor will never regain the UFC lightweight title.
#5. The fear factor that once existed around Conor McGregor is now gone
One of the more underrated aspects of Conor McGregor’s rise to the top of both the UFC featherweight and lightweight divisions was the fear factor that he was able to instill in even his most experienced opponents.
When he debuted in the octagon in April 2013, ‘The Notorious’ was a largely unknown quantity to casual UFC fans, but that quickly changed. Not only did Conor McGregor knock out veteran Marcus Brimage in quick and impressive fashion, but he also wasted no time in talking trash on the entire UFC featherweight division. He immediately promised to become the next champion.
From there, it felt like every time that the Irishman was matched with a new opponent, he was able to get into their heads, throw them off their gameplan and defeat them with ease.
By the time that his first UFC title fight against Jose Aldo came around, it seemed like Conor McGregor had intimidated the Brazilian so much that he didn’t look like his usual confident self at all and succumbed to a knockout in just 13 seconds.
Even his loss to Nate Diaz didn’t seem to derail the fear factor that ‘The Notorious’ triggered in his opponents. It was clearly notable in his win over Eddie Alvarez for the UFC lightweight title.
However, since his return to the UFC in 2018, it seems like the aura around Conor McGregor has been shattered. His trash-talking antics have seemingly become tired and are no longer the mental weapon they once were. His losses to Khabib Nurmagomedov and Dustin Poirier have shown that he can be beaten like any other fighter.
Essentially, the fear factor that McGregor once instilled is gone. Once it’s gone, it’s impossible to get something like that back. It’s unlikely that he’ll be able to intimidate his foes as he once did and thus it’s more unlikely that he’ll ever win his title back.
#4. Conor McGregor may have lost the hunger that allowed him to reach the top of the UFC
When Conor McGregor arrived in the UFC back in early 2013, while he had won two titles in Europe’s Cage Warriors promotion, it’s probably safe to say that he certainly wasn’t a superstar.
He was also about as far from rich as you could possibly get. While ‘The Notorious’ was a professional fighter at the time, he wasn’t far removed from working as a plumber and has spoken about his financial struggles prior to his UFC career on numerous occasions.
McGregor knocked out Marcus Brimage in his UFC debut and outright begged Dana White for a $60k bonus after the fight. However, soon after this, he wouldn’t need to do any begging at all.
In the years that have followed, Conor McGregor has made more money than any other fighter in the history of the UFC, reportedly earning well over eight figures for his latest UFC bouts. He also supposedly took home around over $100m for his 2017 fight with Floyd Mayweather alone.
Named by Forbes as the world’s highest paid athlete in 2021, Conor McGregor clearly doesn’t need to fight in the UFC for a living any more.
So with that in mind, it should hardly come as a surprise that the Irishman seems less hungry for success than he did in his early days with the promotion. He may state that he wants to regain the UFC lightweight title, but he no longer needs to do it to make money.
Any fighter who is less hungry is far less likely to find success in the octagon and so it stands to reason that Conor McGregor is unlikely to regain his title.
#3. Conor McGregor now relies too heavily on his boxing
One of the facets of Conor McGregor’s game that made him so successful was the fact that he was willing to use an unorthodox striking game to throw his opponents off.
Sure, ‘The Notorious’ rode the power of his left hand all the way to two UFC titles, but his movement, precision and timing were second-to-none back then. He was also willing to throw low-percentage strikes to set up his heavy punches.
McGregor was also highly adept at throwing kicks in order to break his opponents down. In particular, his attack to the body of Chad Mendes using front kicks set up what was, at the time, the biggest win of his UFC career.
However, these days, it’s fair to say that the Dublin native seems to have become a much more one-dimensional striker, almost entirely relying on his boxing to get by. It was this one-dimensional approach that appeared to cost him in his two fights with Dustin Poirier, as ‘The Diamond’ was able to use his low kicks to break the Irishman down, something McGregor didn’t seem to be expecting.
Sure, Conor McGregor did use his full arsenal in his 2020 win over Donald Cerrone, but the truth is that like fighters such as Quinton Jackson before him, he seems to have devolved somewhat.
A one-dimensional attack definitely won’t be enough to regain him the UFC lightweight title.
#2. It’s hard to imagine Conor McGregor defeating the lightweight division’s top grapplers
Even during his meteoric rise to the top of the UFC, the big question surrounding Conor McGregor was always how he’d deal with a high-level grappler inside the octagon.
‘The Notorious’ did quieten his doubters when he defeated wrestler Chad Mendes at UFC 189 in 2015. However, in the years that have followed, it’s safe to say that the ground game has definitely emerged as his Achilles heel.
McGregor struggled on the ground with Nate Diaz and Dustin Poirier, and was thoroughly dominated by Khabib Nurmagomedov’s wrestling in their legendary clash at UFC 229.
Aside from his bouts with Mendes and Diaz, the Irishman’s initial rise saw him largely fight – and defeat – strikers such as Jose Aldo and Eddie Alvarez. However, things have changed at the top of the UFC lightweight division in the years that have followed.
The top of the division is now filled with deadly grapplers such as Charles Oliveira, Islam Makhachev and Beneil Dariush. Based on what we saw in his fight with Nurmagomedov, you’d favour all of them in a bout with Conor McGregor.
When you also consider that even strikers such as Justin Gaethje and Michael Chandler, not to mention Poirier, could probably outwrestle the Irishman too, the chances of him regaining the UFC lightweight title seem hugely slim.
Simply put, he just doesn’t have the time to develop the ground game he’d need to get back to the top at this point.
#1. Conor McGregor is getting no younger and may be past his physical prime
Perhaps the biggest reason Conor McGregor is highly unlikely to ever regain the UFC lightweight title is the fact that he’s not a young up-and-comer any more.
It doesn’t seem like five minutes since ‘The Notorious’ shot to fame in the UFC. Incredibly, he’s been with the promotion almost a decade now. His first UFC title win over Jose Aldo came six years ago and you’ve got to rewind over five years for his UFC lightweight title victory over Eddie Alvarez.
More to the point, McGregor is now 33 years old. While that age would still be considered young for a larger fighter in the lower weight classes, where speed is so important, there’s an argument that the Irishman is no longer in his physical prime.
When you also take into consideration the serious leg injury that he suffered against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264, snapping his left tibia and fibia, then the idea of Conor McGregor suddenly regaining his physical prime for another run at the UFC lightweight title seems even more like a pipe dream.
Essentially, the UFC is no country for old men. While ‘The Notorious’ might not seem old to many fans, with over a decade of fighting under his belt, the truth is that the best has probably already been and gone for him.
Conor McGregor might deny it, but like former champions like Tito Ortiz and B.J. Penn before him, he’s probably too far past his best to claim UFC gold again.
