5 current UFC lightweights who could've beaten Conor McGregor in his prime

#2. Tony Ferguson vs. prime Conor McGregor

Could prime Tony Ferguson have beaten prime Conor McGregor?

This one comes with a bit of a caveat, as it’s arguable that right now, the version of Tony Ferguson competing in the UFC is even further past his prime than the version of Conor McGregor that lost twice to Dustin Poirier.

The last two times we’ve seen ‘El Cucuy’ in the octagon, he’s been beaten in a one-sided fashion by Charles Oliveira and Justin Gaethje respectively.

However, a fight between Ferguson and McGregor with both men in their primes was an absolute dream match just a few years ago. In fact, it could well have served as McGregor’s first UFC lightweight title defense had he not decided to chase a boxing match with Floyd Mayweather instead.

Oct7.2017Tony Ferguson finishes Kevin Lee with a triangle choke, to become the interim UFC Lightweight Champion pic.twitter.com/eakdaXEUmV

— MMA History Today (@MMAHistoryToday) October 8, 2020

So who would’ve won this fight? It would undoubtedly have been a tough one to call, as it would’ve pitted Conor McGregor’s knockout power, sharp counterpunching, excellent footwork and movement against Ferguson’s unorthodox, wild striking and array of takedowns and submissions.

But on the face of it at least, you’d have to have favored Ferguson. ‘El Cucuy’ was arguably the most durable fighter in the UFC at that point, as he demonstrated when he survived onslaughts from the likes of Lando Vannata and Anthony Pettis.

And Ferguson could push the pace like few other fighters, as we saw when he forced opponents like Rafael dos Anjos and Kevin Lee to wilt in the later rounds.

There’s no doubt that Ferguson probably would’ve eaten at least one or two heavy shots in a fight with McGregor. After all, ‘El Cucuy’ was always open to being hit and prime McGregor was a pinpoint, accurate striker.

However, if he could’ve absorbed those shots, even the best Conor McGregor would not have been able to survive such a hellacious pace, especially considering we saw him gas in his two fights with Nate Diaz. That would’ve left him wide open for Ferguson to take control and win, perhaps with his patented D’arce choke.

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#1. Justin Gaethje vs. prime Conor McGregor

Justin Gaethje would've been a nightmare fight for Conor McGregor in his prime

One old adage that fans of Conor McGregor used to suggest was that shorter wrestle-boxers had little chance of defeating the irishman despite their skill in takedowns. The suggestion was that they wouldn’t be able to find a way around McGregor’s clever footwork and movement, and in doing so, they’d leave themselves open to a heavy counterpunch from a fighter with a longer reach.

We saw this in action when prime Conor McGregor took out both Chad Mendes and Eddie Alvarez, which is why fighters like Michael Chandler and Gregor Gillespie don’t appear on this list. Justin Gaethje, however, is not a normal wrestle-boxer.

Sure, he has takedowns in his arsenal, not that he uses them much, and fights in a somewhat similar way to those lightweights. But the difference is that none of those other wrestle-boxers strike quite like ‘The Highlight’.

Justin Gaethje produced an explosive first-round knockout of Edson Barboza at UFC Philadelphia - his second knockout victory in a row.➡ https://t.co/4eyMREu5gi pic.twitter.com/oGpI06e9XZ

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) March 31, 2019

Gaethje has arguably the heaviest hands in the lightweight division, and his punching accuracy is excellent too. When he fought Tony Ferguson, for instance, he caught ‘El Cucuy’ over and over with a brutal right hand. Wild swings simply didn’t come into his head.

And ‘The Highlight’ also throws truly vicious leg kicks, and is more than capable of chopping a foe down in brutal fashion using them. Add in his legendary durability, and he’s a fighter who is very difficult to stop.

What could prime Conor McGregor have done against Gaethje? He likely would’ve looked to use his movement to catch the former PFL champion coming forward with a heavy counterpunch.

However, his overall susceptibility to leg kicks would’ve meant that Gaethje could’ve used them to chop the Irishman down, preventing that movement altogether.

Essentially, Justin Gaethje would’ve been a nightmare opponent for Conor McGregor in his prime, and could’ve ended his UFC lightweight title reign had the two ever fought.