5 reasons why Kamaru Usman vs. Conor McGregor is a terrible idea

#2. Conor McGregor would be leapfrogging far more deserving contenders

Conor McGregor has done nothing to warrant a UFC welterweight title shot

While Conor McGregor might draw more money than Kamaru Usman’s other prospective challengers, fighters such as Leon Edwards and Khamzat Chimaev, it goes without saying that the Irishman certainly doesn’t deserve a shot at the UFC welterweight title right now.

Sure, if the UFC were to book the fight, it wouldn’t be the first time that McGregor would be leapfrogging more deserving challengers. He jumped over the likes of Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov to take his shot at the UFC lightweight title in 2016 despite never fighting in the division before.

However, in that case, ‘The Notorious’ was at least coming off his epic run to the UFC featherweight title and had defeated Nate Diaz in his previous bout.

Now, though, McGregor is just 1-3 in his last four bouts, hasn’t won a fight since his January 2020 win over Donald Cerrone and is coming off two straight losses to Dustin Poirier, both of which saw him stopped in violent fashion.

Therefore, it’d be absolutely impossible for the UFC to justify handing the Irishman a shot at ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’, particularly if they want to retain the pretense that they’re a promotion which books the best fights based on sporting merit.

Sure, Chimaev himself has stated that he’d understand if McGregor were to jump the queue due to his star power, but that isn’t the point. To give a fighter coming off two brutal losses a title shot would simply send an appalling message to the rest of the UFC roster.

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#1. A fight with Kamaru Usman would be a horrible stylistic match for Conor McGregor

Kamaru Usman would be a horrible stylistic match for Conor McGregor

Conor McGregor is undoubtedly the UFC’s biggest ever star, particularly when it comes to drawing big money on pay-per-view. Of the UFC’s top-10 selling events of all time, McGregor was the headline act in eight of them.

However, at this stage in his career, it may well be fair to question just how much longer ‘The Notorious’ can remain a major draw on pay-per-view, particularly if his form in the octagon continues to slide like it has been doing in recent years.

Thanks to his two losses to Dustin Poirier in 2021, McGregor has now not won a fight in the octagon for over two years. His record since returning to the octagon following his boxing match with Floyd Mayweather stands at 1-3.

Essentially, if McGregor is to regain his luster and thus prevent his drawing power from being diminished, it’s hugely important that he wins his next fight.

However, if that next fight comes against Kamaru Usman, it’s highly likely that ‘The Notorious’ will lose, and lose badly. ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ is not only a devastatingly powerful fighter, he’s ruthless too, and will likely enjoy destroying the Irishman piece by piece.

Therefore, if McGregor wants to remain MMA’s biggest star and not descend into self-parody in the way that many of his predecessors did, he’d be better off forgetting all about challenging Usman and looking to match with a beatable opponent to regain some momentum first.