Is 'The Notorious' era in the UFC at an end? Why Conor McGregor's time may be up

In the world of MMA, time flies, and a great example of that is the fact that April will mark a decade since Conor McGregor’s UFC debut.

In the 10 years that have followed his debut, Conor McGregor has become the UFC’s biggest star. He has won and lost titles in the octagon, embarked on landmark rivalries and sold millions of pay-per-views.

In 2024, though, is ‘The Notorious’ still relevant to the UFC, or is the era that he was once the face of now at an end?

More importantly, if that's the case, how does the UFC move on – and can they really replace the Irish superstar?

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Conor McGregor: What set him apart from the UFC’s other superstars?

Conor McGregor is undoubtedly the highest-drawing fighter in UFC history.

The Irishman has headlined no fewer than eight events that drew over a million buys on pay-per-view. His clash with Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2018 remains the biggest-selling UFC event of all time.

While it wasn’t a UFC event, McGregor’s 2017 boxing match with Floyd Mayweather drew an insane 4.3 million pay-per-view buys, allowing him to transcend the world of MMA entirely.

Nevertheless, the UFC had other stars before the rise of ‘The Notorious’ and is still home to a number of big stars today. So what set the Irishman apart from all the stars? Put simply, it was the fact that he possessed unrivalled charisma, talked a good game, but most importantly, backed his words up inside the octagon.

Brock Lesnar, for instance, had a similar aura to Mike Tyson, one of boxing’s biggest-ever stars. However, because his reign at the top of the UFC was so short, and he was unable to remain dominant, his star power was eclipsed by McGregor.

Ronda Rousey, meanwhile, became a cultural icon of sorts, but despite her dominance, once she lost to Holly Holm, her story was all but over.

The likes of Georges St-Pierre and Anderson Silva, meanwhile, drew remarkably well within the confines of MMA but didn’t have the charisma and star power to transcend the sport like McGregor.

From most perspectives, ‘The Notorious’ was unique. Unfortunately for both Conor McGregor and the UFC, that may have changed now.

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Conor McGregor has not won a fight since January 2020

While many fans would focus on Conor McGregor’s incredible skills on the microphone as being the key to his star power, that was never necessarily the case.

The UFC has seen plenty of great trash talkers over the years, with names like Chael Sonnen, Michael Bisping and BJ Penn coming to mind. If anything, some of them were better on the mic than ‘The Notorious’.

However, what made the Irishman different during his rise to fame was his prowess inside the octagon. Not only did McGregor tell his foes that he would beat them easily, but he backed up every word, often in a nonchalant fashion.

The likes of Dustin Poirier and Dennis Siver were dispatched with frightening ease by ‘The Notorious.’ When he knocked out Jose Aldo – who hadn’t been beaten in a decade – in a matter of seconds to win featherweight gold, his legacy was cemented.

Sure, McGregor lost to Nate Diaz, but somehow, that fight barely put a dent in his aura. He won the rematch before producing a career-best showing to down Eddie Alvarez, becoming the first UFC fighter to hold two titles simultaneously.

By the time he faced Floyd Mayweather in 2017, McGregor was essentially untouchable, to the point that his losses in that fight and to Khabib Nurmagomedov were never going to affect him.

After all, Mayweather was renowned as the best boxer of his generation. ‘The Notorious’ had never boxed professionally before, while Khabib was also recognised as possibly the best MMA lightweight of all time, too.

When McGregor returned after just over a year out to smash Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone at the start of 2020, it felt like his journey back to the top of the UFC was inevitable.

Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case. That win over Cerrone remains Conor McGregor’s most recent one in the octagon, which is now four years ago. So what has gone wrong since then?

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Did Dustin Poirier destroy Conor McGregor’s aura altogether?

It’s probably fair to say that 2021 was by far the worst year of Conor McGregor’s active career.

UFC 257, which took place that January, saw him face his old rival Dustin Poirier in a rematch. Despite the Irishman starting well, he eventually succumbed to a second-round knockout.

It was the first time ‘The Notorious’ had ever been knocked out in the octagon, but far worse was to come in the trilogy fight, which took place six months later. This time, McGregor suffered a devastating leg break late in the first round, forcing the referee to call a halt to the action.

The injury was both horrific and unlucky, but the image of a confused, hurt McGregor ranting at Poirier’s wife and demanding that the fight be declared a ‘Doctor’s Stoppage’ rather than a TKO loss was hardly one that elicited sympathy.

If anything, ‘The Notorious’ was suddenly a laughing stock of sorts, with his dangerous aura completely shattered by ‘The Diamond’ across two fights.

Conor McGregor has, of course, not fought since then. A lengthy absence to rehabilitate his injury was always understandable, but it’s fair to say that ‘The Notorious’ has not kept himself quiet over the last couple of years.

Instead, he has made numerous social media posts showing off some huge muscle gains. He been involved in many controversial incidents, including a sexual assault allegation that was later dropped. McGregor recently appeared alongside Jake Gyllenhall in the remake of 80’s movie Road House.

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Will Conor McGregor ever return?

What of his fighting career, though? Last year, Conor McGregor coached on The Ultimate Fighter alongside Michael Chandler, with the idea being to build to a fight between the two.

Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of both Chandler and the UFC, the fight has not yet been given an official date. Quite why that is so depends on your perspective.

What we do know is that McGregor was either unwilling or unable to submit to the drug testing demands of USADA in late 2023, a controversy that resulted in the end of their relationship with the UFC.

The promotion has since installed an alternative drug testing regime, but McGregor’s return seems to be no closer.

At the moment, UFC 300 still lacks a headliner – but with less than three months before the event, the idea of that headliner being ‘The Notorious’ vs. Chandler feels less and less likely.

On one hand, if that proves to be the case, it’d be difficult to blame the Irishman for walking away.

After all, he has made more than enough money, is now 35, suffered one of the worst injuries in UFC history and has little to prove. Meanwhile, it’d be easy to see the years following his loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov as a waste, given that he has only fought three times.

More to the point, all of his bluster during the period since his last fight would seem bizarre. It could even turn the Irishman into a figure of ridicule more than anything else. If that’s the case, he’d be going out with a whimper rather than a bang.

The same could be said, though, if he were to return and lose badly to Chandler. Given that he has been out for so long and would be considered an ageing fighter, the likelihood of that happening seems high.

The truth, then, is that the Conor McGregor era in the UFC may have come to a quiet and unsatisfying end. That's something that would’ve been practically unimaginable when he debuted a decade ago and looked destined for superstardom.