On this day in 2014, Conor McGregor needed just 106 seconds to knock out Dustin Poirier at UFC 178. With ‘Notorious’ now inactive for over two years and having not won a fight in three-and-a-half it begs a question. Watching the Poirier destruction begs the question, to paraphrase McGregor himself; where the f*ck is THAT guy?
The Poirier win ratified McGregor as the UFC’s modern superstar. His outspoken interviews and absorbing arrogance had already done much of the heavy lifting on that score. But taking out his opponent in a shade over a minute-and-a-half on his pay-per-view debut set McGregor on the path to super-stardom.
We all know what followed but it bears repeating. The Poirier fight was the second in a run of five consecutive Performance of the Night bonuses for the Irishman. By the end of that streak, McGregor was the undisputed UFC Featherweight Champion. He had unified the belts by knocking out the great Jose Aldo in just 13 seconds. McGregor wasn’t just the company’s top draw and main focus, he was on the verge of becoming an all-time great.
The swaggering slugger hit the first roadblock of his tenure when he moved up to welterweight. Nate Diaz submitted McGregor at UFC 196 to hand him his first loss in the company. But McGregor avenged the result in a rematch at UFC 202, taking a majority nod over Diaz in the Fight of the Night.
In his next outing, McGregor would enjoy his finest achievement. An accolade that would put him in the UFC history books once and for all. Reigning Featherweight king McGregor beat Lightweight boss Eddie Alvarez by TKO in the second round. In doing so he became the first fighter in UFC history to simultaneously hold titles in two weight divisions. McGregor was on top of the world.
From there, the only way was down. McGregor would not fight again for two years and was stripped of his titles for inactivity. Part of the reason for his absence was a 2017 boxing loss to Floyd Mayweather. The cross-codes clash raised McGregor’s profile to record levels, making him one of the most famous athletes on the planet. But the sudden rush of international claim went to McGregor’s swelling head.
There was a speeding charge in Dublin. A brawl at a Bellator event that saw him slap an athletic commissioner. McGregor and members of his entourage attacked a bus carrying new UFC Lightweight king Khabib Nurmagomedov and other fighters at UFC 223. McGregor threw a metal dolly through the bus window, with broken glass injuring fighters Ray Borg and Michael Chiesa. He would later serve community service over the incident.
The feud would eventually be taken into the Octagon and it would not end well for McGregor. Khabib Nurmagomedov submitted him in four rounds to retain the Lightweight title. A lay-off of over a year followed, as McGregor risked becoming more sideshow than fighter. He was more ‘Notorious’ for outside-cage actions like assaulting a man in a Dublin pub than his career as an MMA fighter.
When he did step back in his natural habitat, for one night McGregor looked like the man he had always been. ‘Cowboy’ Donald Cerrone lasted just 40 seconds before being destroyed with a head kick and punches. But McGregor wasn’t back, not really. He was not the same man he was before.
This is where our story comes full circle from this day in 2014. McGregor fought Dustin Poirier in a pair of rematches in 2021. His opponent stopped him in the first one via second-round TKO. The doctor halted the second, when McGregor’s leg broke. The enduring image of McGregor’s career used to be a pair of championship belts draped over his shoulders. Now, two years on from his last bout, it is him sat helpless on the cage floor as Joe Rogan interviews him.
Will McGregor ever get back to who he was? Probably not. Even though he is just 35 years old, he has only looked like his old self once in the seven years. Outside the ring issues continue to mount up while time ticks away on one of the most controversial but enduring MMA careers in history. Whatever happens now, McGregor will go down in the history of the sport. It’s just a shame he seems incapable of doing so for entirely the right reasons.
*18+ | BeGambleAware | Odds Subject To Change
