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Back to the canvas, back to the cage, leg bent in a way the legs weren’t supposed to bend and Conor McGregor still kept bleating and harassing.
He was screaming for his latest loss to be officially declared medical stoppage, not a TKO at the hands of Dustin Poirier, a distinction without much difference.
He was yelling at Poirier that next time – unlike the last two times – he would give him hellish lashes, which, given the circumstances, was comically sad.
He was screaming about Poirier’s wife because, well, McGregor learned a long time ago that people might be about to ignore him, just get more mean and rude, and more and more ridiculous.
The point is, people might stop listening to Conor McGregor very soon. His post-fight rant sounded more like a guy begging for continued relevance, begging Poirier and other elite fighters not to leave him behind, than a tangible emotion. It’s hard to imagine that even McGregor believed what he said.
“I was sending him the bleeding head, I was sending him the bleeding leg,” McGregor frantically told announcer Joe Rogan. ” It is not finished. If I have to take this outside with him, it’s outside.
Ah, it’s over. At least this McGregor era. He was kicked out of a Las Vegas octagon on Saturday night – his left leg in a brace – and at the crossroads of his career.
The Dublin, Ireland native claimed a four-year victory over Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone.
He’s been brutalized in his last three fights – one by Khabib Nurmagomedov and twice now by Poirier. He no longer seems capable of his early-match swarms that overwhelmed excited opponents. His once deadly left doesn’t seem to wear the same pop.
He’s changed his style and strategy so often that he doesn’t seem convinced of any of them – attempting a one-armed guillotine on a black belt like Poirier was a sign of desperation that came to pass. is finished in a predictable way.
The leg break ended this one at the end of the first round, but Poirier had dominated that round – all the bluster about how McGregor was going to murder and torture Poirier hadn’t come close to materializing. He looked like he was about to be knocked out.
That said, McGregor remains, by far, the biggest draw in combat sports. The T-Mobile Arena was packed with top celebrities and even a former president. UFC President Dana White said pay-per-views were trending towards 1.8 million, one of the best nights ever for the sport.
Aside from the recent record, McGregor is still a top fighter as he celebrates his 33rd birthday this week. His lower shin will be reattached – although more horrible to look at, it’s easier to heal than a ligament or tendon. He still has a lot of career left if he wants to.
It’s just not the career he’s had.
The antics, the slurs, the trashy talk that hypnotized the world made McGregor a very rich and famous man. This was, in large part, however, because he could back it up with skill and cunning and a fury that he said always arose out of the unemployed Irish life.
McGregor would get angry before the fight, but then he would give it a hell of a punch. Win or lose, he would send everyone home pretty happy. He was a combat fighter, not just a self-proclaimed star. Give that to the man. And it can, without a doubt, still hurt in this.
Still, the visual of a slumped – smashed and beaten – McGregor hurling outrageous slurs and unlikely promises of future domination could cringe even Conor when he sees him in replay. Take him outside? He couldn’t even get up. Poirier – had he wanted to descend to McGregor’s level – could have just walked over and punched him again for mentioning his wife. This is what would happen in the streets.
It was a dog barking from inside the door.
How long can McGregor continue all the barking, all his supposed fits of rage? He once threw a loading dock cart through a bus window because he was supposedly so angry with Nurmagomedov, only to be dominated. Now this.
Does anyone keep taking it seriously unless they start backing it up with wins again?
McGregor is no longer in Poirier’s class. Nor that of Khabib (if he never retires). Same thing with Charles Oliveira or Alexander Volkanovski, the respective UFC lightweight and featherweight champions. McGregor once owned both belts at the same time.
It happens. Age is coming. Injuries happen. MMA exists – a sport where innovation and improvement must be constant. McGregor’s millions are coming.
What is the motivation of a man who got out of poverty and became not only a fighting star and not just a businessman but a company, a man. Whiskey. Boxing. Social media. Fashion. Who knows, he might be heading towards a true billionaire strut.
There are more fights to be had, just a little different. McGregor could still summon anger for a trilogy fight with Nate Diaz. There was a dusting this week with Rafael dos Anjos, a 36-year-old former lightweight champion and on the downward slope of his career. PPVs will continue to run.
There’s also the option of facing YouTube star Jake Paul in a boxing match which, if McGregor could get out of his UFC contract or get the promotion to fold, could earn another nine-figure salary like when he did. fought Floyd Mayweather in 2017.
Or McGregor could just walk away and enjoy his fortune.
His talent as a fighter and promoter served as rocket fuel for the sport. However, each skill needs the other.
Conor McGregor, lying in wait for a stretcher, with no bite to support the bark, isn’t it anymore.
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