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Is being the richest more important than being the greatest?
Despite this claim, Conor McGregor is not the greatest UFC fighter of all time. In fact, he’s not even the greatest UFC fighter in his weight class. That honor goes to Khabib Nurmagomedov, who submitted “Notorious” in their lightweight title fight at UFC 229 back in 2018.
It was not close. The referee did not blow the call. No controversy from the judges.
But just because McGregor has not proven himself to be the best ever, especially when compared to the careers enjoyed by combatants like Jon Jones and Georges St-Pierre, does not mean he is anything less than an exceptional fighter.
Championship titles in two different weight classes, 19 knockouts in 22 wins, a reign of terror in the 145-pound division that we have not seen since the old days of Jose Aldo in WEC, the list goes on. McGregor’s failure to defend a single title, however, his definitive loss to Nate Diaz at UFC 196, and the fact that he’s only competed twice in almost four years hurts his overall body of work. But he’s super rich, so I guess that’s all that matters.
That’s the argument being presented by head coach John Kavanagh, who changed the narrative on Wednesday after failing to make any headway in the “GOAT” conversation. But just remember that for every dollar McGregor makes, Dana White and Co. make double and perhaps even triple that number.
Not that it matters to any of us, it’s all about your own personal legacy and how you want to be remembered, though I should mention it was McGregor who started the GOAT talk, which makes the “prize fighting” argument sound a bit out of place.