How great is Conor McGregor, really?

[D241]

Just to put things into perspective, Conor has done something that no UFC/MMA fighter prior to him has, and that is gain international popularity to the level Conor has, and in such a short time. Financially, Conor has made more money with little fighting compared to anyone else to date. If that's what makes him great, I'd agree with that.

However, has Conor faced a who's who in terms of mma fighters, or even dominated his division more than any other fighter has? Lets take a look at legendary mma fighters before Conor and who they fought, how often they fought, and take out the fame and finance aspect.

(Conor McGregor's first 4 years in UFC)
Since making his UFC debut, Conor McGregor has fought an average of 2 fights a year(2013-2017), for a total of 10 fights with a respectable record of 9-1, with 7 finishes of his 9 wins.
Recognizable names Conor has fought-
Dustin Poirier
(A young not quite as known yet) Max Holloway
Denis Siver
Chad Mendes
Jose Aldo
Nate Diaz
Eddie Alvarez


How good is that compared to mma greats before Conor McGregor?

Lets take a look and compare.....

 

[D241]

Since debuting in the UFC, Royce Gracie went 11-0 in 3 years for an average of 3.6 fights a year.
Royce finished all 11 fights via submission
Recognizable names Royce fought-
10th ranked professional boxer Art Jimmerson
Ken Shamrock
Gerard Gordeau
Pat Smith
Kimo Leopaldo
Keith Hackney
Dan Severn
What makes what Royce did even more special, is two times he beat 3 men in one night, and one time beat 4 men in one night. Even more impressive, is Royce fought under a ruleset that allowed knees/kicks to a downed opponent, no rounds, and even more impressive, no weight limit. Royce weighed 5lbs more than Conor McGregor weighed against Nate Diaz, fighting heavyweights under far more difficult rules. The smallest guy Royce faced had 30 lbs on him.

 

[D241]

Jose Aldo
Since debuting in WEC(UFC/Zuffa owned both UFC and WEC but only showcased smaller weight classes that weren't in UFC, in WEC before eventually having those weight classes incorporated in UFC)-
Jose Aldo went 8-0 from June of 2008 till Sept of 2010 for an average of 4 fights a year.
Then UFC had the 145 division added, and Jose won his next 7 UFC fights from April 2011-Oct 2014
From June 2008 to Oct 2014, Jose Aldo went 15-0 finishing 9 opponents, 4 of those finishes in title fights
Jose Aldo's first 4 years in WEC/UFC he went 11-0 finishing 9 of his 11 opponents
Recognizable names Jose Aldo fought-
Jonathan Brookins
Cub Swanson
Mike Brown
Urijah Faber
Manny Gamburyan
Mark Hominick
Kenny Florian
Chad Mendes(twice)
Frankie Edgar
Korean Zombie
Ricardo Lamas

 

[D241]

George St Pierre-
Debuts in UFC Jan 2004
Fights thirteen times for an average of 3.25 his first 4 years going 9-2, finishing 6 of his 9 wins
Recognizable names GSP fought-
Karo Parisyan
Jay Hieron
Matt Hughes(2X)
Jason Miller
Frank Trigg
Sean Sherk
BJ Penn
Matt Serra
Jon Fitch

 

[D241]

Jon Jones
Debuts in UFC Aug 2008 goes 12-0 in 4 years +1 month for an average of 4.08 times a year
Finishes 9 of his 12 wins(counting Matt Hamil as a win, just like Matt Hamil himself calls it a legit loss)
Recognizable names Jon Jones fought-
Stephan Bonnar
Brandon Vera
Vladimir Matyushenko
Ryan Bader
Shogun
Lyoto Machida
Rashad Evans
Vitor Belfort

 

[D241]

BJ Penn
Debuts in UFC(mma debut as well)May 2001 going 9-2-1 his first 4 years in mma(averaged 3 fights a year). Finished 7 of his 10 wins
Recognizable names BJ fought during this time-
Din Thomas
Cael Uno(2X)
Jens Pulver
Matt Serra
Takanori Gomi
Matt Hughes
Duane Ludwig
Rodrigo Gracie
Lyoto Machida(undefeated lhw at time of fight)

 

[D241]

Matt Hughes
Fought in UFC then 4 fights out of UFC, then UFC fight and 8 fights out of UFC, then stayed in UFC the rest of his career when he returned to the UFC Nov 2001. Matt Hughes would go 10-1 his first 4 years back in the UFC, finishing 8 of his 10 wins
Recognizable names Matt Hughes fought during this period:
Carlos Newton(2X)
Hayoto Sakurai
Gil Castillo
Sean Sherk
Frank Trigg(2X)
BJ Penn
Renatto Verissimo
George St Pierre
Joe Riggs

 

[D241]

Fedor Emelianeko
Debuted in Pride June 2002 fighting 15 times his first 4 years for an average of 3.75 fights a year going 14-0-1NC, finishing 10 of his 14 wins.
Recognizable names Fedor fought his first 4 years in Pride:
Semmy Schilt
Heath Herring
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira(3X)
Kazuyuki Fujita
Gary Goodridge
Mark Coleman(2X)
Kevin Randleman
Tsuyoshi Kosaka(TK)
Mirko Filipovic

 

[D241]

Now, did Conor fight often?

No.

Did he fight more reputable names?

No.

Does he have an intriguing Irish accent, extremely charismatic personality, and great timing to market himself?

Yes.


It's possible that Conor McGregor, in his first 4 years of fighting on a big level, has made more money than any of the legends I mentioned made in their first 4 years....combined.

 

[Rambo John J]

right place right time

talented for sure but literally found a pot of gold under his lucky rainbow

 

[D241]

Now, TMMACers, I tell you all of that, to ask you this.....

Exactly how much emphasis is being put on Conor's Irish Accent, Charismatic personality, and better than average left hand?

 

[The Big Guy]

 

[D241]

When I think of Fedor Emelianenko-

When I think about Matt Hughes-

When I think of BJ Penn

When I think of Jon Jones

When I think of GSP

When I think of Jose Aldo

When I think of Royce Gracie

When I think of Conor McGregor

 

[Wild]

Now, TMMACers, I tell you all of that, to ask you this.....

Exactly how much emphasis is being put on Conor's Irish Accent, Charismatic personality, and better than average left hand?

A combination of fighting ability, charisma, self promotion, business savvy, the UFC sale, the need (demand) for someone in MMA that brought all of this to the table, and Floyd looking for a dance partner. It was a perfect storm for both McGregor and the UFC.

 

[D241]

I just want fighters.......FIGHTERS, to be respected and remembered.

I don't forget. I remember and appreciate.

Michael Bisping has more respect from me as a fighter than Conor does right now. Conor has a lot of fighting to do and challenges to accept before he moves past Bisping.

 

[Buff Bagginz]

Conor ran thru the featherweight division faster than Aldo and finished Aldo in mere seconds. He then decided to go up 2 weight classes lol to challenge himself, BJ Penn style. After that he went and took the lightweight title like nothing. He's a rare talent and a GOAT. I dont know how some dont see that.

Marcus Brimage was a big deal at the time of his debut and he ran thru him. Porier, Holloway, Alvarez are all surging right now but they were dealt with. As time passes by, you start to realize the greatness that is Conor.

 

[CHiLLEN]

They're all great.

It's hard to compare at this stage in Conor's career, and I'll tell you why. He's probably not even in his prime, whereas Hughes, GSP, Gracie, BJ, Aldo, Fedor are past their best. Their resumé's are complete, whereas Conor's is still in progress.

You can't even compare Jon Jones and Conor, cause Jon's had way more fights in the UFC, so more opportunities to prove himself, and he's a year older. If they had similar amount of fights, then we probably could to a degree. Then you have to try and calculate the risks Conor is taking by going up in weight to fight other guys, and how the fights have played out. For example, if someone is knocking out all their opponents, submitting their opponents, compared to someone going to dec etc, then that's got to come into it when comparing careers.

We will never know, not until fighters have retired or out of their prime at least.

See you in 5 years time.

 

[SongExotic2]

I just want fighters.......FIGHTERS, to be respected and remembered.

I don't forget. I remember and appreciate.

Michael Bisping has more respect from me as a fighter than Conor does right now. Conor has a lot of fighting to do and challenges to accept before he moves past Bisping.

How ironic that the first person you bring up (and your Avatar) is a known juicer.

Lol

 

[crowbar]

After CM beat Mendes & Aldo...he shut me up.

 

[SongExotic2]

After CM beat Mendes & Aldo...he shut me up.

Yeh I kinda stopped yapping after that. I was pretty sure Chad was gonna beat the shit out of him too

 

[D241]

They're all great.

It's hard to compare at this stage in Conor's career, and I'll tell you why. He's probably not even in his prime, whereas Hughes, GSP, Gracie, BJ, Aldo, Fedor are past their best. Their resumé's are complete, whereas Conor's is still in progress.

You can't even compare Jon Jones and Conor, cause Jon's had way more fights in the UFC, so more opportunities to prove himself, and he's a year older. If they had similar amount of fights, then we probably could to a degree. Then you have to try and calculate the risks Conor is taking by going up in weight to fight other guys, and how the fights have played out. For example, if someone is knocking out all their opponents, submitting their opponents, compared to someone going to dec etc, then that's got to come into it when comparing careers.

We will never know, not until fighters have retired or out of their prime at least.

See you in 5 years time.

Actually the comparisons the fighters I mentioned was very apples to apples as I had a cut off period to compare first 4 years in major promotion as Conor has been in UFC for four years. The resumes of the fighters mentioned would be twice as long if i included full careers.

That's the perspective I'm trying to give, to show that what Conor has done on a fighting level at this point, is not as great as people make it appear to be when looking at fighters of the past.

 

[CHiLLEN]

After CM beat Mendes & Aldo...he shut me up.

I knew he was great, but this is when I offically knew he was great. It's a shame Mendes came off the couch to take the fight. A part of me says, I would have loved to see a full camp Mendes in there, but now that we know Mendes has used PED's, he was most likely cheating in their first match up. So the other part of me says it's probably a good thing it didn't happen.

Actually the comparisons the fighters I mentioned was very apples to apples as I had a cut off period to compare first 4 years in major promotion as Conor has been in UFC for four years. The resumes of the fighters mentioned would be twice as long if i included full careers.

That's the perspective I'm trying to give, to show that what Conor has done on a fighting level at this point, is not as great as people make it appear to be when looking at fighters of the past.

You even made it clear, but I somehow missed the comparison of the 4 years.

You're right, he's career hasn't been as decorated if we're comparing their first 4 years in the UFC. Still damned impressive though, and deserves to be a Hall of Famer just on his achievements alone.

He's definitely had some help on the way, like getting Dennis Siver just before he's title shot against Aldo, which resulted in Aldo getting hurt and swapped with off the couch Mendes.

When it comes to what he is capable of achieving in the future, it's up there with the best, and may even surpass them if he continues on how he is, the dudes possibily not even in his prime yet, if not just entered it.

Once it's all said and done, it'll be interesting to see what else Conor can achieve in his career. There's a chance we might not see another chapter in his career, so your write up on Conor may be all we get to compare in the end.

 

[Tiiimmmaaayyy]

GSP and Hughes had a more impressive first four years, imo.

I think Jones could be the most talented guy ever in the cage, but his fights listed there were against some guys past their primes.

Conor is great. He went from nothing to rob as shit. He talked his way up the ladder very fast, but it wouldn’t have happened if he couldn’t fight his ass off too. His first four year resume may not be as impressive as the others, but if he chooses to come back he is still young enough to have the better over all resume when it’s all said and done.... but i don’t think he’s coming back.

 

[The EZ Life]

He’s really great.. it’s a shame he’s so rich because if he wasn’t it would lead to him fighting more

 

[Wild]

I'll be shocked if he ever fights in the UFC again, but them not stripping him yet is giving me the slightest bit of hope.