Ranking Conor McGregor's 10 UFC Performances
Ahead of his boxing super-fight, we rank McGregor's 10 Octagon appearances.
In April 2013, Conor McGregor made his UFC debut.
There were people who believed McGregor could become a star in UFC, but not many people predicted quite how meteoric his rise would be. The only man to hold two World titles simultaneously in company history, 'The Notorious One' has become the biggest draw in MMA history.
Racking up a 9-1 record in UFC with 8 wins via KO/TKO, McGregor blitzed through the featherweight division en route to taking the title there, before going up in weight. Less than a year later he added the lightweight title to his collection, living up to a promise he repeatedly made of becoming a two weight World champion.
With the super-fight against Floyd Mayweather coming up on 26 August, it's certainly possible that we'll never see McGregor in the octagon again. His transition to boxing is likely to be one and done, but that doesn't necessarily mean he'll be back in UFC. With a potential $100,000,000 payday coming his way, McGregor may just retire young and rich.
While his UFC future may be in doubt, his past is something to celebrate. While Conor didn't always have it his own way in the cage - even in victory - he put in some incredible performances against some top level fighters.
Let's rank them, shall we?
10. Nate Diaz - UFC 196 (5 March 2016)
This one has to be tenth, as it was his only loss in the Octagon.
Nate Diaz defeated Michael Johnson in December 2015 and called out Conor McGregor. The Irishman had just won the featherweight title, and was booked to face Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 196 for the lightweight title, but RDA pulled out less than two weeks before the fight. Diaz stepped in at short notice - such short notice that the bout was booked at welterweight as Diaz was never getting down to 155 in time.
Diaz vs. McGregor in a stand-up fight was always going to be intriguing, but the former seemed bamboozled by the latter's speed, and without a training camp, Diaz looked slow early on. Conor dominated the first seven minutes, but his expansive variety of attacks depleted his gas tank quickly, and Diaz took advantage.
Diaz bounced a two punch combination off McGregor's chin to signal the beginning of the end. McGregor decided his best escape route after the barrage that followed would be a takedown, which Diaz stuffed easily, and used his far superior Jiu-Jitsu to take over, eventually choking McGregor for the submission win.
Stockton's finest was able to take the shots McGregor was used to putting away smaller men with, and it allowed him to outlast his foe for a life changing win.