I was one of your most steadfast defenders. You are my favorite fighter. But here, almost a year-and-a-half removed from your lightweight title fight, Conor McGregor, you let me down. I’m not upset that you let me down. I get it. Getting paid more than you’ve made in the UFC for one boxing match is hard to come back from, but the chip you used to have on your shoulder would have pulled you back in, no doubt.
You rose through the ranks of the featherweight division and became Mystic Mac. You called your shots and were damn near spot on. They were often a bullseye. You won over the hearts of many fight fans, and you represented your country. You were on top of the world.
Now, you’ve been stripped of both of your titles and Tony Ferguson will fight Khabib Nurmagomedov for your lightweight belt. I kept hoping you would come back, like many other fight fans did. Whether they wanted to see you get your ass handed to you or to see you remain the dominant fighter that you were, we wanted you back.
We could’ve lived with you letting us down in not being a great fighter, but you let us see too much of how you can control an octagon. You left us wanting more. You can blame the company for not giving you what you want, but you are the start of the UFC. Conor, you are the draw and you know it, so come back and make the octagon yours again. Draw boxers into your domain and dominate the super fights.
If you truly fought for Ireland, you wouldn’t have left the octagon for so long. If you fought because you liked it, you would’ve been back by now. Instead, we have two new champions in the featherweight and lightweight divisions, and we’re dying for the rubber match in the Diaz trilogy. You became too big for yourself Conor, and soon we’ll start to move on. We deserve the Conor McGregor-Khabib Nurmagomedov fight that is so wildly hyped up.
The fans would even take a Holloway rematch, to see you dominate him without a torn ACL and get one of your belts back. Either of the top two lightweights would be a huge draw. Alas, you’ve spent your time screaming at referees and getting involved in bar fights with Irish gangsters (allegedly). That’s not where we want to see you fight. Come back to the octagon, Conor, or keep letting your fans down.
It’s a shame you were only in this for the money. You could’ve been one of the most dominant UFC fighters in history.