Legend Hangs It Up

When the discussion starts about who the greatest fighter is in MMA history, there's quite a few names that always seem to pop up right away. You have guys like Ken Shamrock, Dan Severn, Tito Ortiz, Chuck Lidell, Randy Couture, Forrest Griffen, Rich Franklin. The list goes on and on and on. Now, there's one name that can be added to the top of most lists. Conor McGregor. The Notorious one has become one of the biggest stars that combat sports has ever seen. Now it appears he's walking away from the sport. 

McGregor made the announcement over Twitter on Saturday night just after the conclusion of UFC 250. On Sunday morning, McGregor told ESPN that he has lost his excitement for the sport. 

"The game just does not excite me, and that's that," McGregor said. "All this waiting around. There's nothing happening. I'm going through opponent options, and there's nothing really there at the minute. There's nothing that's exciting me.

This isn't the first time that Conor has called it a career, as he had retired in 2016, only to come back later in the year to return to fighting. He's had 26 career fights, going 22-4 in the UFC, his last one coming in January of this year, beating Donald Cerrone in 40 seconds in the first round. Conor became known for becoming the first UFC fighter to hold titles in two weight classes at the same time when he knocked out Eddie Alvarez to win the lightweight belt at UFC 205 in 2016.

What made Conor so great? He s one of the best stand up fighters this sport has ever seen. McGregor hated going to the ground, he would much rather stay on his feet to then go to the ground. Another big thing that stuck out for Conor, was his psychological tatics during fights. He would have no problem trash talking his opponents, getting in their heads, and use that against them as the fights went on. He had that ability to be able to run his mouth and then back it up without a problem. He was that good.

It didn't matter what style of fight you wanted to have, Conor was willing to try and match it. He was good at what he did and he knew it. Conor could run his mouth and then back it up inside the cage.

He will go down in the books as one of the greatest to ever step foot inside a cage. So thanks for the memories Conor, its been a hell of a ride and career.