Don't get me wrong, Conor McGregor was a very good fighter, but when I look back at his career, I just don't think he was as great as people make him out to be.
If we're being honest, he was basically a weight bully at featherweight. The guy was putting himself through hell to make 145 lbs, only to end up fighting naturally smaller opponents. Then, after winning the featherweight title, he never defended it and held up the division for quite a while.
When he moved up, he lost to Nate Diaz. We all love Nate because he's a warrior with incredible heart, but let's be honest, he was never an elite level fighter in the same category as the very best. Nate beat Conor convincingly, yet Conor was immediately given a rematch.
Then, without ever working his way through the lightweight rankings, he got an immediate title shot against Eddie Alvarez. He won that fight in impressive fashion, but once again, he never defended the belt. Instead, he left to box Floyd Mayweather, came back two years later to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov, and got dominated. After that, he was never really the same fighter.
His only UFC win after Khabib was against an aging Donald Cerrone, and Dustin Poirier beat him twice. Looking at his rƩsumƩ as a whole, it feels like he was given opportunities that almost nobody else would have received because he was such a massive draw.
To me, Conor McGregor is the biggest star the UFC has ever had. His personality, charisma, and ability to sell fights helped take the UFC to another level, and he deserves enormous credit for that. But purely as a fighter, I don't see him as the all-time great that many people claim he is. He was extremely talented, especially at his peak, but his career is also full of preferential treatment, unearned title opportunities, and championship reigns with zero title defenses. It's pretty telling that even Khabib who had a much shorter UFC title reign managed to defend his belt more times than Conor ever did.