Three years have passed since Conor McGregor's last UFC win as he continues to prepare for his highly-anticipated comeback fight.
Former two-weight champion McGregor, 34, has not won a fight in the promotion since knocking out now-retired Donald Cerrone in just 40 seconds at UFC 246. In the fight, which took place three years ago to the day, McGregor showed off his shoulder strikes in the opening exchange as Cerrone was blooded up early doors.
The American was badly hurt by a head kick and went down, which prompted his Irish rival to follow up and get the ground-and-pound finish. The win marked McGregor's second-fastest UFC finish to date, only topped by his 13-second knockout against Jose Aldo in December 2015 which crowned him featherweight champion.
Outside of McGregor's win against Cerrone, the Irishman's last win came over six years ago when he won the UFC lightweight title by knocking out Eddie Alvarez. The flawless performance crowned McGregor the first-ever UFC fighter to hold belts in different weight classes simultaneously, a feat that was later achieved by Daniel Cormrier, Amanda Nunes and Henry Cejudo.
McGregor hasn't fought since breaking his leg against bitter rival Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in July 2021. The fight marked McGregor's second loss to Poirier that year having been knocked out by his rival in January. All of McGregor's inactivity has led to him dropping out of the UFC rankings, as he is not in the top 15 at lightweight or welterweight.
The muscle McGregor has piled on during his lengthy lay-off means he will almost certainly compete at welterweight for his UFC return, with his previous two fights taking place at lightweight. McGregor's win against Cerrone was his last fight that took place at 170lb and he previously competed in the weight class for his two fights against Nate Diaz in 2016.
Who do you want to see Conor McGregor fight in his UFC return? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
Fans recently urged 'Notorious' to go back to the karate stance that won him two world titles after he posted a clip of him hitting pads. McGregor fought with a boxing-focused stance for his two losses against Poirier in 2021, the polar opposite to his old karate stance in which he looked very loose on his feet.
"This heavy-footed, static, marching forward boxing stance didn't work out well the last two fights and it won't be the third time either. Time to switch gyms and evolve. Don't train with guys who embed your errors," one user commented on McGregor's latest training clip. A second user wrote, "Bring back the karate stance," before another agreed, "Go back to the karate stance."
