Conor McGregor has been told he is "done" and no longer dedicated to his MMA career after suffering two back-to-back losses.
The former two-weight world champion has struggled to remain active and consistent since he won his second belt back in 2016, fighting just four times in the octagon since. He made a huge sum of money when he faced Floyd Mayweather in a crossover boxing fight, before topping the list of highest-paid athletes last year when he sold the majority stake in his whiskey company.
And all of this financial success, years after his greatest sporting successes took place, has cost McGregor dearly in the cage, according to former professional fighter Josh Thomson. During the latest episode of his podcast Weighing In, Thomson declared that the Irishman will never be a champion again due to losing his edge.
“ Conor McGregor can say whatever he wants," Thomson said. "He is not one hundred percent dedicated to fighting. And even if he became one hundred percent dedicated to fighting, we still would not see the Conor McGregor of old. It just wouldn’t happen.
"He stepped away for too long, his mind is going in a hundred different directions, and he has a huge family now. Going on his fourth kid coming. It’s just not there anymore. And he continued to sit here and say that it is. He is not going to be the same fighter that fought Jose Aldo, he’s not gonna be the same fighter that fought Eddie Alvarez.”
McGregor is now a family man, with two sons Rian and Conor Jr as well as a daughter Croia. He is engaged to marry long-time girlfriend Dee Devlin and has a number of major business dealings including his ownership of Dublin hotspot the Black Forge Inn and recovery brand TIDL Sport.
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He last year became the highest paid athlete in the world according to Forbes Magazine, and has often been criticised for taking on too much outside of the cage. McGregor is currently working on an octagon comeback, which he believes should be against welterweight champion Kamaru Usman.
But fans were critical of his recent training footage, and argue that he will need to make significant improvements if he is to get back to his best. He is currently awaiting full medical clearance to begin sparring again
He believes that Usman, who hasn't lost in the UFC as yet and has beaten multiple top contenders twice, would not pose a major threat, and that he will become a three-division world champion. He told The Mac Life: "I feel confident against Usman.
"A jab-happy, sloppy, orthodox wrestler with no submissions whatsoever - what's he going to do? Where's the danger here? I don't see danger - no one has ever obtained three titles in three divisions like I will do if we make this fight."
