Conor McGregor's Days in UFC Numbered

Author: Cameron Haywood

News broke recently that Conor McGregor will face Dustin Poirier during International Fight Week on June 10th in Las Vegas. This is the match that will decide the tiebreaker between the two.  Make no mistake about the importance of this fight for Conor. This is the biggest fight of Conor McGregor’s career. If he loses this match, his days in the UFC are numbered.  If not over!!  
Conor McGregor is going down a path that has been traveled before. The path of UFC legends tarnishing their legacy by allowing their careers to die a slow death. When he lost his match to Khabib Nurmagomedov, McGregor lost much more than a UFC fight.  Before the Khabib fight, Conor thought he had no equal.  Now he knows that he can never be the best at what he does best.  That he is not invincible.  Following his loss to Kabib, his next match was a lay-up against a washed-up Donald Cerrone. But when quality competition in the form of Dustin Poirier came calling, the ghost of Khabib reappeared.  Conor was embarrassed and dominated for the second time in three fights. That loss was the proof that he lost things that every fighter must have. Confidence. Swagger. Invincibility. Conor is following a trail that many legendary fighters have walked. History tells us that this trilogy on June 10 is Conor’s last chance to be relevant in the UFC. 
 Chuck “Iceman” Liddell walk into the Octagon on May 6, 2007, with a 20-3 record while riding a 7-fight win streak. A streak that included his recent victory over his main rival Tito Ortiz for the second time in four years.  The Iceman was universally thought of as unbeatable. His last loss was to Quinton “Rampage” Jackson four years earlier and this was his night to get revenge. To prove he is the best Light Heavyweight on the planet. But Quinton turned out to be his kryptonite and the Iceman could not pull off the victory. Rampage did not just beat him and take the UFC Light Heavyweight Title, but he embarrassed him.  It took Rampage just one minute and fifty-three seconds in the first round to take the victory and all the necessities that a fighter must have. Confidence.  Swagger.  Invincibility. This loss meant that Rampage was better.  There is a man walking the earth better at what he is supposed to be the best at. This resulted in Chuck only winning once in his next seven fights before retiring.   
On July 6, 2013, Anderson “Spider” Silva was invincible. He was in the midst of a UFC record 16-fight win streak and 17 straight wins overall.  He had not tasted defeat in over seven and a half years.  No doubt that Chris Weidman was destined to be the next notch in the win column on the 33-4 record of the Spider. One minute and eighteen seconds in the second round, Weidman shocked the world and knock Silva out.  Silva quickly got a rematch in December of that same year.  Weidman won again; it just took two seconds less in the second round this time.  Silva ended up with one win, one no contest, and seven losses to end his career. Matt Weidman too was the thieve of Silva’s fighting lifeline. He took his Confidence.  His Swagger.  Silva was no longer invincible. 
This potential fight against Dustin Poirier has more than just a win at stake for Conor McGregor. This is about more than getting back into a title picture.  This is about regaining all the things that he lost to Khabib.  Repossessing all the things that Poirier took from him in that January 21st lost earlier in the year.  Conor is fighting to regain confidence.  Take back his “Rick Flair Style” swagger.  To feel invincible once again. 
My opinion.  120 million dollars in the bank along with the knowledge that he can be beaten, tells me that Conor McGregor has more losing in the future than winning. Starting with Poirier on June 10, 2021. 

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