From a pub assault to the Brooklyn bus attack - Conor McGregor's lowest moments
- Chris Brannan
- 1 June 2022
Since a left hook that rocked the world 13 seconds into his UFC featherweight title match with Jose Aldo, Conor McGregor has become the face of MMA.
While he is a two-division world champion in the UFC and was involved in one of boxing's biggest fights against Floyd Mayweather, Conor McGregor has lost his way in recent years.
Below, we look at some of his worst moments inside and outside the octagon.
First UFC loss to Diaz
Before suffering his first loss in the UFC, 'Notorious' hadn't tasted defeat for six years when he tapped out in his sixth professional fight to Joseph Duffy's arm-triangle choke.
Even some of UFC's biggest names such as the aforementioned Aldo as well as Max Holloway and Chad Mendes were unable to put a dent in McGregor. Yet stepping up to welterweight to fight Jiu-Jitsu specialist Nate Diaz turned out to be a step too far for the fighter from Dublin.
In McGregor's defence, The Ultimate Fighter season five winner was not the original opponent scheduled for the UFC 196 main event. Instead, the lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos was the opposition in place before the Brazilian had to back out due to a broken foot.
Last minute replacement Diaz agreed to step in providing the bout take place at welterweight - demands which McGregor met.
When it came to fight night, the stockier frame of McGregor was tested by the second round - the faces of both fighters were a bloody crimson mess.
Despite having initial success in the fight, McGregor began getting tagged regularly leading to his desperate attempt of a takedown on the American southpaw.
Diaz defended the takedown, getting the back of McGregor with the culmination of the fight seeing the Irishman tap out of a rear naked choke. Despite eventually avenging the loss, fans seeing the man who they thought was unbeatable, submitting to Diaz was a painful blow for his ego.
Brooklyn bus attack
McGregor has been involved in his fair share of controversies, with one of the most infamous being the Brooklyn bus attack in April 2018.
The history behind the incident started when Khabib Nurmagomedov cornered McGregor's close friend - Artem Lobov. With both fighters scheduled to appear on the upcoming UFC 223 card later that week, the Irishman appeared at the media day supporting Lobov.
When Khabib was leaving the media day on the UFC bus, McGregor and his mob attacked the vehicle, throwing guard rails, trash cans and whatever else they could find.
With other fighters such as Rose Namajunas, Ray Borg, and Michael Chiesa on board, the latter two had to be pulled from their fights that weekend due to the shattered glass causing eye injuries to the fighters.
In the aftermath of the event, the New York Police Department put a warrant out for the arrest of McGregor with the eventual charges of criminal mischief along with three counts of assault placed on the UFC fighter.
The bus attack acted as a snowball effect which led to a series of events which saw the rivalry between McGregor and Khabib intensify, making their fight later in the year all that more exciting.
Defeat to Khabib
The most controversial event in UFC history. From the rivalry that started it to the brawl that ended it. From start to finish, the UFC 229 saga was a low one for McGregor.
Khabib won the vacant lightweight strap against Al Iaquinta at UFC 223, with the title being stripped from the Irishman as soon as the first bell rung, adding even more heat to the already lit fire.
The fight between the rivals was announced just weeks after the legal issues surrounding the Brooklyn bus incident were sorted, with the fight already being seen as the biggest in UFC history with the night being billed as 'UFC 229: The World is Watching'.
Despite it not quite being the world, a whopping 2.4 million tuned in making it the most bought UFC PPV event in the history of the promotion.
'The Eagle' - being the takedown specialist - used his skills to his advantage as he spent most of the first round having McGregor locked onto the ground.
Yet the striking of Khabib - which was heavily underrated before coming into the bout - shone through as the Russian dropped the former two-weight champion in the second round of the contest.
By the fourth stanza of the fight, Khabib had McGregor tapping out in a neck crank, yet the fighting didn't stop there. After getting dragged off the deflated Irishman, the then 30-year-old champion leapt over the cage, instigating a brawl between the teams of the two fighters.
The result of the brawl led to Dana White refusing to hand Khabib his title as well as members of both teams getting arrested, with the fighters getting fined and suspended.
Dublin pub assault
Back to another out of octagon incident involving the former champion, in which he assaulted a member of the public in 2019.
The event took place in the Marble Arch Pub - a bar based in McGregor's hometown of Dublin - when the fighter offered the victim a shot of his whiskey Proper No. Twelve.
After refusing the shot, McGregor punched the man which was all shown on celebrity website TMZ.
The unprovoked attack led to many fans turning on the Irishman, with one bar in Florida being filmed pouring a bottle of whiskey down the toilet due to the actions of McGregor.
'Notorious' was taken to court for his actions and fined €1000 Euros for the unsolicited attack.
Poirier rematch and trilogy
In McGregor's recent returns to the ring, fans witnessed the rematch, followed by the trilogy, of bouts against 'The Diamond' Dustin Poirier.
The lightweight's first bout commenced back in 2014 at UFC 178 - which saw McGregor get the job done within the first round - knocking the American down with that famous left hook with the ref jumping in to stop the fight afterwards.
It would take seven years for Poirier to avenge the loss as the two met again in January 2021, despite the retirement talk claims being thrown around by McGregor.
In a matter of repeat or revenge, it was the latter that was the answer as the Irishman was on the end of clubbing left and right hooks from Poirier, with the referee stopping the fight in the second round.
With his ego shattered, the rubber match was set after McGregor's six-month medical suspension has expired.
With what seemed like everything riding on the fight for 'Notorious', the world was invested in the trilogy fight as it sold 1.8million PPVs, making it the second most bought UFC event of all time.
Yet with all the eyes on McGregor, he was unable to deliver as the ref rendered him unable to continue at the end of the first round after he had broken his tibia during one of the final exchanges.
McGregor has yet since stepped back into the octagon despite rumours of returns against champions Karamu Usman and Charles Olivera, but many believe it's time for the 'Notorious' one to call it a day.
