UFC superstar Conor McGregor believes he should be included in the featherweight GOAT talks, saying he’s the best 145er since Bruce Lee.
McGregor was once the UFC featherweight champion, winning the belt when he knocked out Jose Aldo in just 13 seconds at UFC 194 in December 2015. In addition to beating Aldo, McGregor also holds notable featherweight wins over Max Holloway, Dustin Poirier, and Chad Mendes.
Yet, when you ask most MMA analysts about who the greatest featherweight of all time is, most people say either Aldo, Holloway, or Alexander Volkanovski. McGregor is rarely mentioned in the same breath despite beating two of those men, and it’s mostly because he never defended the UFC featherweight title once.
Despite the lack of title defenses, though, McGregor believes he should be in the featherweight GOAT convo.
Conor McGregor Believes He Should Be in Featherweight GOAT Talks
Speaking to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto ahead of his UFC 329 bout this Saturday night against Holloway, McGregor explained why he should be in the running for the featherweight division’s GOAT.
“The greatest featherweight of all time, or you know, this ranking system of the greatest featherweights that I’d beaten these men, and I haven’t been in the list. How have I beaten these men easily and handily and yet be kept from the list?” McGregor said.
McGregor did concede that the lack of title defenses has hurt his argument as the featherweight GOAT, but in his mind, he’s still right there with the best of the best at 145 lbs of all time.
“That’s a fair shout, for sure, and I understand why. I understand the whys of it, but you cannot get caught in all of this. What is the skill? Who is the best? Who is the greatest? Who was the best? And it is me, and the results show this,” McGregor said.
“It’s not like the fights weren’t there. It was just elsewhere; it was divisional changes. Originally, it was not me; it was a fighter pulling out or things of that nature that kind of led to it. I understand it, but I don’t agree with it. I am the greatest featherweight since Bruce Lee, and on Saturday night, I will show it.”
Conor McGregor Is an All-Time Great Featherweight
Despite the lack of title defenses, you can’t argue that McGregor isn’t up there when it comes to the best featherweights of all time, because his knockout wins over Aldo, Poirier, and Mendes, plus his decision win over Holloway at 145 lbs, are all incredible victories on his featherweight resume.
That being said, when you compare it to Aldo, who had seven successful title defenses, Volkanovski, who has had six, and Holloway, who had three, you can see why so many people put those three men ahead of McGregor in the featherweight GOAT rankings.
As far as Lee goes, he obviously never fought in the UFC, as he died in 1973, but the martial arts superstar is said to have weighed about 145 lbs, which is why McGregor considers him one of the greatest featherweights of all time.
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