The UFC seems to be finally moving ahead with its lightweight division. For a very long time now, the Lightweight division has been touted as the most competitive division in the UFC. Conor Mcgregor was once an integral part of the division but those days are long gone.
Conor still has his star power left. But keeping him ranked in a stacked division with rising talents like Rafael Ataman Fiziev, Renato Moicano, Mateusz Gamrot, and Beneil Dariush seems very much unfair. ‘Mystic Mac’s last victory against a worn-down ‘Cowboy’ Donald Ceronne back in 2020 isn’t really impressive.
Mcgregor had back-to-back fights against interim champ Dustin ‘the Diamond’ Poirier in 2021. The Irish fighter lost both bouts and even sustained a serious leg injury by the end of his second fight. He was taking time off to recover and was scheduled to return in 2023.
Controversies didn’t leave him alone even during his recovery time, unfortunately. The ‘Notorious’ fighter took himself out of the USADA testing pool and posted pictures of unnatural levels of recovery on his socials. Fans and fighters alike started to suspect potential steroid use.
For a good while, Conor held a strong position in the ranking despite not winning a single fight. His fight against Cerrone was held in the Welterweight division which probably shouldn’t help his rankings in lightweight. Many blamed UFC’s favoritism practices for that.
Lightweight GOAT Khabib ‘the Eagle’ Nurmagomedov left with an impressive 29-0 record after defeating Justin Gaethje. Charles ‘Do Bronx’ Olivera picked up the belt next and defended for a while only to be defeated by Khabib’s prodigy, Islam Makhachev.
The updated UFC rankings still have some inconsistencies in them. Tony Ferguson holds the 15th position despite losing his last 5 matches. We believe new prospects should enter the rankings.
Conor McGregor is no longer featured in the UFC’s official lightweight rankings.
In latest update, McGregor has dropped out of the top 15, though he is in pool of athletes eligible to be ranked by the panel.
With McGregor out, Grant Dawson (@dawsongrant20y1) is in at No. 14. pic.twitter.com/C69mG4HB6i
— John Morgan (@JohnMorgan_MMA) December 14, 2022
