It didn’t take Conor McGregor very long to go from being a relative unknown, battling on regional promotions, to bona fide UFC superstar and featherweight world champion. Never before have we seen an ascent to both championship gold and mainstream recognition happen so fast.

“UFC 189 World Tour Aldo vs. McGregor Lon” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by  andriuXphoto.events 
We saw McGregor driving around Las Vegas in top-of-the-range sports cars along with UFC president Dana White. He also often talked of his meetings with the Fertittas, which saw him get the ear of the top dogs ahead of schedule. 

McGregor was something else. He was a marketing and fighting Phenom, blasting tickets sale records out of the park and knocking out whoever was put in front of him. This gave him influence in the promotion, which is something we may never have seen before in a fighter.

In more modest amounts, there was the Tito Ortiz debacle back in the day. However, rarely have there been stars who are so vital to the UFC’s money-making schemes that they seemed to almost have free reign. McGregor had this more than anyone and he has recently used this leverage to his advantage, putting White in an awkward position.

Following the first defeat in his UFC tenure after moving up two weight classes to meet Nate Diaz at 170lbs, McGregor showed a willingness to stand by his words and fight any man they wanted. There’s no doubting his ‘company man’ ethics were there. He saved a card where he was the big draw. Lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos, his original opponent, brought nowhere near as many eyeballs so his injury withdrawal wasn’t that big of a blow. Despite stepping up in weight, the Dubliner was still tipped at 4/1 to KO him in the first round. 

Conor McGregor: “I will dust dos Anjos inside one minute…he’s a slower version of Aldo.” pic.twitter.com/mM2upNFVSB
— bet365 (@bet365) January 20, 2016

McGregor duly accepted a tough fight and a move up into an even higher weight division. Even this didn’t shake the bookies’ lines on him, even if it was major sports betting news that was hitting the headlines.

After a good start, unfortunately McGregor was finally dropped and submitted by experienced BJJ black belt Diaz, and some of the hype came screeching to a halt. He’s still the featherweight champion, but the edge has gone. 

In what seemed a fight to only satisfy McGregor’s ego, he was awarded an immediate rematch with Diaz at UFC 200. This time, though, ‘The Notorious’ threw a spanner in the works and decided to opt out of media obligations. Although not many believed it, McGregor’s announced retirement made a huge impact. Never before has one fighter’s tweet impacted the news so much – there was uproar, consolations, congratulations, and lots and lots of questions. 

It came to light that McGregor wanted to train in Iceland rather than put himself out by attending the UFC 200 media obligations. This time he had an axe to grind and grudge to settle. White had to make a stand and pulled McGregor from the card. The Irishman bit back by offering up his retirement.

I have decided to retire young.
Thanks for the cheese.
Catch ya’s later.
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) April 19, 2016

We’re still not much wiser about the status of McGregor vs. Diaz, originally set for July 9th. McGregor said it’s still happening on the card, White says it isn’t. The UFC president is adamant it will still come to fruition, but we don’t know when. 

Happy to announce that I am BACK on UFC 200!
Shout out to @danawhite and @lorenzofertitta on getting this one done for the fans. #Respect — Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) <a href=”https:>April 25,2016</a href=”https:>

One of the most bizarre and riveting affairs in the UFC’s history rumbles on, and we’re still waiting for a definitive answer.