In the grand scheme of things in the world of sports, 12 years isn’t that long of a time.
But in the case of Conor McGregor, it’s literally a lifetime of difference between his life now and what things were like for him in 2014.
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And, yeah, duh — McGregor clearly has more money, fame and notoriety in 2026 than he did a dozen years ago when he had his first chance to headline an event in the UFC, and did so in front of his home fans in Dublin.
After McGregor took out Brandao will relative ease on July 19, 2014, at 3Arena in the UFC Fight Night 46 main event, his trajectory caught fire and rocketed him to superstardom. Later that year, he beat Dustin Poirier in the first meeting of their trilogy. Then he headlined a Stateside show for the first time in Irish-friendly Boston.
The interim featherweight title came after that, then a 13-second KO of Jose Aldo to win the full belt and become a megastar.
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After his 2017 boxing match against Floyd Mayweather paid him more money than he knew what to do with, MMA took a backseat to outside interests — as well as literally dozens of brushes with infamy in terms of legal issues and accusations of rich men doing bad rich men things.
McGregor has one MMA win in the past nearly nine years; multiple suspensions; arrests; a civil judgment against him for the 2018 rape of Nikita Hand in Dublin; a broken leg in his trilogy fight with Poirier; a five-year layoff that included multiple teases of a return, plus a broken toe; and a return earlier this month that resulted in a 69-second loss when he blew out his knee against all-time great Max Holloway.
McGregor has one fight left on his UFC deal and has said he intends to rehab, return and fight one more time. The UFC is likely to hold on to that fight on his deal as long as possible to keep McGregor from fighting elsewhere, but it remains a distinct possibility, if not strong likelihood, that his days in the UFC are over.
If that’s the case, he may have never had a better feeling than when 9,500 Irish fans showered down on 3Arena with every beer in their hands when he beat Brandao. The sad irony for McGregor is these days, according to reports on McGregor’s popularity in his home country being at an all-time low, many of those same fans likely would prefer to throw their beers at him instead of in the air in celebration for him.
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Check out McGregor’s win over Brandao above. Then vote in our poll above. Will we ever see him again in the UFC?
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: This Date in MMA History: When Conor McGregor still was beloved at UFC Dublin
