NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal once gave his honest opinions on the former two-division champion Conor McGregor after a few setbacks in his professional career.

After becoming the dual champion of the promotion, ‘The Notorious’ made the first-ever boxing crossover and faced the undefeated Floyd Mayweather inside the ring. However, while he did put up a great fight, he failed to outperform the legendary boxer and suffered a T/KO loss.

Following that, the Irishman faced the same fate after returning to the UFC against Khabib Nurmagomedov in a lightweight title bout at UFC 229. He lost that fight via submission in the fourth round.

While talking about McGregor’s losses, the NBA Hall of Famer in an interview with Marc Raimondi of ESPN said, “It’s hard to be on top forever. You know, he took a leave of action for a while and he’s been doing this thing. He’s become quite a businessman. But it’s hard to be on top all the time.”

“You know when you are on the top, a lot of people want your position… Look, it happens to the best of us,” Shaq added. Further on, he lauded the legendary boxer ‘TBE’ and said, “There’s only one guy out there that has not ever tasted defeat. That’s the greatest Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather.”

“Everybody else we won, we lost, we come back, and we lost again… One guy that can say I have never lost at anything. I don’t know what that feels like. That’s the greatest Floyd Mayweather…” Shaq concluded. 

However, he forgot about another combat sports athlete with a similar undefeated record ‘The Eagle.’ After Raimondi reminded him of Nurmagomedov, Shaq replied, “I apologize about that, him (Khabib Nurmagomedov) too.”

Conor McGregor: Current status in the UFC

Following his loss to Nurmagomedov, the Irish star returned and compete in the welterweight division in his next fight. He was successful in returning to the win column by defeating Donald Cerrone in the first round.

However, after that, he didn’t fare well in the UFC. ‘The Notorious’ faced two back-to-back setbacks in 2021 against his rival Dustin Poirier. In his trilogy with Poirier, the Irishman suffered a leg injury.

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Ever since then, McGregor has been away from the Octagon. However, he has recovered from the gruesome injury and also hinted at a comeback. But there has been no official announcement about his opponent or return date.

Nevertheless, fans will be excited to see the UFC star back inside the octagon.

What are your thoughts about McGregor’s career so far? What do you guys think about Shaq’s comments on McGregor? Let us know in the comments below.

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