Conor McGregor is an icon in the sport of mixed martial arts. The outspoken Irishman has achieved a lot of success in his career. Over the years, Mystic Mac has been compared to many sporting greats. Once McGregors’ coach compared the Irish superstar to NBA legend Michael Jordan after the former had announced his retirement.

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The saga began when Conor McGregor announced his retirement after Amanda Nunes’ win over Felicia Spencer at UFC 250. On Twitter, The Notorious posted a photo with his mother and wrote, “Hey guys I’ve decided to retire from fighting. Thank you all for the amazing memories! What a ride it’s been! Here is a picture of myself and my mother in Las Vegas post one of my World title wins! Pick the home of your dreams Mags I love you! Whatever you desire it’s yours” 

Conor McGregor’s retirement had sent many people into shock. The Notorious, who had secured a victory against Donald Cerrone, was expected to continue his form and win a title. However, the Irishman decided to retire.

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While fans hoped to see a lot more from the fighter, McGregor’s coach John Kavanagh made nothing of the Irishman’s post. Coach Kavanagh hinted McGregor wasn’t done with the UFC and made a Michael Jordan comparison.

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Conor McGregor was compared to Michael Jordan by his coach

Michael Jordan is regarded as the greatest player of all time in the NBA. In the year 1993, Jordan, who had won 3 titles with the Chicago Bulls, retired from the sport. However, 2 years later, Jordan reversed his decision, returned to the Bulls, and won three more titles.

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Conor McGregor’s coach used this on Twitter when McGregor had announced his retirement. John Kavanagh wrote, “At age 31 Jordan abruptly retired from basketball before the 1993–94 NBA season, he returned to the Bulls in March 1995 and led them to three additional championships in 1996, 1997, and 1998, as well as a then-record 72 regular-season wins in the 1995–96 NBA season.”

Kavanagh was right about McGregor’s return. However, McGregor wasn’t able to win a fight, let alone a championship. Since announcing his retirement in 2020, McGregor came back to face Dustin Poirier twice and ended up losing both fights. In their first clash at UFC 257, Mystic Mac lost via TKO in round 2, whereas in their second bout at UFC 264, he lost via doctor’s stoppage.

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Since his loss at UFC 264, Conor McGregor is yet to return to the octagon. While there are many opponents for McGregor to fight, it will be interesting to see who The Notorious chooses to face.

What do you think of Conor McGregor’s comparison to Michael Jordan? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

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Varun Bhat

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Varun Anand Bhat is an MMA writer at EssentiallySports. Not only does he train in MMA but he is also a certified judge, which gives him valuable insight while writing content. The fight between Conor Mcgregor & Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 was responsible for making him interested in the sport of MMA. Since then he has been following and studying the sport fanatically. He has completed his graduation in sociology. His goal remains to compete and grow in the sport of MMA while writing comes to him because of his parents who inculcated the habit of reading and writing from a young age. Apart from MMA, Varun loves to read non-fiction books along with writing about different topics on his blog. You can also find him grooving to music and listening to podcasts during his leisure.

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Tony Thomas