Conor McGregor is now a long time removed from his glory days at the top of the UFC, with a fan favorite revealing the moment it all went wrong.

At the peak of his powers, ‘The Notorious’ was a truly tremendous fighter, blessed with a thunderous left hand and a remarkable array of kicks.

And it wasn’t just his skills inside the cage that captured the attention of fans around the world, but his ability on the mic, with McGregor delivering some of the greatest promos of all time.

However, that was all in the past, with the faded legend now a shadow of the man who conquered two weight divisions.

Josh Thomson says Conor McGregor changed after agreeing to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov

On October 6, 2018, Conor McGregor went toe-to-toe with Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, in one of the biggest fights in MMA history.

Throughout the build-up, the Dubliner made several personal remarks, that left the combat sports community stunned. And in the years since, aside from a victory over Donald Cerrone, the Irishman has looked nowhere near his best, with Josh Thomson concluding that the whole rivalry with the Russian changed the icon forever.

During Weighing-In, the former Strikeforce champion explained: “He’s taken a shift. He’s the heel, and he’s always kind of been the heel, but people also admired him and looked up to him before.

“The Khabib fight really brought a negative out of him. I felt like he was afraid of Khabib. He knew there was a legitimate threat, and there was nothing he could do about it.

“There was nothing he thought for sure, ‘If I can catch him, I can knock him out sure’, but I think he knew that in a five-round fight, it was going to be very difficult.

“The things that came out of his mouth and the things he talked about and said about Khabib’s country, his dad, his village and his wife — unforgivable.”

The SBG Dublin fighter hasn’t competed since breaking his leg against Dustin Poirier in 2021.

A fight with Michael Chandler was arranged and subsequently canceled, and McGregor claims the UFC didn’t want him to take on Logan Paul.

Fans are now left wondering whether we’ll ever see the 37-year-old back in the cage ever again.

Chael Sonnen reveals the ‘mistake’ that cost Dana White the Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Conor McGregor rematch

With UFC 229 generating the most buys in the history of the promotion, it comes as no major surprise that Dana White wanted to make it again.

However, his dream of a second showdown never came to fruition.