It was rather odd for the UFC legend Conor McGregor, who for the first time since prior to his second octagon appearance, does not have a number attached to his name in the official UFC rankings. Hailed as one of the greatest UFC fighters of all time, McGregor previously held the No. 14 spot at 155 pounds but the latest UFC rankings update does not have him anywhere on the list. 

McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC), a former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion, is having a difficult time professionally, he hasn’t competed since he broke his leg against Dustin Poirier in their July 2021 trilogy fight. This led to the fighter falling out of the UFC rankings after a run of more than eight years.

Since the beginning of his professional fighting career, it’s the first time McGregor doesn’t have a place in the rankings since after his second promotional appearance in August 2013, when he beat Max Holloway at UFC Fight Night 26. After that famous victory, McGregor broke the doors and made his way into the rankings at No. 12 in the featherweight division ahead of his first UFC headliner against Diego Brandao in July 2014.

From then on, there was no stopping the Irish champion and the climb continued from there. McGregor worked his socks off and made his way up the list to become the champion at 145 pounds. He then moved to lightweight, where he quickly took the top spot after he dethroned Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 in November 2016.

McGregor has only competed in MMA four times in the more than six years since then. He has gone 1-3 with a couple of difficult losses to Poirier and a grudge match defeat to Khabib Nurmagomedov. His solo win came at UFC 246 in January 2020 against Donald Cerrone, who was on a two-fight skid and never won again afterward before he retired from MMA.

Although McGregor does not have any fights scheduled, for now, he has vouched that he will return in 2023. The 34-year-old still has a lot to offer to the world of UFC and his fans will be hoping that he returns as soon as possible into the fighting pit to make his way back into the rankings.