Conor McGregor removed from the official UFC rankings for the first time in over 8 years

Conor McGregor has been removed from the official UFC rankings for the first time in over 8 years.

The former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion, Conor McGregor (22-6 MMA) has not competed in the Octagon since July of 2021.

The 34-year-old Irishman was defeated by TKO during a trilogy match with Dustin Poirier (29-7 MMA) at UFC 264. It was during that fight that ‘Notorious‘ broke his leg which required surgery.

With the most recent published UFC rankings, it marks the first time McGregor hasn’t held a place since after his second promotional appearance in of August 2013 when defeated Max Holloway (23-7 MMA) via unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night 26.

Following that win, McGregor broke into the rankings at No. 12 in the featherweight division ahead of his first UFC headliner against Diego Brandao (26-20 MMA) at UFC Fight Night 46 in July 2014 where he defeated ‘Ceara’ via TKO.

With his success continuing, McGregor become the champion at 145 pounds.  Moving to lightweight, he again took top spot by de-throwning Eddie Alvarez (30-8 MMA) via TKO at UFC 205 in November of 2016.

McGregor has held the No. 14 spot at 155 pounds but following the most recent published UFC rankings, the name McGregor is nowhere to be found.

The fighter has since recovered from his leg surgery in 2021 and began rehabilitating and training process to make his way back to the Octagon. It is rumoured that McGregor will re-enter the cage in 2023 but no official timeframe has been announced. The Irishman is currently not enrolled in the USADA drug testing program and there is a requirement for 6 months of testing prior to being cleared to fight in the UFC again.

What do you think of McGregor being removed from the official UFC rankings? Will you be watching when he makes his re-entrance into the Octagon and who would you like to see him fight?

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