Sherdog’s 2024 Story of the Year

Conor McGregor may be the only athlete capable of dominating the mixed martial arts news cycle without actually setting foot inside the cage.

While only McGregor himself knows how he truly feels about his fighting future, most anyone would agree that there are few athletes who relish the limelight more than the former two-division UFC champion. However, it’s also quite likely that McGregor didn’t enjoy every headline associated with his name over the course of the past 12 months.

Still, in a year that saw Professional Fighters League assume control of Bellator MMA, the UFC move forward without USADA as its anti-doping partner, a massive ruling in the UFC anti-trust lawsuit, a significant update to the Unified MMA Rules and Jon Jones doing everything in his power to preserve his legacy, the gravitational pull of the “Notorious” one was simply too strong to be denied. That’s why the ongoing McGregor saga—from the “will he or won’t he” (spoiler alert: he won’t) drama of his Octagon return to the potentially devastating ruling in his civil rape lawsuit—is Sherdog’s “Story of the Year” for 2024.

For most of the first half of the year, the date and destination of McGregor’s long-awaited showdown with rival “The Ultimate Fighter 31” coach Michael Chandler was the topic du jour. That began with a social media announcement on New Year’s Eve, when the Irishman released a video stating that “the greatest comeback of all time” would take place at middleweight on June 29 as part of the UFC’s International Fight Week. While McGregor technically revealed the correct target date for his first fight since he broke his leg against Dustin Poirier in July 2021, it would be months before the matchup against Chandler would be officially confirmed.

“Only Conor knows [his status],” UFC CEO Dana White said a little more than a month later. “These are questions for Conor McGregor, not me. I know he’s training. I don’t know what level of training he’s doing. I don’t know what level of kicking he’s doing right now. I don’t know any of that stuff. I need to know the guy’s in a full camp and he’s ready to go. Conor McGregor has a movie coming out. He’s got businesses that he’s built. It’s a completely different dynamic when you’re dealing with a guy that has this kind of money.”

Over the next couple of months, McGregor shared grandiose plans for his 2024 campaign—Chandler at UFC 303, Nate Diaz at The Sphere and a boxing match against Manny Pacquiao by year’s end—while also lashing out at the lack of communication from the UFC.

“I need discussion or conversation because if I lose interest and I’m not getting anything back, I just drift off, my man,” McGregor said in March, “so I hope I can get something in and get dialed in.”

On April 14, McGregor-Chandler was officially announced for UFC 303—a little less than three years removed from the Dublin native’s last Octagon appearance. In the meantime, there was plenty of speculation regarding McGregor’s mindset. Social media often depicted a man more interested in living the high life and promoting his business endeavors than someone hungry to return to the pinnacle of the prizefighting realm. There was no question that McGregor had plenty to occupy his attention—or “drift off,” as he put it. In addition to a media campaign for his major motion picture debut in the “Road House” remake, it was announced in late April that McGregor had officially become part owner of the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship.

With all of the above to consider, it was fair to wonder what McGregor would have to offer when he did finally step inside the Octagon again.

“I think I would venture to say his time out of the cage has lent itself to his timing not being what it used to be, his movement not being what it used to be, his reflexes not being what they used to be,” Chandler said.

As it turned out, such speculation would be moot. However, the fight felt more real than ever when a press conference in Dublin was announced ahead of UFC 303. That optimism shifted quickly when the session was canceled the night before it was supposed to happen . Shortly thereafter, McGregor revealed that he would be withdrawing from UFC 303 due to a broken toe. For his long-delayed return, McGregor stressed, it was essential that he compete at 100% capacity.


In the meantime, the UFC continued to soldier onward without its biggest star. As much as “next man up” is a phrase popularized by the mentality of the National Football League, it also holds true for MMA. Alex Pereira, one of the UFC’s brightest new luminaries, stepped in to save UFC 303 in McGregor’s absence; and as he did throughout 2024, “Poatan” delivered. Even Chandler, after clinging to the hopes of a lucrative red-panty-night payday for months, moved on to a rematch with Charles Oliveira at Madison Square Garden in November. Through it all, McGregor continued to tease his return, though his projections typically conflicted with those of White, who was often non-committal regarding a date for the former champion.

“I’m not thinking about Conor fighting anybody right now,” White said in June. “I have no time frame, I have nothing. McGregor’s not even healed yet. McGregor’s hurt.”

As the year progressed, there was plenty of well-founded concern regarding whether McGregor would ever fight again. His erratic social media presence only added fuel to that fire and other pursuits—such as launching a record label—continued to stack up.

Superstardom often comes with a price, and for McGregor, the bill was coming due, with implications far darker than a foiled UFC comeback. In November, testimony began for a civil lawsuit related to an alleged sexual assault committed by McGregor in December 2018. While the accusations were damning, McGregor denied the victim’s claim that he would not take no for an answer.

Ultimately, a jury found that McGregor was liable for the sexual assault of Nikita Hand. As a result, he was ordered to pay Hand more than $250,000 in damages. Since it was not a criminal trial, McGregor was not found guilty of any crime, but the ramifications were nonetheless significant.

Shortly after the verdict, McGregor’s likeness was pulled from the latest version of the “Hitman” video game. Then, Proper No. 12 Whiskey severed ties with McGregor as the face of the brand. Additionally, multiple Irish retail chains pulled products associated with McGregor from shelves. It could be just the beginning, as many other businesses linked with the fighter have reportedly been “under pressure to disassociate themselves from his products.”

McGregor released his own statement in a since-deleted post on social media.

“People want to hear from me, I needed time. I know I made mistakes,” McGregor wrote on X. “Six years ago, I should have never responded to her outreaches. I should have shut the party down. I should never have stepped out on the woman I love the most in the world. That’s all on me. As much as I regret it, everything that happened that night was consensual and all the witnesses present swore to that under oath. I have instructed my legal team to appeal the decision. I can’t go back and I will move forward. I am beyond grateful to my family, friends and supporters all over the world who have stayed by my side. That’s it. No more. Getting back to the gym — the fight game awaits!”

In reality, McGregor hasn’t “shut the party down” since he became a two-division UFC champion in 2016 and opened the doors to a lucrative boxing match against Floyd Mayweather Jr. Over time, fighting for McGregor has become more about hypotheticals and reminiscences than anything concrete. The past year proved that McGregor still possesses plenty of pull, but even the sport’s biggest star should be painfully aware by now: This sport waits for no one.

“He hasn’t been fighting here in I don’t know how long,” White said when asked for his reaction to the civil suit ruling following UFC 309. “If he does fight, it’ll be sometime next year.”

At some point, everyone will stop waiting.