The most popular name in MMA history, Conor McGregor returns to the biggest MMA event on the planet this Saturday (11), facing Max Holloway in the main fight of UFC 329. The Irishman has been away from the octagon for the last five years since the tragic fracture in his left leg against Dustin Poirier , in July 2021, and will now find the sport in a very different scenario from the one he left half a decade ago.
However, beyond Mixed Martial Arts, the world as a whole has changed quite a bit since the landmark UFC 264. Therefore, SUPER LUTAS decided to look back at what the world was like on July 10, 2021. Check out the list below!
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What was the world like the last time Conor McGregor fought?
Alex Poatan was not yet a UFC fighter.
Alex Poatan poses with two Glory belts. Photo: Reproduction/Instagram
One of the biggest stars in the world of combat sports today, Alex Poatan was virtually unknown to MMA fans. A leading name in Glory Kickboxing, the Brazilian signed a contract with the UFC on September 3rd of that year, one day before being defeated by Russian Artem Vakhitov by majority decision and leaving the ring for good. He debuted in the organization headed by Dana White in November, knocking out Greek Andreas Michailidis in the second round with a flying knee.
From then on, the Pataxó Indian had a meteoric rise, becoming champion in the middleweight (up to 83,9 kg) and light heavyweight (up to 93 kg) categories, in addition to having rivalries with Israel Adesanya and Magomed Ankalaev . More recently, he even faced Ciryl Gane for the interim heavyweight title (up to 120,2 kg) right in the White House.
The Covid-19 pandemic was still having an impact.
Covid-19 pandemic was still in effect. Photo: Freepik.
Despite the relatively increasing number of people vaccinated in Brazil, the Covid-19 pandemic still imposed a series of restrictions on the population, with the use of masks still being mandatory in several public places. July was the first month of decline in death rates in the country, but the numbers remained alarming. Furthermore, the emergence of the Delta variant also raised concerns among health authorities worldwide.
Messi was still at Barcelona.
Photo: Reproduction from Leo Messi's Facebook page
One of the greatest football players of all time, Lionel Messi was still a Barcelona player. A product of the Catalan club's youth academy, the Argentinian ended his time in Spain in August 2021, signing a contract with Paris Saint-Germain. He fulfilled his dream of becoming a World Cup champion at the end of the following year, before transferring to Inter Miami, where he remains to this day. Interestingly, he won his first title for Argentina on the very day that McGregor faced Poirier in the trilogy.
Artificial Intelligence was not yet popular.
Artificial intelligence is a reality in many people's lives. Photo: Freepik.
Today a reality in the lives of many people, Artificial Intelligence was still far from being part of everyday life. It was only with the launch of Chatgpt by OpenAI at the end of 2022 that the tool became more popular and started the process of the emergence of other platforms, such as Gemini by Google and Grok by X, which at the time was still called Twitter.
The time has come for the Notorious to return.
Massage thru silk. ☘️❤️ @ufc pic.twitter.com/CVXWcyCFOq
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) March 5, 2023
Much has changed since the tragic injury suffered by the Irishman at UFC 264. The Ultimate has crowned several new champions, Alex Pereira left kickboxing to become one of the organization's biggest stars, Messi left Barcelona, the pandemic ended, Artificial Intelligence entered people's daily lives, and even Twitter changed its name. After so much time, it's time to find out if McGregor still has what it takes to win again in the most famous octagon on the planet.
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