UFC star Stephen 'Wonderboy' Thompson has backed Conor McGregor to have a similar long-lasting legacy in MMA that Muhammad Ali did in boxing.
The top welterweight contender has denied that other prospects such as Paddy Pimblett and Khamzat Chimaev, who have become fan favourites with their breakout performances in the UFC, will be able to have the same impact as McGregor. He believes that the hype around McGregor from his debut was different to anyone else and that he could be remembered similarly to boxing legend Ali.
Speaking on his podcast 'What's Up Everybody', Thompson gave his take on the new upcoming stars in the promotion, including the likes of Pimblett and Chimaev. He said: "You look at these guys coming up like Khamzat Chimaev and Paddy 'The Baddy', they don't have the hype around them like McGregor does.
"Conor has just changed the game forever. I mean, he's going down in UFC history for everything. Being champ-champ, being highest paid of all time, the biggest star ever in UFC history. He's going to be remembered forever, like Muhammad Ali."
McGregor's impact on the sport has been considerable, evidenced in his involvement in almost all of the highest-selling pay-per-view events in UFC history. Four of the top five, and six of the top 10 biggest-earning shows that the UFC have ever put on have featured the Irishman in the main event.
And that's not to mention his boxing crossover fight with Floyd Mayweather, which smashed MMA PPV records and became the second-highest selling event in the history of the squared circle. McGregor's draw is a result of some impressive sporting achievements, which include becoming the first two-division champion to hold belts simultaneously in the promotion.
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Daniel Cormier, Henry Cejudo and Amanda Nunes have since joined that elite club, but the Irishman did it first when he defeated Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205. Since then, he has struggled to maintain a consistent run of form, and has gone 1-3 losing to Khabib Nurmagomedov and twice to Dustin Poirier, with a win against Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone among those defeats.
However, he is plotting to return later this year, with his eyes on an historic third world title fight against welterweight champion Kamaru Usman. The seemingly unbeatable Nigerian is dominating his division, and has defeated some top challengers such as Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal twice since winning the belt in 2019.
But that hasn't deterred McGregor, who told TheMacLife last week: "I feel confident against Usman - a jab-happy, sloppy, orthodox wrestler with no submissions whatsoever - what's he going to do? Where's the danger here? I don't see danger - no one has ever obtained three titles in three divisions like I will do if we make this fight."
