Heading into his UFC 257 rematch against Dustin Poirier, Conor McGregor felt a victory would cement his boxing match later in 2021 with Manny Pacquiao. Poirier had other plans in mind, stopping McGregor in the second round.
During his post-fight press conference, the former dual UFC champion claimed the Pacquiao clash was already in the bag. He wasn't confident that would be the case after losing for the second time in three fights inside the Octagon.
"I always did want to focus on my MMA career, but I'm also open," McGregor said. "I'll see what happens. I don't know what will happen. That Manny fight was happening. That was as good as done, so I don't know."
That begs the question of should McGregor even think about a boxing return and put his primary focus on mixed martial arts?
On a recent episode of "Jabs", Chris Mannix and Sergio Mora discussed the topic. The former world champion feels the Irishman should stick to his bread and butter and leave the sweet science behind.
"I sure hope so," Mora said. "Look, he was 0-1. He lost that one fight by knockout to the great Floyd Mayweather, and he made $100 million in doing so. He's not a boxer. He was a great mixed martial artist. That's where he should go back too.
"I'm not even sure he can go back and be great at that. You get complacent when you start making all that money and you become that big. That's what happened to Conor McGregor.
"I don't want to see him in boxing anymore. He's not a boxer. He's not even a championship caliber fighter anymore in mixed martial arts until he goes back and proves it."
Mannix agreed with his counterpart and left some wiggle room for a McGregor return in the ten-ounce gloves.
"Conor McGregor is not a good boxer," Mannox said bluntly. "He is average at best.
"I'm not sure what level of fighter he could even beat. But his future in boxing is tied directly to his success in MMA. The only reason people were interested in McGregor vs. Mayweather was because at that time, McGregor was the dominant figure in mixed martial arts.
"On one side, you had 49-0, Floyd Mayweather. The best in boxing against Conor McGregor, the best in the UFC. That type of intersection made that fight appealing. Conor McGregor is not appealing as a fighter if he's losing.
"If the last clip of him is getting dusted by Dustin Poirier with one punch and effectively knocked down with one big punch, you not going to be able to sell that kind of fight on pay-per-view no matter how much Conor McGregor talks.
“I think McGregor is done in boxing if his MMA career has plateaued. If he's able to come back in MMA and fights Poirier in a third fight and knocks him out and has success there and hypothetically beats Khabib (Nurmagomedov) in another fight against him, McGregor's appeal as boxing opponent will skyrocket once again.
"I don't think he's done yet. But if he doesn't get his MMA career back on track and I mean quickly, he's not going to have these opportunities.”