Georges St-Pierre might be one of the most beloved UFC champions of all time. But even his stardom seems to have its limits. GSP found that out the hard way after posting a picture of some of the top fighters of the 21st century.

Unfortunately, the Canadian legend’s post didn’t have a picture of former UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor, leading to some very vicious fans commenting on the post.

Fans pointed out that while other fighters on the poster, like Khabib Nurmagomedov and Jon Jones, dominated their respective divisions, McGregor’s impact was very different; he was the ultimate poster boy for the organization, raking in millions of views.

One fan outright dismissed the list, saying, “McGregor put the UFC on the map and made it big time! Who else did it like him? Zero!”

Some fans were even more blunt, outright dismissing the legitimacy of the list, saying, “Garbage. No Conor”, and “Connor McGregor should on there before 8 of the rest”. 

Others questioned some of the names included in the top 10, with many highlighting Kamaru Usman’s presence as a surprise.

“No disrespect intended, but why is Usman in this pic lol,” wrote one fan, while another argued that Jose Aldo (also missing from the poster), a dominant champion in the featherweight division, should have been in Usman’s place, “Aldo over Usman.”

 McGregor, at one point in his career, was on the way to being one of the all-time greats. But a turn to boxing and then other less popular antics have since taken away from his MMA legacy.

The multitude of legal cases of assault against him haven’t done him any favors, nor has his attitude towards his peers. Simply put, his legacy is complicated.

McGregor’s Impact on MMA

McGregor is the definition of a rags-to-riches story.

An apprentice plumber from Dublin, Ireland, living on minimum wages and working 6 to 12 hours a day, to becoming one of the highest paid athletes in the world- he managed to capture the imagination of millions across the globe.

This meant headlining 8 out of 10 of the highest-grossing PPVs in UFC history. Of course, during these days, he achieved some incredible feats as well, like knocking Jose Aldo out in 13 seconds and winning titles in two weight classes.

That success that would follow seemed to be so captivating that every UFC champion now talks about moving up and down in weight and fighting for two titles.

Beyond financial success, McGregor also changed how fighters approach their careers. Fighters like Dustin Poirier, with his signature hot sauce, and the Diaz brothers, with their Game Up Nutrition, have now followed the way he had promoted Proper 12 back in the day.

You could compare his impact on the UFC to that of Michael Jordan in the NBA. Before Jordan, players never learned to market themselves or use all the air-time they got on TV to market their products.

And before Jordan, the NBA wasn’t as popular in the rest of the world. His career transformed both the NBA and, with it, the sneaker market!

This is exactly what ‘The Notorious’ did as well: brought attention from all over the world and used that attention to market himself and his products, truly a generational athlete and entertainer.

Unfortunately, his antics in the last few years have overshadowed what were once the qualities of one of the biggest overachievers in the sport.