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His mentality overall changed. The Aldo/FW title win and then LW title win went to his head. He already has visions of grandeur, but those two accomplishments proved to him he is who he thinks he is (the Diaz loss brought him back to Earth for a bit but he climbed back again). He was no longer the hungry fighter trying to prove he's the best he was already at the top in his head, unlike say a GSP who constantly was trying to keep proving himself (though he did have the Serra slipup), Conor's mentality seemed to stagnate once he hit that peak.
That's likely why his fight game also stagnated and even regressed, he lost his original style and fighting mentality, took too much time off after the win against Alvarez and had the Mayweather fight then fought Khabib after about two years of MMA inactivity, then took a bunch more time off and came back with a very different and stiff fighting style, lost his karate stance, lost to a guy he previously destroyed in Porier (Conor got worse while Porier did improve a bit on the feet and was bigger than when he was at 145). He got rich, lost his hunger, became a drunk and druggie, started a family, and got lazy mentally but probably in the back of his head he still wants to be seen at one of the greats even if he hasn't actually tried to be such in a long time, that's why he never fully got out. He wanted more of a legacy, but screwed it up. I think if he ended up beating Mayweather he would have gotten out of the fight game though. At best he may have come back for a third Diaz fight in the future to settle that once and for all, but his legacy would have been all set.
It stinks too because I really liked him during his run at featherweight, he was a fun fighter to watch.
That's likely why his fight game also stagnated and even regressed, he lost his original style and fighting mentality, took too much time off after the win against Alvarez and had the Mayweather fight then fought Khabib after about two years of MMA inactivity, then took a bunch more time off and came back with a very different and stiff fighting style, lost his karate stance, lost to a guy he previously destroyed in Porier (Conor got worse while Porier did improve a bit on the feet and was bigger than when he was at 145). He got rich, lost his hunger, became a drunk and druggie, started a family, and got lazy mentally but probably in the back of his head he still wants to be seen at one of the greats even if he hasn't actually tried to be such in a long time, that's why he never fully got out. He wanted more of a legacy, but screwed it up. I think if he ended up beating Mayweather he would have gotten out of the fight game though. At best he may have come back for a third Diaz fight in the future to settle that once and for all, but his legacy would have been all set.
It stinks too because I really liked him during his run at featherweight, he was a fun fighter to watch.