UFC star Conor McGregor praises ‘Legendary’ Teofimo Lopez following title win over Josh Taylor in New York

Former two-weight UFC champion, Conor McGregor has heaped praise on newly-minted WBO light welterweight champion, Teofiomo Lopez, after the outspoken New York native clinched division gold against Scottish gold holder, Josh Taylor over the weekend on home soil.

McGregor, who has only once competed in professional boxing, made a brief, but lucrative venture into the sport back in 2017 against former multiple-weight champion, Floyd Mayweather, suffering an eventual tenth standing TKO loss against the latter.

Sidelined from mixed martial arts competition since July 2021, however, Conor McGregor has yet to return to the UFC since he fractured his left tibia and fibula en route to a first round doctor’s stoppage TKO loss to Dustin Poirier in their bitter, trilogy rubber-match in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

Conor McGregor heaps praise on Teofimo Lopez following title win in New York

As for Lopez, the 25-year-old, who now boasts an impressive 19-1 professional record – with his sole professional loss coming against former champion, George Kambosos Jr. – turned in a one-sided unanimous decision win over WBO light welterweight champion, Taylor at Madison Square Garden over the weekend, reclaiming gold a division higher following his lightweight title loss to Kambosos Jr. 

Grabbing the attention of UFC star, McGregor as he indulged in Forged Irish Stout – a drink created by the Dubliner, Lopez was described as “legandary” by the ex-two-weight UFC gold holder to boot, who also praised his judging win and performance against Scotland native, Taylor.

“Legendary!” Conor McGregor posted on his Instagram Stories, accompanied by a picture of Teofimo Lopez and his cutman. “Congrats on an amazing performance @teofimolopez.” (H/T TalkSPORT)

Landing 13 career knockouts to go with his 19 professional boxing wins, Lopez added Taylor to a list of wins over the likes of Richard Commey, Sandor Martin, and Olympic gold medalist, former world champion, Vasily Lomachenko.