Conor McGregor's days as a champion are 'done,' UFC king Kamaru Usman said

• Conor McGregor is "done" as a championship-level MMA fighter.
• That's according to UFC champion Kamaru Usman — the world's No.2 fighter, as per an Insider ranking.

Conor McGregor may return to ultimate fighting but his days competing at the championship level are "done," according to one of the UFC's top fighters Kamaru Usman.

McGregor has not competed since suffering a broken leg in a first-round stoppage loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in Las Vegas on July 10, 2021.

No comeback is yet set, though McGregor has recently returned to full combat training with head coach John Kavanagh, who said he's not only "looking great" but is comparable to a silverback gorilla.

When McGregor left European fight firm Cage Warriors for the UFC in 2013 he embarked on a seven-fight winning run that culminated with a stunning 13-second knockout win over long-reigning UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo.

Entering the peak of his powers, McGregor avenged a defeat to Nate Diaz in a two-fight series before beating Eddie Alvarez to become a two-weight champion in 2016. Since that fight, he has won just one MMA match.

For Usman, regarded by Insider as the world's No.2 MMA fighter, the Irishman will never return to the peak of his powers.

"He's not necessarily done, but he's done as a champion," Usman said on the "I Am Athlete" show.

Usman referenced the money McGregor made in his 10th-round stoppage loss to Floyd Mayweather in a boxing rules bout five years ago as a turning point in the 34-year-old's career.

For the welterweight king, McGregor no longer fights with the same hunger simply because he was fighting for money. Now that he has money, Usman said, he's lost his edge.

"When I fight guys, I study their hearts," Usman, 35, said on the show. "When I watch fights, I watch their heart, and for me, he's done. He's done, because I don't know whether the goal was to get the money.

"I don't know if that's what it was, because there's a story about him: He was broke. For me, it seemed like it was about not being broke, getting money. So I understand that. Now he's not broke.

"But how are you gonna be champion, because that's what drove you to become champion, because you didn't want to be broke? Now you're not broke anymore."

McGregor has been linked with numerous opponents should he return to the Octagon this year.

He's put himself forward for a shot at Usman's championship, embroiled himself in a war of words with internet celebrity Jake Paul, and reportedly argued over a ruleset for a nine-figure fight with Floyd Mayweather.

Fighting McGregor interests Usman because of the amount of money that could be on the table.

"Conor can say, 'I'm going to fight you tomorrow,' and he's still gonna sell a million buys," Usman said on the show. "Absolutely, I'd grab that check."