He didn't fight no names, he just didn't fight wrestlers=P Brimage was on about McGregor's level when he was his first fight, though it seems Conor broke him. Max Holloway was in the same boat, except he's come out of that fight like an animal. He's pretty much one big win away from a title shot himself. Brandao was a young and highly hyped TUF winner. Poirier is legit(and holy shit he's still only 26!?).
Now Siver is a whole other story. He was officially DFW's new BFF at that point and they were God damned sure going to hype him up for the big Aldo fight. They even mysteriously moved Siver up in to the top 10 before that fight.
If you look at the rankings it kind of looks like the FW division was split in to the top 5 and the next 10 and they were all kept separate. Which is why it's so fishy that Conor got fast tracked without fighting anyone in that top 5(Edgar/Mendes/Lamas etc), though Holloway is top 5 now.
So yeah, Conor wasn't really fighting nobodies, but he definitely didn't take the hardest path to the title...up until last night.
As for calling out Conor 2.5 years ago, I used to watch a lot of InsideMMA and he'd popped up a couple times. Stopped DVRing it because Bas and Kenny are fucking insufferable together. Should start again and just fast forward through the studio bits.
Plus having AXS TV fights set to record means I see a lot of the smaller promotions, I always try and point out the guys that are killers on those shows like Thomas Almeida was. It makes me feel smart when I say something and the UFC signs them immediately.
OK next guy to be on the watch out for the UFC signing,
Joseph Duffy. Irish fighter, which they love, who has wins over Conor McGregor and Norman Parke back in 2010. Left MMA to box for a few years, recently back and looking good. As they keep tapping in to the ravenous Irish fanbase he seems like a no brainer.
Remember that post in 2 years=P