Name : Conor Anthony McGregor
D.O.B : 14 of July 1988 (age 30)
Height & Reach : 5 ft 9 in / 74 in
Nickname(s) : The Notorious / Mystic Mac / The Champ Champ
Weight Class(es) : Featherweight / Lightweight / Welterweight
Professional MMA Record : 21 - 3 - 0 (W-L-D)
Conor McGregor is the MMA superstar that has transcended the sport like no other to be regarded as one of the top sporting athletes of any discipline, known worldwide for his braggadocios attitude and elite fighting abilities. However, he has not always lived in the lap of luxury, from where he is today, having amassed a huge fortune and fame he has experienced a meteoric rise from when he was collecting 188 euro on the social welfare in Ireland just 5 years ago. I will explore his rise to stardom documenting a true rags to riches story.
Early Life -
Conor was born and raised in Crumlin Ireland, the son to Tony and Margaret McGregor, Conor has stated that he tried to follow the path that many a young boy from Ireland followed, to fantasize about becoming a football player and he tried to conform to this in his early years, joining Lourdes Celtic Football Club, however he has said how this was never a passion of his and all he could think of was how he wanted to fight. He then attempted to pursue this interest instead of football and joined Crumlin Boxing Club at the age of 12. The head coach of this club, Phil Sutcliffe recalls his time with the young McGregor, he was at the club until the age of 17 when he left the club as he wished to pursue more forms of fighting than just boxing, this was a move Sutcliffe disproved of wishing Conor stuck at boxing as he seen the real natural talent he possessed and was not a fan of MMA, however, this did not stop Conor as he continued to pursue this passion bouncing around from gym to gym learning of different disciplines. In 2006 he and his family moved to Lucan Dublin, it was when he moved here that he met future UFC fighter Tom Egan and became friends with him both training MMA together. when he moved to Lucan Conor also started a plumbing apprenticeship, which was more his parent's idea than his, however, he seen this career path as a dead end in life and instead decided to really focus on achieving his goal of becoming a professional MMA fighter. To achieve this dream he joined his now permanent gym, SBG (Straight Blast Gym) Ireland, in 2008 taking on John Kavanagh as his main coach and friend Owen Roddy as his striking coach.
Professional Career -
McGregor had his professional MMA debut in March 2008 defeating Gary Morris in a lightweight (LW) bout by TKO in the second round, his next win came only two months later in May, defeating Mo Taylor by TKO in the first round, also at LW. His next fight would be his FW debut, where he took on Artemij Sitenkov and suffered his first professional loss by a first-round submission via kneebar, this loss would prove to be a show of things to come as McGregor neglected the Jiu-Jitsu aspect of MMA early in his career and continued to have an issue with this for a big part of his career. He would have another fight at FW in 2008 winning via 1st round TKO, however, after this victory, McGregor was having doubt about an MMA career as no Irish man had ever been in the UFC, or even made much success out of this path and he strongly considered a career change. during this time Conor would show up to SBG less and less taking a two year hiatus from fighting, living off money from welfare and his girlfriend Dee Devlin, it took a phone call from his mother to his coach John Kavanagh, where she pleaded with him to have a word with her son, to pull him from the rut he was stuck in and get him back on path to achieve his dream, this talk worked and he began to attend training again and had his next fight at LW in late 2010 against Joseph Duffy, where he would suffer his second loss, again to submission via arm-triangle choke in the 1st round. However this time the loss would only motivate him further, he began to take everything much more seriously and went on a 8 fight winning streak between 2011-12 scoring 7 TKO/KO's and 1 submission victory, winning the Cage Warriors FW and LW belt in the process, becoming the first in the promotions history to hold two belts simultaneously. Conor had hoped that his recent success would get him a ticket to the UFC where he could really prove himself to the world, however, in the weeks and months after his second belt win there was no word from the UFC and McGregor again became disillusioned with the sport once again. However when UFC president Dana White flew to Ireland to accept a gold medal for honorary patronage to trinity college, he was swarmed by people imploring him to sign the young Irishman, White had not heard about the prospect until this point but took his local popularity as an opportunity to expand the companies international fighter base, he scheduled an interview with McGregor when in Dublin and immediately seen a star in the making, he talked to UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta about the young fighter, stating that if this guy can even throw a punch he's gonna be a star, days later he offered Conor a contract to the UFC.
McGregors first UFC bout would be at FW against Marcus Brimage, Brimage started the fight very aggressively coming straight at Conor with relentless pressure and initially, Conor's patented 'Celtic Cross' wasn't landing on the short stocky Brimage and he wasn't having much success with his kicks as he was forced into boxing range, However McGregor quickly adapted to this and began to throw a bolo uppercut which started to land perfectly on the shorter fighter,he landed this shot consistently and not long after he finished Marcus via TKO 1.07 minutes into the first round
His next fight would be against another prospect Max Holloway, who is now the current UFC FW champion. Conor dominated the first round with his striking proving to be a far superior fighter on the feet, however during a scramble on the mat Conor sustained an injury to his ACL in his knee, the injury made it hard for McGregor to properly stand and he had to take Holloway to the ground, he continued to dominate the next two rounds ultimately winning by unanimous decision.
The injury he sustained proved to be serious one, this type of injury typically keeps a fighter out of action for over a year, although McGregor, forever the competitive type, wanted to beat everyone else by recovering from this injury faster than any before him, a task he completed as he made a full recovery in around 9 months and had his next fight 11 months after the injury.
This fight would take place on UFC fight night 46 where he would headline the event on his third fight in the organization, as it was being held in Dublin. The fight was against well known UFC fighter Diego Brandao, there was a heated build-up to this fight, with McGregor vowing to end the fight fast with a first-round finish. From the first bell McGregor dominated the fight, controlling the octagon with his superior speed and footwork, landing heavy punches, he initially hurt Diego with a spinning hook kick to the head and ultimately won by TKO after a heavy straight left hand shot and follow up ground and pound. During his post-fight interview with ex UFC fighter Dan Hardy Conor made his newest nickname as he made the quote, "I said I'd knock him out in the first round, and I knocked him out in the first round, you can call me Mystic Mac because I predict these things!"
His next bout would be against heavily touted prospect Dustin Poirier, this was thought by many to be a huge task for McGregor and perhaps too much for him, however in the build-up, Conor was confident as ever, again predicting a first round finish. As the fight began Mcgregor immediately took the center of the octagon and started firing kicks and punched towards his opponent, initially his straight left wasn't landing but he quickly adapted this to a left hook which consistently landed on Poirier and soon after McGregor finished Dustin by TKO 1.07 into the first round.
He would then fly to Boston to take on German veteran Dennis Siver, this fight would prove to be McGregor's most impressive performance inside the octagon to this date, he dominated the fight from start to finish mixing up his punches with kicks to the body and head, barely receiving any strikes from Siver in return, the veterans toughness showed and he managed to stay in the fight until 1.54 into the second round where Conor won via TKO. After the fight Conor put on a show, jumping the cage and rushing to the FW champion Jose Aldo screaming and taunting at him, setting up his subsequent title shot in his next fight.
Conor was then scheduled to take on the current UFC FW champion, the only man to hold the belt in the promotion, who was undefeated for 10 years. Conor and Jose went on a world tour hosting press conferences around the world, in the US, Ireland, and Brazil however as the fight in Vegas drew closer Jose pulled from the fight 2 weeks out form an injured rib, putting the main event and Conors chance of UFC gold in jeopardy, however top contender Chad Mendes, stepped up to the plate to face McGregor on short notice. Many were surprised that Conor agreed to take this fight, as the change in styles this close to a fight was a big risk and as Mendes was a decorated wrestler many thought his style would be the kryptonite to Conors. However, unphased by the task ahead of him Conor responded to the news of an opponent change saying "they're all the same" and happily accepted the replacement. For the majority of the fight Conor found success on the feet whenever he had the chance, however, he struggled with defending the takedown and Mendes controlled most of the fight keeping Conor down landing elbows one of which created a nasty gash above his right eye. the first round ended with Chad on top, easily winning the first round however his domination tapered off the later into the second as he began to tire due to his lack of time to prepare for the fight and conors constant attacks to the body really drained his energy, and as Conor stood up from the ground game he applied heavy pressure on Mendes landing hard punches one of which was a hard left cross to the chin of Chad which dropped him to his knees, Conor then followed with ground and pound winning via TKO 4.57 into the second round. This fight was for the Interim UFC FW belt as the champion could not fight, and this interim belt would guarantee his next fight would again be against Jose Aldo.
The fight against Aldo followed and was touted as the biggest fight in UFC history, many people thought Conor was all talk and didn't deserve the attention he had and the opportunities he had been afforded, however, this was a common theme in his career and this did nothing to affect McGregor's confidence vowing to end Aldo by KO in the first round, a boisterous claim to make against them, at the time pound for pound greatest fighter in the UFC. The fight that would follow would go down in UFC history as one of the most sensational finishes in the history of the sport, Conor came out and met Aldo in the center of the octagon, he threw a punch which missed Aldo's head and then landed a teap kick to the leg, this was followed by Conor throwing a counter left-hand punch at Aldo's lunging attack, his counter landed perfectly on the chin Knocking Jose out clean landing a further two hammer fists to the unconscious Aldo leading to a 13 second KO of the current top fighter in the world, gaining Conor the undisputed official UFC FW belt and the record for fastest finish in a UFC title fight. this incredible victory would skyrocket McGregor's already successful career to new limits of superstardom.
His next fight was scheduled to be against another Brazilian fighter, Raphael Dos Anjos, however, this would not be at FW but instead, LW as Conor looked to replicate his Cage Warriors achievement and become the first to hold to belts simultaneously in the UFC. however once again Conor would have a road bump in his pursuit of gold as Raphael would pull out of the fight with a broken foot weeks before the fight. once again Conor accepted a late replacement this time in the form of Nate Diaz, the fight would take place at 170 pounds (welterweight/WW) as Diaz didn't have time to cut down to LW. The fight started with Conor dominating the first round with his superior striking technique, hitting Diaz with all he had, however Nate, being known for his ability to take incredible punishment and come back fighting proved to be vital for his chance of success as Conor clearly began to fatigue in the second round as he put too much energy into trying to knock Diaz out which with his incredible chin and size advantage was not a great strategy for the FW champ. As a result, Conor left himself open to a straight right hand from Diaz which hurt the tired McGregor, reeling from the punches he was taking form Diaz McGregor shot a takedown on Diaz, this was the beginning of the end for him. Diaz as a black belt in Jiu-Jitsu left no time in taking McGregor's back and sinking in a rear-naked choke, to which McGregor tapped 4.12 into the second round before being put to sleep, suffering his first loss in the UFC and third loss in his career, again to a submission.
Conor took the loss in his stride, many thought he may hide away as his bumble of invincibility was burst however he bounced right back and demanded a rematch again at WW as he didn't want to change any variables to his loss as he wished to prove himself as the superior fighter, Diaz agreed to this and the fight was scheduled again for UFC 202 in Las Vegas. The long build-up to this fight was very heated with both fighters and their teams trading insults back and forth, with one incident at a press conference where Diaz left early with his team shouting insults at Conor on stage, one of Diaz's team threw a water bottle at Conor which the resulted in Conor picking up Water bottles and cans of Monster energy and throwing them over the audience towards Nate and his team. the bad blood continued all the way up to the fight until they could settle it once again in the octagon.
The fight for the first two rounds looked fairly similar to the first fight Conor dominated the first 1 and a half rounds landing multiple knockdowns and landing several brutal leg kicks to Diaz, something that would pay of later in the fight for him. But again McGregor began to tire towards the end of the second, despite his more controlled approach to the fight and Diaz pored on the pressure, not doing enough to win the round but enough to sew seeds of doubt in Conors chances. Diaz continued this pressure to the third round where he pushed Conor back and landed multiple shots easily winning the round for Diaz. things where looking bad for Mcgregor at the end of the third and he seemed to not have the endurance to go all five rounds, however as the fourth round commenced Conor seemed to have gained a second wind and began to land more punches and leg kicks, and started to push the pace once again, the round was close but McGregor's burst of energy was enough for him to win the round. The fifth and final round was a drawn-out battle between two clearly fatigued fighters, Diaz seemed to have a bit more gas in the tank to edge the round, scoring his first takedown of the fight late in the round, which was enough for him to win that round. The fight went to decision and Conor won a majority decision victory, proving his doubters wrong and bouncing back from a devastating loss, on the mic with his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan Conor exclaimed, "Surprise surprise motherf*****s, the king is back!".
Having avenged his first UFC loss Conor was back on the path to becoming the first to hold two belts simultaneously, and again challenged for the LW belt, however, the opponent was different this time as Raphael Dos Anjos had lost his belt to Eddie Alvarez in the meantime. Eddie was an MMA legend, with top class wrestling and powerful hands to back it up, and once again many thought he was the one to expose Conor and beat him from bell to bell. The fight would take place at the iconic fighting venue Madison Square Garden (MSG) in New York, this would be the first UFC event in the city as it was not legalized until 2016. Once again in the build-up, Conor was his usual boastful self-playing mind games with his opponent, Eddie, making him emotionally invested in the bout, something that Conor said would cost him in the fight.
The fight started and Conor immediately assumed his position in the center of the octagon and wasted no time in putting the pressure on Alvarez landing many clean punches dropping Eddie three times in the first round. Conor showed that his striking game is levels above most in the sport and used his skills to annihilate Eddie in confident and convincing fashion, finishing him with a beautiful four-punch combination to the head of a slip from Eddie's right hand, he followed up with a few strikes on the ground and the referee stopped the fight giving McGregor the TKO finish 3.04 into the second round. The victory saw Conor once again silenced doubters by achieving his goal of becoming the first simultaneous two-weight world champion in UFC history, dropping this quote in true Conor fashion, " I'd like to take this chance to apologize... to ABSOLUTELY NOBODY, THE DOUBLE CHAMP DOES WHATEVER THE F*** HE WANTS!".
Following his last UFC bout, Conor set his sites on the world of boxing, challenging arguably the greatest boxer ever, Floyd "Money" Mayweather. The fight was the first of its kind, where the two top athletes in boxing and MMA challenged each other, Conor took the challenge head-on by coming into Floyd's discipline abandoning his usual use of many forms of fighting to just use boxing. This challenge was seen as ridiculous to all boxing experts and fighters, as well as the majority of MMA experts and fighters, many calling the fight a circus giving McGregor zero percent chance to win the fight. One of the fights biggest critics was highly regarded boxing expert, Max Kellerman, who said that Conor would not even land one punch on Floyd and he would be disposed of within three rounds. However once again McGregor, unfazed by the doubt was confident he could win the fight and this showed in the world tour they had to promote the fight where McGregor showed supreme confidence in his chances through every presser, entertaining the masses with his antics playing his usual mind games against Floyd.
Conor would ultimately lose the fight to Floyd via TKO in the 10th round, giving Floyd his 50th fight win with 0 losses, it was Floyd's technique and experience in the ring that prevailed on the night, however Conor once again proved his doubters wrong by putting on an excellent showing for his boxing debut against one of the best ever arguably winning the first 4 rounds and catching Floyd with several hard counters, something many decorated boxers could not do in their fights with Floyd. Even having lost the fight Conor still came out a winner having done himself proud with a great performance and earning over one hundred million dollars, not bad for a nights work.
McGregor's performance in the boxing bout and the money and fame he earned from it in one night encapsulates his entire rise from being on welfare with no real future in sight to the superstar he is today, the true rags to riches story.
Conor has now been booked to make his return to the UFC against current LW champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, the fight came about after the controversial footage of Conor McGregor and his team attacking a bus that was transporting Khabib and other UFC fighters, with the footage showing Conor throwing a dolly through the bus window which injured two fighters and you can see him screaming and banging on the bus demanding that Khabib would get off the bus as Conor wanted to fight him after an altercation Khabib and his entourage had with Conor's long-term teammate and friend Artem Lobov. The incident was so serious that Conor while in New York had his private jet grounded and a warrant was put out for his arrest. Conor turned himself in and ultimately was punished with community service and a fine, dodging jail time, meaning that the UFC could schedule a fight between the two, which will be on UFC 229 October 6th in Las Vegas, Nevada, a fight that will surely be the biggest in UFC history.
Interesting Facts -
He has a 4 second knockout victory on his record.
He is an outspoken supporter of gay rights, campaigning for gay marriage to be legalized in Ireland.
He has his own brand of Irish whisky called, 'Proper no 12 Irish Whisky'
He was bullied as a child and this is what drove him towards martial arts.
He is heavily interested in fashion and was voted 'Most stylish man' at the 2014 VIP awards in Ireland.
His sister Erin McGregor is a bodybuilder and has appeared on dancing with the stars.
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