Conor McGregor is the most famous MMA fighter these days, world champion of both UFC divisions and without a doubt the funniest fighter to ever hit the octagonal arena. He is well known for his spontaneity and vulgar demeanor, but also for the way he fights. He became a model for beginners in this sport. Learn in this article the story of Conor McGregor, an Irish plumber who became an MMA star.
Conor was born into a working-class family in suburban Dublin on a mid-summer afternoon. His father was first a plumber, then a taxi driver. The mother looked after the house and the two older daughters, Erin and Aoife. His father wanted him to become a successful plumber, while Conor himself dreamed of becoming a footballer.
Conor the plumber
At the age of twelve, Conor should choose a sport. He preferred individual sports, so he chose boxing and became a member of the Crumlin Boxing Club.. Young Conor had no idea at the time that this particular sport was preparing him for an MMA fighting career and that it would make him one of the highest-earning athletes in the world.
Boxing was a hobby that young Conor loved. But he also had to focus on real goals, namely the choice of studies and consequently the profession that would feed him. He was trained as a plumber, but only did this job for a year. Exactly after this time he met future UFC fighter Tom Egan, with whom he began to deal. Conor gave up his career as a plumber and devoted himself entirely to boxing and MMA.
MMA debut
In 2007, when Conor was eighteen, he made his debut in the amateur MMA fight “Cage of truth” against Kieran Campbell. He won after the first round thanks to a technical knockout (TKO). John Kavanagh, a well-known boxing coach, noticed it while training in a gym.
Kavanagh liked Conor’s fighting style, zeal, and ambition in combat. Therefore, he reached an agreement with him. If he fought two of the best fighters in Kavanagh’s gym, it would make him a professional fighter.
John was the only coach in Irish history to achieve the Brazilian Jiujitsu black belt. Training with him would be a great motivation for Conor, which is why he beat both fighters and opened the door to a professional career in MMA.
MMA career
Conor had his first meeting on March 8, 2008 in the lightweight competition “Cage warriors” against Garry Morris.. Conor won after the second round by technical knockout. This was followed by several victories in the lightweight and featherweight categories. Then in 2011 and 2012, Conor won the CWFC featherweight and lightweight championships. He was the first European MMA fighter to hold titles in two different divisions at the same time.
Despite the dedication and enthusiasm Conor showed in his fight, he was unable to maintain himself as an MMA fighter. In the lower league of MMA games, the cash rewards for the winners are very low. I was still living with your parents, and their prospects for independence weren’t flattering.
Although he was a two-time European champion and celebrated several impressive victories, in 2012 he considered ending his career as an MMA fighter. “There are many cases where you fight with yourself and you convince yourself that it will get better,” Conor commented on his situation.
His own mother suggested to his coach, John Kavanagh, that he talk to her son. She didn’t want him to give up on his dream. “I sat at home and no one called me on the UFC even though I had 2 gold belts around my waist. I thought if I wasn’t supposed to turn pro now, I never would, ”Conor said.
His UFC career
In February 2013, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) announced that McGregor had signed with them. McGregor was the second Irishman to join the UFC at the time..
The first was his friend Tom Egan. McGregor debuted in the last fight of the day against Marcus Brimage on April 6, 2013 and won it in one minute and seven seconds. Conor won the Best Knockout of the Night award for the first time. This award would not be the last.
There was a series of five UFC wins that led to a unique fight in 2015: Aldo vs. McGregor. José Aldo was the UFC featherweight champion in 2011, who no one has defeated in 4 years, up until the moment he stepped into the Octagon against challenger McGregor.
The UFC president admitted that the announced McGregor vs. Aldo became the most popular event in UFC history. Conor beat Aldo with a knockout after less than fourteen seconds in the first round. Thus he became world featherweight champion and also the only fighter who managed to defeat the Brazilian.
In 2016, Conor challenged Nate Diaz, the lightweight world champion. But, after a long time Conor felt the bitter taste of defeat. Definitely the winner was Díaz. McGregor couldn’t settle for defeat and expected to win at any cost. So he challenged Nate Diaz to a rematch. In less than 4 months these fighters met again in the ring. This time McGregor won.
He then had a fight with Eddie Alvarez, whom McGregor defeated after the second round. Thus he achieved his goal and became a world champion in two divisions at the same time.
End of the race
After McGregor was inactive in 2017, both world titles were stripped from him. He couldn’t defend any of them. She took a break and spent time with her newborn son.
In 2018 Conor competed for the last time in the ring against the Russian Khabib Nurmagodem. The fight was accompanied by a series of controversial events. Before the fight, McGregor and his team attacked the bus that Khabib’s team was on. The rivalry between these fighters increased. Immediately after Khabib’s victory, there was a fight between the two teams and even with family members.
On March 26, 2019, McGregor announced on Twitter that he was ending an MMA fighter career. His coach did not confirm those words, however, the UFC president said that McGregor would surely compete in several more bouts in the future.
Just before he was arrested for assault, he made a graduation statement. The situation occurred when one of his fans tried to take a photo of Conor as he was leaving the club. Conor didn’t like it and took the phone from the fan’s hands and broke it.
McGregor in his career has won almost everything there is to win and has rewritten the rules of the game. He came in as a loser and became the planetary face of a sport and mindset. From the blackest misery to an unbridled luxury lifestyle.
Notorious has changed everyone’s perspective, reaching fourth place in the Forbes ranking of the highest paid athletes and becoming the first athlete in history to earn a billion dollars a year thanks to the sales of his whiskey.
Keep reading about the stars who never won the Champions League.