The former UFC champion today is revered as one who was single-handedly responsible for making MMA mainstream. The ‘Notorious’ achieved stardom – which remains a dream of many UFC stars and only available to athletes like footballers and cocky sports stars at the peak of their game.
One would easily assume that a tale of a man who once spoke about making a bid for Chelsea in May of 2022 and was named No. 35 on Forbes’ “World’s Highest Paid Athletes 2022” list, will be one laced with roses and silver spoon. But quite surprisingly the reverse appears to be the case for the kid born in Crumlin, Ireland.
Growing up in a family of five comprising two elder sisters and his parents, the young McGregor had a huge love for the beautiful game – football.
His passion for the sport grew stronger when he joined Gaelcholáiste Coláiste de hÍde in Tallaght at secondary level. Though he played football for Lourdes Celtic Football Club, his career choice as a fighter was one that was born out of eventuality.
Learning how to defend yourself as a kid is one thing expected of every kid growing up in a rural community and the kids from Crumlin weren’t an exception. At age 12, still, with a passion for football, Conor was faced with ceaseless bullying and it appeared the only way out was self-defence.
McGregor enrolled in Crumlin’s local boxing club as a way to defend himself against bullies and raise his confidence.
Though football was Conor’s first love, his affinity toward martial arts kept growing as he kept practicing under the guise of self-defence.
His days as a junior at high school saw him get teased regularly by older kids and sometimes things would turn physical. If he wasn’t able to dodge the schoolboy fights, McGregor’s strategy was to keep a dumbbell in his bag in case he needed a weapon to defend himself.
“When you grow up where I’m from, you get into fights. Being able to defend myself was always something that occupied a lot of my mind. It occupied all of my mind, to be honest,” said Conor McGregor in an interview with Jimmy Kimmel in 2014.
PLUMBING OR MMA
In 2006, McGregor moved with his family to Lucan, Dublin, seemingly uninterested in school, his family began pressuring him to find a more realistic, stable job. Hence he commenced a plumbing apprenticeship.
“I hated every minute of it. You were talking 14 or 15-hour days. I was getting ordered around, getting people their lunch, all this crap. I just thought, ‘This life isn’t for me, I’m going to pack it in. I’m going to chase my dreams,” McGregor said speaking to Ryan Turbridy on the Late Show on RTE.
He started out training at a local boxing club in between work shifts and taking part in competitive fights on weekends. But soon he decided to quit plumbing to train full-time – a decision his parents didn’t approve of, so much so that he and his father came to blows. But he insisted on following his dreams.
“I knew I didn’t want to be like the other guys on the building site, who were getting up early in the morning and working late at night. Labour work, you know, hard-hat work – that wasn’t for me” Conor McGregor said speaking to VIP Magazine in August 2016.
FOLLOWING THE DREAM
Bidding farewell to plumbing, McGregor knew it was a “win or bust” situation he had gotten himself into when, as he had to ensure he succeeded at all costs as an MMA fighter. Life was never easy for the Irish amateur fighter, as his partner Dee Devlin had to support their family after he quit his job as a plumber.
On his quest to achieve his dream, McGregor would meet his now longtime coach, John Kavanagh. After going into one of Kavanagh’s gyms, the Irishman did beat up two of the best fighters there in a sparring session that he took a bit too seriously. Kavanagh responded by pinning him and throwing heavy blows until Conor promised he was there for training and not for a street brawl. Kavanagh knew McGregor had something special and with training and mentoring, he helped Conor McGregor to focus most of his time to improve his skills as a mixed martial artist. An effort that would pay off sometime in the future.
Conor McGregor began to take fighting classes at Straight Blast Gym under Coach John Kavanagh’s guidance – It was a welcome outlet for his restless energy and natural talent.
THE UFC – THE GOLDEN SKY
It took five years of fighting in local promotions and championships but posterity would eventually prove Coach Kavanagh right. Conor McGregor’s competence was finally recognized. He took part in his first MMA fight on March 8, 2008, for the London-based promotion Cage Warriors, defeating Gary Morris by TKO in the second round. He would go 4-2 through his first six fights before starting his eight fights winning streak that would take him to international fame.
The gateway to fame arrived when the UFC approached him with a promising contract and the offer of the possibility of a new life – one that Conor McGregor could only fantasize he would have.
Despite having some minor victories as a local fighter, McGregor had to rely on social welfare to get by, once picking up a $235 welfare cheque a week before his UFC debut.
Making his debut as a UFC featherweight, The ‘Notorious’ defeated Marcus Brimage with a first-round knockout.
UFC president Dana White was immediately impressed with McGregor.
“Let me put it this way: I’m blown away,” White said after McGregor’s debut in Stockholm. “First of all, it’s his first fight ever in the UFC. He walked out tonight and got into the octagon like it was his 100th fight in the UFC.”
This comment marked the beginning of a profitable relationship for both Conor McGregor and Dana White.
McGregor’s dominance in the UFC continued, as he won five more fights, four of which didn’t make it through two rounds and claimed the interim UFC Featherweight Championship against Chad Mendes.
This streak put the young McGregor in a position to face Jose Aldo in a unification bout for the UFC Featherweight Championship.
In the lead-up to the fight, McGregor was as cocky as ever, saying “I’m going to unify the belts, I’m going to destroy the [featherweight] division, and then I’m going to take the lightweight division as well.”
On December 12, 2015, McGregor, in an unbelievable fashion, knocked out Jose Aldo in just 13 seconds. It was the fastest finish ever for a UFC title fight.
It took an interval of three years from beating Marcus Brimage on his UFC debut to becoming the first fighter to hold two weight class titles at the same time – the featherweight title and the lightweight title.
Conor McGregor would go on to have an amazing MMA career and then shockingly called time on fighting following consecutive defeats to Dustin Poirier in July 2021
Retiring with a mixed martial arts career record: 22 wins and 6 Losses in 28 Matches.
