Conor Anthony McGregor (Irish: Conch??r Ant??in Mac Gr??ag??ir;[9] born 14 July 1988) is an Irish professional mixed martial artist and fighter. He’s the former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) featherweight and lightweight champion. As of 1 July 2019, he’s ranked #3 at the official UFC lightweight rankings and #9 in the official UFC pound-for-pound ranks.
McGregor began his MMA career in 2008 and, in 2012, he won both the Cage Warriors Featherweight and Lightweight Championships, holding both names simultaneously before vacating them to sign together with the UFC. In 2015, in UFC 194, he conquered Jos?? Aldo to the UFC Featherweight Championship via knockout 13 seconds into the first round, which is the quickest victory in UFC title fight history. Upon beating Eddie Alvarez for the UFC Lightweight Championship in UFC 205, McGregor became the first fighter in UFC history to hold titles in two weight divisions simultaneously.
McGregor started his professional boxing career in 2017. In his debut boxing match, he was conquered by Floyd Mayweather Jr.He is the biggest pay-per-view (PPV) draw in MMA history, having headlined five out of the six highest-selling UFC pay-per-view occasions. His headline bout with Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 attracted 2.4 million PPV purchases, the most ever for an MMA event. His boxing game with Mayweather attracted 4.3 million PPV buys in North America, the second most from history.On 9 March 2008, McGregor had his first pro MMA bout, as a lightweight, defeating Gary Morris using a second-round TKO. After McGregor won his second battle against Mo Taylor, he left his featherweight debut in a loss via submission against Artemij Sitenkov. After a victory at featherweight in his next bout against Stephen Bailey, McGregor considered a different career path prior to his mother contacted his trainer John Kavanagh and reinvigorated him to keep on pursuing mixed martial arts. [25]
McGregor then won his next battle, also at featherweight, against Connor Dillon, before moving back to lightweight to get a fight against Joseph Duffy, where he obtained his second expert reduction after submitting to an arm-triangle choke. After this, during 2011 and 2012, McGregor went to an eight-fight winning series,[26] through which he won both the CWFC Featherweight and Lightweight championships, making him the first European professional mixed martial artist to carry titles in two branches simultaneously. In February 2013, UFC president Dana White made a trip to Dublin, Ireland to receive a Gold Medal of Honorary Patronage from Trinity College and was inundated with requests to sign McGregor into the UFC. Following a meeting McGregor, and speaking with UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta, White offered him a contract days later.
Ultimate Fighting Championship (2013–present)
2013
UFC debut In February 2013, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) declared that they had signed McGregor to some multi-fight contract. [27] In joining, McGregor became just the second fighter out of Ireland to compete to the firm, after fellow SBG team member Tom Egan.
On 6 April 2013, McGregor made his UFC debut against Marcus Brimage about the first card card of UFC on Fuel TV: Mousasi vs. Latifi. [28] Brimage began the fight aggressively, meeting McGregor at the middle of the octagon before starting a flurry of strikes to push him . McGregor, repeatedly throwing a counter left hand, seen little success with his first striking. After ascertaining that Brimage was susceptible to a snap kick directed in his chest and torso, McGregor started to employ a looping left hand uppercut, throwing every single time Brimage would move forwards into striking range. All these uppercuts grounded Brimage shortly after McGregor began to use them. The bout was stopped 1:07 to the first round. [29] The win also earned McGregor his first”Knockout of the Night” award. [30]
McGregor was expected to face Andy Ogle on 17 August 2013 at UFC Fight Night 26, but Ogle pulled out of this bout citing an injury and has been replaced by Max Holloway. [31] McGregor bewildered Holloway together with his unusual boxing strategy, and his incorporation of a huge variety of taekwondo kicks, a lot of which are not utilized in MMA to a substantial level. McGregor was able to restrain the striking range by using extended, non-committal low side kicks to Holloway’s knee and shin, and commence mixes by jumping in with switch and bicycle kicks. When the battle was brought to the ground, McGregor maintained high control, performing various positional improvements, and mitigating his opponent’s offence on the ground. [32] McGregor won the fight by unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, and 30–26). Following the bout with Holloway, an MRI study revealed that McGregor had torn his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) during the bout and would require operation, keeping him out of action for up to ten months. [33]
2014
Return after injury McGregor was expected to face Cole Miller on 19 July 2014 in UFC Fight Night 46 within his comeback bout after recovering from his ACL injury. [34] However, Miller pulled out of this bout citing a thumb injury and has been replaced by Diego Brand??o. [35] McGregor battled Brand??o in front of a loud, rowdy crowd of 9,500 in The O2 in his hometown of Dublin, Ireland. McGregor started the fight with a signature turning side kick, before finding his range and successfully landing assorted taekwondo kicks, and left counters. Brand??o, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, attempted to instigate two takedowns, so that he could take advantage of his grappling pedigree, but both attempts were averted by McGregor. Nonetheless, much of the struggle was spent on ground, as McGregor achieved a takedown 1:20 into the bout. After the fight returned to the feet in the third minute, McGregor started to employ his left hand cross, and began to cut the cage. Brand??o, trapped between the octagon and McGregor, fell to his side after being struck by the other left hand crossover as the fight went to its fourth second. [36][37] The battle has been officially halted by Faith Leon Roberts at 4:05 of the first round. The triumph earned McGregor his initial”Performance of the Night” award. [38]
Before his next bout, McGregor met with Lorenzo Fertitta and signed up a fresh multi-fight contract with the UFC. McGregor next confronted Dustin Poirier on 27 September 2014 in UFC 178. [39] The bout was among the most anticipated fights on the UFC 178 card, with McGregor and Poirier just two of just four men involved with the pre-fight media conference, together with the originally scheduled headliners Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier. [40] Part of the expectancy stemmed from the challenge the match-up introduced: Poirier was McGregor’s first opponent ranked in the UFC’s top ten featherweights. [41][42] Regardless of McGregor landing 9 significant strikes to Poirier’s 10, he was able to secure a success early in the first round, by pressuring Poirier onto his rear foot, before bursting with a left hook supporting Poirier’s ear, forcing referee Herb Dean to step in. The finish officially came at 1:46 to the first round. [43][44] This marked Poirier’s initial UFC loss via KO/TKO, and got McGregor his second straight”Performance of the Night” award. [45] In the post-fight interview with commentator Joe Rogan, McGregor mentioned the UFC Featherweight Championship as his second target from the organisation, stating that”If [the UFC] desire, I will eliminate Chad Mendes and step in and give the fans exactly what they need; Aldo vs. McGregor.”

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