Who is Conor McGregor?

As we reach the week of Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor, FanSided takes a look at the path that led the brash Irishman to the ‘Money Fight’

The Notorious One. Conor McGregor. Two parts Bruce Lee, one part Liam Gallagher and if he can lasso a lightning bolt and get his hand raised on Saturday night, add a dash of Babe Ruth to this sporting concoction.

Just who is he and how he got here – at the epicenter of Mayweather vs. McGregor, the most talked about and richest fight in combat sports history – is a head-scratching whirlwind of unforgettable sound bites and crushing left hands.

A former plumber. The son of a cab driver. The king of the combat sports landscape.

Stateside, legit, hardcore fight fans didn’t catch wind of the Irish southpaw until 2012 when he won championships in two different weight classes – featherweight and lightweight – for Cage Warriors, the most dominant promotion in Europe at the time.

Soon after is when UFC President Dana White came to Ireland to receive a medal. While in McGregor’s homeland during the spring of 2013, White was bombarded by the locals, one name shouted his way over and over again.

A week after collecting a social welfare check, McGregor made his UFC debut on April 6, 2013. Fighting on the prelims of UFC on Fuel TV: Mousasi vs. Latifi, McGregor made quick of Marcus Brimmage, winning by TKO in little over a minute. A $60,000 Knockout of the Night bonus was handed to him and the pebble that would be an avalanche of green, white, and orange made its first roll down the mountain.

Next: 30 little-known facts about Conor McGregor

Four months later, he was back.

At the time, the match-up between McGregor and Max Holloway wasn’t anything more than a prelim bout between a couple of prospects in a weight division few cared about. But with Holloway now the current UFC featherweight champ, getting the belt after McGregor was stripped (more on this later) and beating champion Jose Aldo, McGregor’s unanimous decision win is even more noteworthy. But what sticks out more than the win over Holloway is the payday. McGregor was paid $24,000 (which included his $12,000 win bonus). Four years to the month, his fight with Mayweather is expected to net him in the neighborhood of $100 million.

Following a win over Diago Brando, At UFC 178, Mystic Mac was born. What many thought would be the final stop on the McGregor hype train, a fight with Dustin Poirier was nothing more than another notch in the belt. McGregor told any with a tape recorder or a microphone that he was going to finish Poirier in the first round. And he did just that. Clipping Poirier just above the ear and swarming with brutal hammer fists for the finish.

“I said I’d knock him out in the first round, and I knocked him out in the first round,” McGregor said in his post-fight interview. “You can call me ‘Mystic Mac,’ because I predict these things.”

Following a win over Dennis Siver, McGregor literally chased and harassed Jose Aldo all over the globe during the promotional ramp up of their UFC Featherweight championship bout. But a foot injury sidelined Aldo and in stepped Chad Mendes, the type of opponent every McGregor detractor favored, a powerful American wrestler with a dynamite overhand. Mendes was able to plant McGregor on his back but couldn’t keep him there. In the second, McGregor unloaded a beautiful combination to finish Mendes with three seconds left in the round and the interim UFC featherweight belt was wrapped around his waist.

Finally, on Dec. 12, 2015, Conor McGregor and Jose Also met in a UFC cage. And the fight lasted less than an Instagram video. After an early exchange, Aldo reset and charged forward, head filled with rage from the months of non-stop berating of McGregor in the build up. With a technique McGregor was videoed practicing moments before the walkout, he landed a counter left hook that crumpled the 145-pound king. It was the first time Aldo had lost in 10 years.

“Nobody can take that left-hand shot. He’s powerful and he’s fast. But precision beats power and timing beats speed,” McGregor said in his post-fight interview. At the conclusion of the interview, McGregor grabbed Joe Rogan’s microphone and shouted, “Ireland baby, we did it, yeah!”

The Aldo fight culminated a remarkable run for McGregor that saw his professional MMA record go from 4-2 to 19-2 in a span from November 2010 to December 2015.

His next three fights took him from MMA star to mainstream celebrity.

Long motivated to be the first to simultaneously hold UFC belts in two divisions, on January 12, 2016, the UFC officially announced that Conor McGregor would face Rafael dos Anjos for the UFC lightweight championship in March at UFC 196. In late February, dos Anjos was forced to pull out of the fight due to a broken foot.

Enter Nate Diaz.

The longtime-beloved Scrap Pack member stepped up on 13 days notice. McGregor re-set the fight weight to 170-pounds in order to comfort Diaz. Diaz proved to be the perfect foil for McGregor and the two of them made a charming promotional couple.

The fight was a turning point in McGregor’s career. Diaz ate his punches and kept coming. Fatigue from throwing and kicking with abandon ate away at the heavier-than-usual McGregor. Diaz, wearing a mask of blood, started to wobble McGregor with combinations in the second round. McGregor went in for a half-hearted takedown and Diaz stuffed it, transitioned to back and sank in a rear naked choke. McGregor tapped at the 4:12 mark in the round.

“This is the game: We win some we lose some, (but) I will never shy away from a challenge, and I will never shy away from defeat,” McGregor said in the post-fight press conference. “It’s a bitter, bitter pill to swallow. I took a shot, I went at it – I feel I was simply inefficient with my energy. Hats off to Nate. He fought very well. A lot of people would have crumbled under those shots.”

A few months later, they ran it back.

Following months of profanities and an infamous bottle-tossing incident, UFC 202 was headlined by McGregor vs. Diaz 2. It was a rarity, a bout that actually lived up to the hype. Through a grueling 25 minutes of action, McGregor and Diaz see-sawed with momentum shifting hands throughout. When the dust settled it was McGregor who came out on top via majority decision (48-47, 47-47, 48-47). It cemented McGregor/Diaz as on the greatest rivalries in MMA history and the event broke the record previously held by UFC 100 for highest selling pay-per-view in UFC history with 1,650,000 buys.

Say what you will about McGregor, but his willingness to remain active from the summer of 2014 to the fall of 2016 was borderline awe-inspiring.

Three months following the second Diaz fight, McGregor was back at it. This time he was picked to headline UFC 205 held at Madison Square Garden in the promotions first-ever trip to New York City. McGregor would face UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez and his quest to simultaneously become the first-ever two-weight champion was upon him. Alvarez is the first and only fighter to have won championships in both Bellator MMA and the UFC but on Nov. 12, 2016, he was a shell of himself.

Lightweight looked like the perfect weight for McGregor. Gone was skeletal suck down to 145-pounds or the bloated up 170-pound version for the Diaz fights. McGregor’s range and accuracy spelled doom for Alvarez. Alvarez is a gifted wrestler known for his aggressive style but that was nowhere to be found on fight night. By the time they reached 3:04 mark of the second round, Alvarez was crumpled on the canvas and McGregor had made history.

“I’ve ridiculed everyone on the roster,” McGregor said in his post-fight interview. “I just want to say from the bottom of my heart. I’d just like to take this time to apologize … to absolutely nobody! The double-champ does what the f— he wants.”

The victory also cemented McGregor as a pay-per-view powerhouse. All three of his bouts in 2016 – and his December 2015 fight with Aldo – drew over 1 million buys.

After winning the lightweight crown, McGregor announced he would take time off from competition to wait on the birth of his first child due in 2017. On Nov. 26, 2016, due to his inactivity in the division, McGregor was stripped of his featherweight title but it didn’t seem to detract McGregor, Per usual, he had his eyes set on an even loftier goal.

Soon the rumors of a Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather boxing bout started to rumble. In March, Mayweather publicly announced he would come out of retirement for a boxing match with McGregor. Less than two weeks later, White let it be known that he would not restrict McGregor from participating in such a massive pay-day.

The two flashy, outspoken fighters finally came to terms and on June 14 it was announced that the Money Fight would take place on August 26 in Las Vegas at the T-Mobile Arena with the bout to be contested at super welterweight (154 pounds).

“He is f—ked, there’s no other way about it,” McGregor said. “I don’t fear (Floyd Mayweather) I don’t fear his limited set of rules. I’m going to knock him out inside four rounds, mark my words.”

So here we are. On the eve of another momentous fight night.

Conor McGregor has reached this point, where will he go from here?

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