Conor McGregor
Conor Anthony McGregor is an Irish professional mixed martial artist. He is a former Ultimate Fighting Championship Featherweight and Lightweight Champion, becoming the first UFC fighter to hold UFC championships in two weight classes simultaneously. He is also a former simultaneous Cage Warriors Fighting Championship Featherweight and Lightweight Champion.
In 2008, McGregor began competing professionally in mixed martial arts, fighting in the lightweight and featherweight divisions. He won the CWFC Featherweight and Lightweight Championships in 2012 before signing with the UFC in 2013. After five consecutive wins, he won the Interim Featherweight Championship by defeating Chad Mendes at UFC 189. He became the undisputed Featherweight Champion at UFC 194 after knocking out José Aldo in 13 seconds, which is the fastest finish in UFC title fight history. In 2017, he won the UFC Lightweight Championship at UFC 205 by defeating Eddie Alvarez. He transitioned briefly to professional boxing, facing Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a highly publicised bout, which he lost via TKO in the 10th round. He returned to MMA and challenged for the UFC Lightweight Championship at UFC 229, losing to Khabib Nurmagomedov via submission.
McGregor is the biggest pay-per-view draw in MMA history, having headlined the five highest-selling UFC PPV events. His fight against Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 drew 2.4 million PPV buys, the most ever for an MMA event. His 2017 boxing match against Mayweather generated over 5.3 million buys across the United States and the United Kingdom, making it the second highest-selling pay-per-view event in history. McGregor was ranked as the world's highest-paid athlete by Forbes in 2021, earning a reported $180 million. He also appeared on the list in 2018, ranking fourth with earnings of $99 million. Outside of fighting, McGregor has pursued business ventures.
McGregor has been involved in multiple legal issues, including civil and criminal cases. He has faced charges for assault, disorderly conduct, driving offences and rape. His comments on the 2023 Dublin riots and immigration policy in Ireland have also sparked controversy. In November 2024, an Irish High Court ruled in a civil case that he had assaulted and raped a woman in 2018, ordering him to pay over in damages. In December 2024, he was ordered to pay the victim's legal costs, amounting to approximately. In July 2025, he lost an appeal on the verdict. Following the 2024 civil court ruling, McGregor lost several sponsorship and partnership deals.
In March 2025, McGregor announced his intention to stand as an independent candidate in the 2025 Irish presidential election and has expressed views dubbed anti-immigration, far-right, and national populist. On September 14, he withdrew from the election.
Early life
Conor Anthony McGregor was born in Dublin, Ireland, to parents Tony and Margaret McGregor. Tony is from Liverpool, and was born to an English mother and Irish father. He was raised in Crumlin and attended Irish-language schools — the Gaelscoil Scoil Mológa, in Harold's Cross, at primary level, and Gaelcholáiste Coláiste de hÍde in Tallaght at secondary level, where he also developed his passion for sport, playing football.In his youth, he played football for Lourdes Celtic Football Club. At the age of 12, he also began boxing at Crumlin Boxing Club, as a way to defend himself against bullies and raise his confidence.
When McGregor was 13, the family moved to Lucan, Dublin, where he attended Gaelcholáiste Coláiste Cois Life. At the urging of his parents, he commenced a plumbing apprenticeship for a year, but found the job difficult and uninteresting. While in Lucan, he met future UFC fighter Tom Egan and they soon started training mixed martial arts together. Among his inspirations growing up were Naseem Hamed, Muhammad Ali and Bruce Lee.
Amateur mixed martial arts career
On 17 February 2007, at the age of 18, McGregor made his mixed martial arts debut in an amateur fight against Kieran Campbell for the Irish Ring of Truth promotion in Dublin. He won via technical knockout in the first round. Following the fight, he turned professional and was signed by the Irish Cage of Truth promotion. In 2008, McGregor began training at the Straight Blast Gym in Dublin under John Kavanagh.Professional mixed martial arts career
Early career (2008–2013)
On 9 March 2008, McGregor had his first professional MMA bout, as a lightweight, defeating Gary Morris with a second-round TKO. After McGregor won his second fight against Mo Taylor, he made his featherweight debut in a loss via kneebar against submission specialist Artemij Sitenkov. After a victory at featherweight in his next bout against Stephen Bailey, McGregor contemplated a different career path before his mother contacted his coach John Kavanagh and reinvigorated him to continue pursuing mixed martial arts.McGregor then won his next fight, also at featherweight, against Connor Dillon, before moving back to lightweight for a fight against Joseph Duffy, in which he received his second professional loss after submitting to an arm-triangle choke. Following this, during 2011 and 2012, McGregor went on an eight-fight winning streak, during which he won both the CWFC Featherweight and Lightweight championships, making him the first European professional mixed martial artist to hold titles in two divisions 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's student Philosophical Society and was inundated with requests to sign McGregor to the UFC. After a meeting with McGregor and talking with UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta, White offered him a contract days later.
Ultimate Fighting Championship (2013–present)
2013
In February 2013, the Ultimate Fighting Championship announced that they had signed McGregor to a multi-fight contract. In joining, he became only the second fighter from Ireland to compete for the company, following team member Tom Egan.On 6 April 2013, McGregor made his UFC debut against Marcus Brimage at UFC on Fuel TV: Mousasi vs. Latifi. He won the fight by knockout in round one. The win also earned McGregor his first "Knockout of the Night" award.
McGregor was expected to face Andy Ogle on 17 August 2013 at UFC Fight Night 26, but Ogle pulled out of the bout citing an injury and was replaced by eventual UFC Featherweight Champion Max Holloway. McGregor won the fight by unanimous decision. Following the bout with Holloway, an MRI scan revealed that McGregor had torn his anterior cruciate ligament during the bout and would require surgery, keeping him out of action for up to ten months.
2014
McGregor was expected to face Cole Miller on 19 July 2014, at UFC Fight Night 46 in his comeback bout after recovering from his ACL injury. However, Miller pulled out of the bout citing a thumb injury and was replaced by Diego Brandão. McGregor fought Brandão in front of a crowd of 9,500 at The O2 in Dublin, Ireland. The fight was officially halted by referee Leon Roberts at 4:05 of the first round. The win earned McGregor his first Performance of the Night award.Prior to his next bout, McGregor met with Lorenzo Fertitta and signed a new multi-fight contract with the UFC. McGregor next faced Dustin Poirier on 27 September 2014, at UFC 178. Despite McGregor landing only 9 significant strikes to Poirier's 10, he managed to secure a victory early on in the first round, by pressuring Poirier onto his back foot, before exploding with a left hook behind Poirier's ear, forcing referee Herb Dean to step in to end the fight. The finish officially came at 1:46 into the first round. This marked Poirier's first UFC loss via KO/TKO and earned McGregor his second straight "Performance of the Night" award.
2015
Championship pursuits
McGregor faced Dennis Siver on 18 January 2015 at UFC Fight Night 59. He won the fight via TKO in the second round. The victory also earned McGregor his third straight "Performance of the Night" award.File:José Aldo vs. Conor McGregor, UFC 189 World Tour London.jpg|thumb|McGregor, Dana White and José Aldo in London as part of the World Tour promoting UFC 189 in March 2015
Interim Featherweight Championship bout
The highly anticipated bout with Aldo was announced on 30 January 2015, at the UFC 183 Q&A. McGregor declared that he was expected to face Aldo on 11 July 2015 at UFC 189 for the undisputed UFC Featherweight Championship, during the UFC's annual International Fight Week. The fight took place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The UFC, confident that the fight would exceed expectations, increased the promotional budget for the event, with company Dana White stating that " spent more money promoting Aldo–McGregor than any fight in UFC history."The fight against Aldo was announced on 30 January 2015, at the UFC 183 and both McGregor and Aldo embarked on a 12-day world tour, during which eight cities in five countries were visited, including Aldo's home country of Brazil and McGregor's hometown of Dublin. The tour began in Rio de Janeiro on 20 March and ended in Dublin on 31 March. However, on 23 June, it was reported that Aldo had suffered a rib fracture and had pulled out of the bout as a consequence. McGregor remained on the card and was rescheduled to face Chad Mendes for the Interim Featherweight Championship. The official attendance for the event, 16,019, broke the record in Nevada, while the gate of $7,200,000 broke the record for a mixed martial arts event in the United States. Prior to the fight, McGregor's entrance song, "The Foggy Dew", was sung live by Irish singer-songwriter Sinéad O'Connor. McGregor won the fight via TKO, winning the UFC Interim Featherweight Championship.
McGregor then took part in UFC's The Ultimate Fighter, in which he coached against Urijah Faber. Faber's team member Ryan Hall ended up winning the competition.