CONOR MCGREGOR , Ufc FIGHTING
Editor : CARLOS QUENTERO
Conor
Anthony McGregor[4] (born 14 July 1988) is an Irish
professional mixed martial artist who is currently signed to theUltimate
Fighting Championship (UFC). Throughout his career, he has
competed as a featherweight, lightweight andwelterweight.
McGregor is the current UFC
Featherweight Champion.
In 2008,
McGregor started his mixed martial arts (MMA) career and, in 2012, he won both
the Cage WarriorsFeatherweight and Lightweight
Championships, holding both titles concurrently before vacating them to sign
with the UFC. In 2015, McGregor became the first Irish-born UFC champion after
he defeated José Aldo for the featherweight championship, at UFC 194, via knockout after thirteen seconds in the first
round. This was the fastest victory in UFC title fight history.[5] He is known for being one of the
biggestpay-per-view draws in MMA as well as his
extravagant lifestyle and trash talking.[6]
Contents
Early life
McGregor was
born in Dublin, Ireland to Tony and Margaret McGregor.[1] He was raised in the South Dublin
suburb ofCrumlin and attended a Gaelscoil and Gaelcholáiste at both primary and at secondary level
in Coláiste de hÍde in Tallaght, where he also developed his passion for
sport playingassociation football.
In his youth, he played football for Lourdes Celtic Football Club and supported Manchester United.[7]
As a kid,
McGregor took up kickboxing and at the age of 12, he began boxing at Crumlin Boxing Club under two-time
Olympian Phil Sutcliffe[8][9] where he often trained alongsideDean Byrne and Jamie Kavanagh, both of whom went on to train at
Wild Card Gym under Freddie Roach.
McGregor later became an All-Ireland boxing champion at the youth level.[8][10]
In 2006,
McGregor moved with his family to Lucan in West Dublin, attending Gaelcholáiste Coláiste Cois Life. Following that, he
commenced a plumbing apprenticeship.[11] While in Lucan, he met future UFC
fighter Tom Egan, who taught McGregor how to grapple and ignited his passion for mixed
martial arts.[12]
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 Ciaran Campbell for the Irish Ring of Truth promotion in
Dublin. He was victorious via technical knockout (TKO) in the first round.
Following the fight, he turned professional and was signed by the Irish Cage of
Truth promotion. In 2008, he began training at the Straight Blast Gym (SBG) in Dublin under John Kavanagh.[13]
Professional mixed martial arts career
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 submission
against 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.[14]McGregor then won his next fight, also
at featherweight, against Connor Dillon, before moving back to lightweight for
a fight against Joseph Duffy where 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 win streak,[15] 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 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)
Debut
and win streak (2013-2015)
In February
2013, the Ultimate
Fighting Championship (UFC)
announced that they had signed McGregor to a multi-fight contract.[16] In joining, McGregor became only the
second fighter from Ireland to compete for the company, following fellow SBG
team member Tom Egan. On 6 April 2013, McGregor made his UFC debut against Marcus Brimage on the preliminary card of UFC
on Fuel TV: Mousasi vs. Latifi.[17] He was successful in his first bout,
winning via TKO in just over a minute into the first round. The win also earned
McGregor his first "Knockout of the Night" award.[18]
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 Max Holloway.[19] McGregor won the fight by unanimous
decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26). Following the bout with Holloway, an MRI scan revealed that McGregor had torn
his anterior
cruciate ligament (ACL)
during the bout and would require surgery, keeping him out of action for up to
ten months.[20] The events surrounding McGregor's
fight with Holloway were the main focus of a documentary by Motive Television
and SevereMMA.com for Raidió Teilifís
Éireann in 2014.[21]
McGregor was
expected to face Cole Miller on 19 July 2014 at UFC Fight Night 46.[22] However, Miller pulled out of the bout
citing a thumb injury and was replaced by Diego Brandão.[23] McGregor won the fight via TKO in the
first round. The win earned McGregor his first "Performance of the
Night" award.[24]
Prior to his
next bout, McGregor met with Lorenzo Fertitta and signed a new mult-fight
contract with the UFC. McGregor faced Dustin Poirier on 27 September 2014 at UFC 178[25] where he won the fight via first round
TKO. This marked Poirier's first UFC loss via KO/TKO and earned McGregor his
second straight "Performance of the Night" award.[26]
McGregor faced Dennis Siver on 18 January 2015 at UFC Fight Night 59.[27] McGregor dominated his opponent,
winning the one-sided fight via TKO in the second round. The win also earned
McGregor his third straight "Performance of the Night" award.[28] After the fight, McGregor jumped over
the cage and confronted the UFC
Featherweight Champion José Aldo.[29]
Featherweight Championship (2015-present)
McGregor
was expected to face José Aldo on 11 July 2015 at UFC 189 for the undisputed UFC
Featherweight Championship.[30][31] However, in the days leading up to the
fight, Aldo pulled out of the bout because of a rib injury he had sustained in
training. McGregor remained on the card and facedChad Mendes for the interim featherweight
championship.[32] At the event, McGregor's entrance was
sung by Sinéad O'Connor,
who performed a rendition of "Foggy Dew".[33] McGregor won the fight via
second-round TKO, winning the UFC interim Featherweight Championship.[34][35] This victory[36]extended McGregor's "Performance of
the Night" award streak to four.[37] Later, McGregor stated that during the
fight camp for UFC 189, he tore his ACL.[38]
McGregor then
took part in UFC's reality television series The Ultimate Fighter where he would coach against Urijah Faber. This "U.S. vs. Europe"
installment of the show was the first time that the coaches would not fight
against each other at the show's conclusion.[39] Faber's team member Ryan Hall ended up winning the competition.
On 12 December
2015, at UFC 194, McGregor defeated Aldo by first-round
knockout to become the UFC Undisputed Featherweight Champion and the first
Irish-born champion in UFC history. The bout lasted 13 seconds, the fastest
finish in any UFC title fight.[40][41][42] McGregor once again won the
"Performance of the Night", his fifth time in a row which set a UFC
record for that award. The win over Aldo also extended his UFC win streak to 7
and overall win streak to 15.
Jump
in weight-class (2016-present)
McGregor was
expected to face Rafael dos Anjos for the UFC Lightweight
Championship on 5 March 2016 at UFC 196 in an attempt to become the first UFC
dual-weight champion.[43] However, it was announced on 23
February that dos Anjos withdrew from the fight after breaking his foot.[44] McGregor instead made his welterweight debut against Nate Diaz[45] where Diaz won via submission in the
second round, marking McGregor's first defeat in the UFC.[46][47] A rematch with Diaz was scheduled for UFC 200[48][49] but the fight was canceled after
McGregor was unwilling to fulfill media obligations related to the fight.[50] In turn, the fight with Diaz was
rescheduled to take place the following month at UFC 202.[51]
UFC pay-per-views
|
Date
|
Main event
|
Billing
|
Buys
|
|
11 July 2015
|
McGregor vs Mendes
|
825,000[52]
|
|
|
12 December 2015
|
Aldo vs McGregor
|
1,200,000[52]
|
|
|
5 March 2016
|
McGregor vs Diaz
|
1,500,000[53]
|
|
|
20 August 2016
|
Diaz vs McGregor 2
|
Fighting style
McGregor is
known mostly as a striker and will normally try to be the
aggressor in his fights. To make it more difficult for his opponents to predict
his next move, he mostly uses an unorthodox stance and will switch between southpaw and conventional stances as well.
McGregor has been quoted as being "obsessed with movement", putting
an emphasis on fluidity, body movement, body control and balance in his
training.[54][55][56][55][56]
McGregor's trash talk, pre-match predictions and use of
"psychological warfare" against his opponents have led to comparisons
to Muhammad Ali, whom McGregor cites as one of his
early inspirations.[57][58][59][60] After Ali died in June 2016, McGregor
opined that "nobody will ever come close to [Ali's] greatness".[61][62][63]
Personal life
McGregor has
one sister named Erin who is a competitive bodybuilder. He has been in a relationship with
his girlfriend, Dee Devlin, since 2008. McGregor usually carries with him a hat
that his grandfather frequently wore before he died. He is left-handed. In
2015, when his native country of Ireland had a nationwide vote on legalizing same-sex marriage, McGregor voiced his support
saying "We're all human here at the end of the day -- regardless of color,
gender, sexuality...We all deserve the same rights." McGregor does not
adhere to any pre-fight rituals or superstitions because he believes them to be "a
form of fear".[64][65]
