MCGREGOR MANIA 5,000 Irish fans turn Sin City green...
...and Drake’s one of ’em
CONOR Mcgregor mania gripped Las Vegas this weekend with fans jetting in from all over the globe to watch him battle Russian Khabib Nurmagomedov.
More than 5,000 Irish supporters travelled to Sin City for the richest and biggest fight in UFC history.
Around 1,000 fans of The Notorious, right, flew in from Australia alone – and joined superstars at ringside including US singer Drake, golfer Rory Mcilroy and heavyweight boxer Tyson Fury.
The ultimate grudge match took place at the T-mobile Arena this morning, five months after Mcgregor attacked a bus as he targeted nemesis Khabib, 30, in New York. The Dubliner’s bank balance will bulge by €43million today with the mega-fight bringing his net worth to more than €120million. The bout was set to attract more than two million payper-views in the US alone. It comes just 13 months after the Crumlin brawler, 30, swapped the Octagon for the boxing ring, pocketing €95million from his fight with Floyd Mayweather. Shonagh Nelson, who is 23 weeks pregnant, travelled to Las Vegas with partner Dillon Mcdowell and said she was loving the buzz. The 31-year-old, from Killylegh, Co Down, who had a Mcgregor tattoo on her thigh, said: “It’s my second time in Vegas. I was over at the first Nate Diaz fight.
“I’m expecting in the end of January. It’s very different but I had to be here.
“It’s amazing, absolutely intense, unreal, the best ever. It’s just insane.”
Shonagh said she had her tattoo done just after the Diaz match-up by Belfast artist Willie G.
Asked whether her unborn baby is likely to become a Mcgregor fan, Shonagh said: “Oh definitely, I have a wee four-year-old boy as well who loves him – he’s a fan through and through.”
Meanwhile, friends Dean O’callaghan, from Knocknaheeny, Cork, and James Hanlon, from Whitehall, Dublin, jetted in from Australia with eight pals for UFC 229. Dean said: “This is my sixth Mcgregor fight and my sixth time in Vegas in three years.”
Jamie joked: “That’s where he spends all his money.”
The pair paid €346 each for their tickets and loved the big-fight atmosphere in the midst of so many Irish fans.
Dean added: “I’m here until Monday. Jamie is a friend of my cousin’s and the other nine lads are all from Dublin.
“I’m well out-numbered but we’ve had a great time.”
Their pal Daniel Farrell, 25, from Glasnevin, North Dublin, said: “The atmosphere has been brillant and we’re having a great time.”
It’s unreal. I am due in January but I just had to be here for the fight
SHONAGH NELSON LAS VEGAS