How Conor McGregor went from being a plumber to a £100m payday
was keen for him to go to college. There were furious rows as Tony, a taxi driver who later moved his family to the more salubrious suburb of Lucan, argued that MMA was an empty fantasy.
He persuaded McGregor, was intelligent but had no interest in furthering his education, to begin a plumbing apprenticeship, which he loathed. “I had no love for plumbing,” McGregor says. “But it is weird how society works. Rather than allowing you time to find the thing you love and can pursue with complete conviction we’re told: ‘You must work’ – no matter how much you dislike it.
“I’m looking around on site and I’m looking at the fully qualified people with their bad backs and I realised I didn’t want to go down that route. I thought I could do something with my life.”
He stuck it out for 18 months but finally refused to go to work one day, telling his parents: “Look, being a plumber is not for me.”
Afterwards came a spell on the dole. McGregor now owns a yacht called The 188 – the amount of euros he would receive in benefits. It is a reminder of those days in Dublin when he struggled to find his identity. He adds: “I never forget where I came from, never forget the hard times. I pinch myself now that I am surrounded by luxury but make no mistake, it’s luxury built on sacrifice.”
By that stage McGregor was already training in MMA at a gym in Lucan. Aged 18 he made a victorious debut in the sport in an amateur fight in his home city and turned pro immediately. The following year, 2008, he won his first fight for money in the lightweight category and over the next few years was earmarked as one of MMA’s brightest prospects.
His big break came in 2013 when Dana White, president of Ultimate who Fighting Championship (UFC), the main organisation running MMA, visited Dublin and was urged by fans to take a look at McGregor. White was so impressed that he signed the Irishman, who hasn’t looked back.
MCGREGOR began fighting at UFC events around the world and quickly became a firm favourite for his skill and aggressive style. He is now the dominant figure in UFC, a double champion who has fought at three weights. He is renowned for his complete self-belief and dedication to MMA.
“I am in a bubble,” he says. “To do anything at a high level it has to be total obsession. I wake up, it is in my head. I go to sleep it is in my head.”
His shortest MMA fight was a mere four seconds when he felled his bewildered opponent with a swinging punch. He became featherweight champion in just 13 seconds in 2015.
Away from the ring he has been with girlfriend Dee Devlin since they met in a Dublin nightclub in 2008. They have a son Conor Jack, who is a year old. McGregor says that Dee, 30, who has given up working for a cardiologist, keeps him grounded. He adds: “If it wasn’t for her I probably wouldn’t be where I am today.”
The martial arts fighter’s other great love is hard cash and, as the yacht shows, he has immersed himself in the trappings of success. He has also bought BMW cars for his sisters and paid off their mortgages. “I am going for multimulti millions,” insists McGregor, who also has a reputation for being brash. On his chest he has a huge tattoo of a gorilla wearing a crown eating a heart.
It was the idea of the MMA’s leading star to share a ring with Mayweather in an eye-catching, money-spinning boxing bout in glitzy Las Vegas where UFC is based. It is no coincidence that McGregor sought a fight with a man who, apart from being considered the best boxer of his generation, has the nickname Money.
McGregor began taunting Mayweather a couple of years ago and, although the trash talk was initially ignored, the calls gathered momentum. Eventually the riches on offer became too good to refuse and the boxer, who owes the US taxman many millions – was lured out of retirement. Ever since, the hype has been ramped up mercilessly.
Mayweather, already worth £250million, is said to be receiving a bigger purse than the young upstart who is taking a big gamble that the boxing skills he honed in Crumlin many years ago will serve him well.
Of his approach to MMA, McGregor says: “You need to be able to hit, grapple, wrestle. But for me so much of this is about the mind, about feeling you are in complete control of the space around you and you know what to do at any moment.”
Unlike his unbeaten opponent, Conor McGregor has tasted defeat three times (notably none via knock-down) in his 24 professional MMA bouts but insists: “I am bullet-proof.” Despite the age advantage, that is surely about to be put to the test.