The world of MMA has never witnessed any athlete rise to greatness, as emphatically and as quickly as Conor McGregor did. His rise has been meteoric. His journey has been incredible.
Back in 2013, when an Irish loudmouth made his debut in UFC, no one knew that they are witnessing the debut of the man who would go on to knockout the seemingly invincible Jose Aldo in just thirteen seconds. Back then, no one would have imagined that he would go on to become the first two-division champion in the history of UFC.
No one, but Conor McGregor. The Mystic Mac called it, and he indeed achieved everything that he had said. You can love him, or you can hate him, but you have to respect Conor McGregor for everything he has achieved.
When the Irishman announced to the world that 'we are not here to take part, we are here to take over', the world was unaware of the extent to which Conor McGregor would take over the sport of MMA. He is arguably the biggest draw in the history of MMA. No one can sell his fights like Conor McGregor does.
Be it the press conferences or weigh-ins, he manages to make his appearances an event in itself. His verbal assault on every one of his opponents at the press conferences, his antics at the weigh-in, with everything he does, ‘the Notorious One’ makes sure that the world looks forward to his next fight with undivided attention.
But maybe, there is a method to his madness.
UFC has had its share of great talkers with the likes of Chael Sonnen, Tito Ortiz, Rampage Jackson and Michael Bisping. There have been some incredible showboaters like Anderson Silva, Nate and Nick Diaz. But there is only one Conor McGregor. The world has never seen anyone like him.
It’s tough to call whether he is the next Muhammad Ali or he's the first Conor McGregor. A comparison with Muhammad Ali would draw flak from all quarters, but for his fans, he has earned himself the right to be compared with the 'The People's Champion'.
However, Conor rubbishes the comparison himself and has no qualms about calling Ali the greatest on all time in this tweet-
Truth be told, no one would ever come close to Conor McGregor's greatness as well.
But there's one big difference between being a Conor and a Muhammad Ali fan; a Conor fan runs the risk of being called a fanboy, a casual fan, or a noob. Although many core fans have accepted and acknowledged Conor McGregor's greatness, a large chunk of these 'pundits' still like to call Conor's victories insignificant.
In their opinion, he has still got a lot to prove. The question is, how much more does he have to prove? A fight against a heavyweight, maybe?
While the world is used to brash and wild Conor McGregor with his perfectly fitting suits and custom made watches, driving his Rolls Royce and posing with stacks of cash, only a few are aware of his humble beginnings as a plumber in Dublin.
His father wasn't appreciative of his fighting endeavours. After a year of being an apprentice plumber, he left his job to follow his passion for MMA.
“I did a year in that, and it just wasn’t for me, you know. It’s either all or nothing in this game. If you’re not training twice a day, if you’re not dedicated you’re not going anywhere. I felt I had enough talent, enough dedication and enough love for the sport that it was time to pack up my job and chase my dream,” Conor said in an interview.
This old interview shows a rather humble Conor McGregor talking about his dream to become a future UFC Lightweight champion, something he achieved after defeating Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205.
For the next few years, Conor did what he said in the interview and went on to become a star in the Irish fighting circuit. In his last fight before joining UFC, he defeated Ivan Buchinger at Cage Warriors FC 51 on 31st December 2012, to become the first European professional mixed martial artist to hold titles in two divisions simultaneously.
He replicated the same feat in UFC as well after knocking out Eddie Alvarez in the second round at UFC 205.
Life in the UFC
With an eight-fight win streak and a professional MMA record of 12-2, McGregor debuted in UFC on 6th April 2013, against Marcus Brimage. For the next two years, he continued to galvanise the featherweight division by defeating Max Holloway, Diego Brandao, Dustin Poirier, and Dennis Silver.
With every fight, his legend continued to grow. More and more people turned up to see this ‘kid from Ireland’. And this ‘kid’ delivered, every time! His ‘haters’ hoped for the hype train to be derailed, but it kept going on. McGregor always maintained that he is too far ahead of his competitors in terms of skill and fight IQ.
And from the way he has performed over the years, he might be right all along.
The Notorious one has been doubted at every stage of his career. Before the Chad Mendes fight, his doubters argued that Conor has never faced someone with good wrestling. But McGregor managed to convincingly knock Mendes out at UFC 189. Jose Aldo was touted as someone who would ‘demolish’ Conor McGregor.
Before the fight, Aldo was undefeated for nearly ten years, and the Notorious one still had the audacity to predict that he would knock him out in one round. Guess what; he did it in just thirteen seconds!
After taking the Featherweight title from Jose Aldo, Conor was supposed to face Rafael Dos Anjos for the Lightweight title at UFC 196. But just two weeks before the title fight, Rafael Dos Anjos pulled out of the fight due to a bruised foot. Conor agreed to face Nate Diaz on just two weeks’ notice in a non-title welterweight bout at UFC 196.
Any MMA purist would agree that it would be incredibly brave of a Featherweight fighter to fight a Welterweight on just two weeks’ notice. But this wasn’t just any Featherweight; it was the champion, Conor McGregor. He had his legacy at stake.
His doubters expected Diaz to be the one to stop the hype train. And in a way, Diaz did manage to do that, however, just for a few months.
The submission loss against Nate Diaz could have proved to be a dent in Conor’s legacy. His legacy now relied on how he dealt with the loss. He had indeed brought in a lot of ‘casual’ fans to the sport of MMA, along with the former Women’s Bantamweight Champion, Ronda Rousey.
These fans had already witnessed the fall of Rousey, and within a span of four months of Ronda’s loss, they had to see their hero, Conor McGregor, tap out to Nate Diaz. The world was not ready to see Conor fall into oblivion, and neither was Conor!
The loss against turned out to be just another chapter in the incredible story of Conor McGregor. Conor regained everything that he had lost, and probably a bit more, in a gruelling five-round war against Nate Diaz at UFC 202 in their rematch.
It was the time when the world realised how tough he could be, both on and off the cage. The win against Nate Diaz further solidified Conor’s legacy. When it finally seemed like Conor has finally muted his doubters for good, they come up with another name, Eddie Alvarez.
Eddie Alvarez, The Underground King, was already considered to be one of the best Lightweights of all time in the history of MMA, the gold belt around his waist only helped solidify the claim. In what seemed like a routine, the ‘pundits’ flooded the internet with blogs about how Eddie Alvarez would be the one to bust the myth of Conor McGregor.
Their fight at UFC 205 was one of the most anticipated fights of all time. It was the first time in the history of UFC that someone was attempting to be a two-division champion.
The fight, though, turned into a Conor McGregor masterclass as he schooled Eddie Alvarez in under two rounds. It was complete and utter domination over Eddie Alvarez by Conor McGregor. He made Alvarez look like an amateur in front of him.
Conor created history by becoming the first fighter in the history of UFC to hold championships in two weight classes simultaneously. But the most striking part of this achievement was the manner in which he won both of his titles.
Conor McGregor’s skills are probably the most underrated aspect of his game. He is known for his lavish lifestyle, his interviews, his mind-games and his swagger, but the world has finally started to realise how skilful the man is.
The timing and precision Conor possesses in his strikes is remarkable. The amount of power his left hand can generate is incredible. The control he has on his body is outstanding. More importantly, the belief he has in his abilities is extraordinary. That belief is the gift of years of the relentless training he has gone through.
The amount of work he had put in to stay at the top is admirable.
There definitely is a method to his madness. Conor suffered a scare in the first round against Mendes. He knew he cannot afford it to happen again in his fight against Jose Aldo. He knew he had to strike early and strike big. The depth to which McGregor managed to reach inside Aldo’s head with his mind games before the fight was incredible.
He forced Aldo to make a mistake. He knew Aldo would over-extend. Aldo did, and Conor was ready for it.
When Nate Diaz took Conor down and submitted him in their fight at UFC 196, Conor learnt from his mistakes yet again and began the process of adapting his game to the current situation, yet again. In their rematch, it was evident how much he worked on his take-down defence.
Over the course of twenty-five minutes, Diaz attempted multiple takedowns on McGregor but managed to succeed only once, at the dying seconds of the final round.
Before his fight against Alvarez, Conor worked incredibly on his cardio. He knew that he had gassed out in his fight against Diaz, and worked very hard to make sure that the situation does not repeat against Alvarez.
He called for a first-round knockout win against Alvarez but he had prepared his body for a five-round war, if, in case it happens.
Regardless of the results of his upcoming fights, Conor deserves your respect for the amount of hard work he has put in towards achieving his dream, if not for anything else. He deserves respect for achieving his dream to be a two-division champion.
You cannot hate someone for possessing a very high fight IQ. You cannot hate someone for working hard. You cannot hate someone for trying to be best. You cannot hate someone for possessing incredible skill.
His doubters will always say that Conor’s next opponent will be the one to demolish him finally. Their latest bet would be Khabib Nurmagomedov. He has been on a twenty-four fight win streak and is worthy of a title shot at Conor’s Lightweight belt.
Khabib, without a doubt, is an incredible fighter, but so were Jose Aldo, and Eddie Alvarez, and Chad Mendes. Khabib recently tweeted that he wants his title shot and would be leaving the company if he does not get one.
However, Conor has announced his impending fatherhood and might even take a break from fighting. He has also asked for a stake in UFC, if they ever want him to fight again. Only time will tell how things turn out from here. For what it’s worth, I believe, Conor vs Khabib is the money fight!
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