5 times Conor McGregor proved he's among the most courageous UFC fighters ever

#2. Conor McGregor challenged Floyd Mayweather Jr. in his world

After outclassing Eddie Alvarez in one of the finest championship performances ever seen in the UFC, Conor McGregor felt as untouchable as a mixed martial artist ever has.

Somehow, he piqued Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s interest and, more startingly, convinced Dana White to promote a boxing match between him and 'Money'.

Many dismissed the bout as ludicrous and a shameless cash grab, which it, in some ways, was. No one but McGregor himself believed he stood a chance of troubling the great Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a boxing match.

However, the trash talk the Irishman leveled at his foe during the promotional phase before the bout was similar to what he'd done to Aldo.

'The Notorious' mocked Mayweather's history of approaching fights with a defensive strategy, before asserting that he came from a world of true combat while 'Money' operated under the safety net of a more restricted rule-set.

From Mayweather's age and size to his alleged illiteracy, nothing was safe as Conor McGregor targeted every single detail about the boxing legend with his vicious trash talk.

While the Irishman ultimately lost the boxing match, as many predicted, he fought with confidence and self-belief that implied how strongly he felt he'd have succeeded.

The courage to not only challenge a man who is arguably the greatest of all time in his respective sport while wholeheartedly believing in his chances at besting him is admirable, to say the least.

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#1. He returned to face Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229

After his spectacular failure at defeating Floyd Mayweather Jr., Conor McGregor made his long awaited return to the UFC to face undefeated phenom Khabib Nurmagomedov.

In an ironic twist, the bout with Nurmagomedov — an MMA fighter like McGregor himself — was one the Irishman lost in far more dominant fashion than he did against Mayweather in a sport in which the American is considered, by some, the greatest of all time.

What renders the return to face 'The Eagle' an example of courage is context.

At the time, Nurmagomedov was 26-0, having never lost a single round in his entire MMA career. He'd been active, capturing the UFC lightweight championship that McGregor left vacant during his brief departure from the sport.

The Irishman, on the other hand, had not been involved with MMA in any capacity for two years. Yet, even while out of practice, Conor McGregor dared to challenge one of the sport's most dominant fighters without fear of defeat.

Not many fighters on the roster were willing to face 'The Eagle' after a two-year absence from a sport that evolved as quickly as it did at the time.