Conor McGregor

Conor Anthony McGregor (born 14 July 1988) is an Irish professional mixed martial artist. He is a former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Featherweight and Lightweight Champion, becoming the first fighter to hold UFC championships in two weight classes simultaneously. He is also a former simultaneous Cage Warriors Fighting Championship (CWFC) Featherweight and Lightweight Champion.

In 2008, McGregor began competing professionally in mixed martial arts (MMA), fighting in the lightweight and featherweight divisions. He won the CWFC Featherweight and Lightweight Championships in 2012 before signing with the UFC in 2013. After five consecutive wins, he won the Interim Featherweight Championship by defeating Chad Mendes at UFC 189. He became the undisputed Featherweight Champion at UFC 194 after knocking out José Aldo in 13 seconds, which is the fastest finish in UFC title fight history. In 2016, he won the UFC Lightweight Championship at UFC 205 by defeating Eddie Alvarez. He transitioned briefly to professional boxing, facing Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a highly publicised bout, which he lost via TKO in the 10th round. He returned to MMA and challenged for the UFC Lightweight Championship at UFC 229, losing to Khabib Nurmagomedov via submission.

McGregor is the biggest pay-per-view (PPV) draw in MMA history, having headlined the five highest-selling UFC PPV events. His fight against Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 drew 2.4 million PPV buys, the most ever for an MMA event. His 2017 boxing match against Mayweather generated over 5.3 million buys across the United States and the United Kingdom, making it the second highest-selling pay-per-view event in history. McGregor was ranked as the world's highest-paid athlete by Forbes in 2021, earning a reported $180 million. He also appeared on the list in 2018, ranking fourth with earnings of $99 million. Outside of fighting, McGregor has pursued business ventures, including in the alcoholic beverage industry, and is a co-owner of the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC), a bare-knuckle boxing promotion.

McGregor has been involved in multiple legal issues, including civil and criminal cases. He has faced charges for assault, disorderly conduct, driving offences and rape. His comments on the 2023 Dublin riots and immigration policy in Ireland have also caused controversy. In November 2024, an Irish High Court ruled in a civil case that he had assaulted and raped a woman in 2018, ordering him to pay over €248,000 in damages. In December 2024, he was ordered to pay the victim's legal costs, amounting to approximately €1,500,000. In July 2025, he lost an appeal on the verdict. Following the 2024 civil court ruling, McGregor lost several sponsorship and partnership deals.

In March 2025, McGregor announced his intention to stand as an independent candidate in the 2025 Irish presidential election and has expressed views dubbed anti-immigration, far-right, and national populist. On 14 September, he withdrew from the election.

Conor Anthony McGregor was born in Dublin, Ireland, to parents Tony and Margaret McGregor. Tony is from Liverpool, and was born to an English mother and Irish father. He was raised in Crumlin and attended Irish-language schools — the Gaelscoil Scoil Mológa, in Harold's Cross, at primary level, and Gaelcholáiste Coláiste de hÍde in Tallaght at secondary level, where he also developed his passion for sport, playing football.

In his youth, he played football for Lourdes Celtic Football Club. At the age of 12, he also began boxing at Crumlin Boxing Club, as a way to defend himself against bullies and raise his confidence.

When McGregor was 13, the family moved to Lucan, Dublin, where he attended Gaelcholáiste Coláiste Cois Life. At the urging of his parents, he commenced a plumbing apprenticeship for a year, but found the job difficult and uninteresting. While in Lucan, he met future UFC fighter Tom Egan and they soon started training mixed martial arts (MMA) together. Among his inspirations growing up were Naseem Hamed, Muhammad Ali and Bruce Lee.

On 17 February 2007, at the age of 18, McGregor made his mixed martial arts debut in an amateur fight against Kieran Campbell for the Irish Ring of Truth promotion in Dublin. He won 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, McGregor began training at the Straight Blast Gym (SBG) in Dublin under John Kavanagh.

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 kneebar against submission specialist 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.

McGregor then won his next fight, also at featherweight, against Connor Dillon, before moving back to lightweight for a fight against Joseph Duffy, in which 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 winning streak, 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's student Philosophical Society 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.

In February 2013, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) announced that they had signed McGregor to a multi-fight contract. In joining, he became only the second fighter from Ireland to compete for the company, following team member Tom Egan.

On 6 April 2013, McGregor made his UFC debut against Marcus Brimage at UFC on Fuel TV: Mousasi vs. Latifi. He won the fight by knockout in round one. The win also earned McGregor his first "Knockout of the Night" award.

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 eventual UFC Featherweight Champion Max Holloway. 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.

McGregor was expected to face Cole Miller on 19 July 2014, at UFC Fight Night 46 in his comeback bout after recovering from his ACL injury. However, Miller pulled out of the bout citing a thumb injury and was replaced by Diego Brandão. McGregor fought Brandão in front of a crowd of 9,500 at The O2 in Dublin, Ireland. The fight was officially halted by referee Leon Roberts at 4:05 of the first round. The win earned McGregor his first Performance of the Night award.

Prior to his next bout, McGregor met with Lorenzo Fertitta and signed a new multi-fight contract with the UFC. McGregor next faced Dustin Poirier on 27 September 2014, at UFC 178. Despite McGregor landing only 9 significant strikes to Poirier's 10, he managed to secure a victory early on in the first round, by pressuring Poirier onto his back foot, before exploding with a left hook behind Poirier's ear, forcing referee Herb Dean to step in to end the fight. The finish officially came at 1:46 into the first round. This marked Poirier's first UFC loss via KO/TKO and earned McGregor his second straight "Performance of the Night" award.

McGregor faced Dennis Siver on 18 January 2015 at UFC Fight Night 59. He won the fight via TKO in the second round. The victory also earned McGregor his third straight "Performance of the Night" award.

The highly anticipated bout with Aldo was announced on 30 January 2015, at the UFC 183 Q&A. McGregor declared that he was expected to face Aldo on 11 July 2015 at UFC 189 for the undisputed UFC Featherweight Championship, during the UFC's annual International Fight Week. The fight took place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The UFC, confident that the fight would exceed expectations, increased the promotional budget for the event, with company Dana White stating that "[the UFC] spent more money promoting Aldo–McGregor than any fight in UFC history."

With the fight against Aldo announced both McGregor and Aldo would embark on a 12-day world tour, during which eight cities in five countries were visited, including Aldo's home country of Brazil (Rio de Janeiro) and McGregor's hometown of Dublin. The tour began in Rio de Janeiro on 20 March and ended in Dublin on 31 March. However, on 23 June, it was reported that Aldo had suffered a rib fracture and had pulled out of the bout as a consequence. McGregor remained on the card and was rescheduled to face Chad Mendes for the Interim Featherweight Championship. The official attendance for the event, 16,019, broke the record in Nevada, while the gate of $7,200,000 broke the record for a mixed martial arts event in the United States. Prior to the fight, McGregor's entrance song, "The Foggy Dew", was sung live by Irish singer-songwriter Sinéad O'Connor. McGregor won the fight via TKO, winning the UFC Interim Featherweight Championship.

McGregor then took part in UFC's The Ultimate Fighter, in which he coached against Urijah Faber. Faber's team member Ryan Hall ended up winning the competition.

On 10 August, it was announced that the event would take place on 12 December at UFC 194, when McGregor would face José Aldo for the UFC Featherweight Championship. At the weigh-ins, both McGregor and Aldo achieved the weight limit of 145 pounds. McGregor knocked out Aldo thirteen seconds into the first round with a left hook, ending his seven-year-long WEC and UFC title reign and eighteen-fight win streak to claim the title, earning the "Performance of the Night" bonus as well. This finish marked the fastest knockout in a title bout in UFC history.

McGregor was expected to challenge Rafael dos Anjos for the UFC Lightweight Championship. However, it was announced on 23 February that dos Anjos had been forced out of the championship fight after breaking his foot during training. Instead McGregor faced The Ultimate Fighter Season 5 winner and former UFC Lightweight Championship challenger Nate Diaz in a welterweight bout. On 24 February 2016, a press conference was held to help promote the new main event, with both men trading insults. At the Thursday pre-fight press conference on 3 March, McGregor and Diaz engaged in a brief scuffle during a face-off, after McGregor landed a strike on Diaz's lead hand.

The fight began with combination in the first round, Diaz returned fire with two consecutive hooks, one a slap, a signature of Nate and his brother, Nick Diaz, termed the "Stockton Slap". McGregor had success with his bodywork, but Diaz began to land combinations of his own. After a one-two punch from Diaz, McGregor attempted a double leg takedown, which Diaz defended by sprawling. Diaz then threatened the guillotine choke, which forced McGregor onto his back after stopping McGregor from scrambling and Diaz secured the mount and secured a rear naked choke. McGregor tapped to the submission at 4:12 into the second round. Both competitors were awarded "Fight of the Night" bonuses, and McGregor received the highest disclosed purse of any fighter in the history of the company to that point, at $1,000,000. McGregor was critical of his own performance while praising Diaz, saying "I was inefficient with my energy. It was a battle of energy and he got the better of that."

A rematch with Diaz was scheduled for 9 July at UFC 200; however, on 19 April, the UFC announced that McGregor had been pulled from the event after failing to fulfil media obligations related to the fight. In turn, the fight with McGregor was rescheduled and took place the following month, contested again at welterweight, at UFC 202. McGregor won the rematch via majority decision (48–47, 47–47, 48–47). The bout was once again awarded "Fight of the Night" honours. The event broke the record previously held by UFC 100 for the highest selling pay-per-view in UFC history, with 1,650,000 buys.

On 27 September, it was officially announced that McGregor's next bout would be against Eddie Alvarez for the UFC Lightweight Championship on 12 November at UFC 205. After dropping Alvarez multiple times throughout the first round, McGregor landed a multiple-punch combination to stop his opponent via technical knockout in the second round. This result marked the first time a competitor had held UFC championships in two different weight classes, and it also repeated McGregor's feat during his career at Cage Warriors. This win earned McGregor the "Performance of the Night" and is widely considered one of his best performances inside the octagon.

On 26 November, due to his inactivity in the division, it was initially announced that McGregor had vacated the Featherweight Championship, therefore promoting José Aldo to undisputed champion. McGregor's coach, however, confirmed further reports which stated that McGregor had actually been stripped of the title.

After winning the lightweight championship at UFC 205, McGregor announced he would take time off from the UFC to wait for the birth of his first child due in 2017. McGregor spent the majority of his public appearances in early-2017 campaigning for a boxing match with Floyd Mayweather Jr. After months of negotiations, the two finally came to terms on 14 June 2017 and announced the match to take place on 26 August. The match ultimately ended in the 10th round with a victory by TKO for Mayweather.

After the conclusion of UFC 223 on 7 April, McGregor was stripped of the UFC Lightweight Championship due to inactivity and Khabib Nurmagomedov was crowned the undisputed champion after defeating Al Iaquinta at the event.

On 3 August, it was announced that McGregor would return to the octagon for the first time since November 2016 at UFC 229 to challenge the undefeated Khabib Nurmagomedov for the UFC Lightweight Championship on 6 October. This bout was considered one of the biggest contests in the history of the sport and it was filled with pre-fight hype. Nurmagomedov submitted McGregor with a neck crank in the fourth round.

On 26 March 2019, McGregor announced his retirement on social media. However, Dana White viewed this announcement as a ploy to secure an ownership stake in the company, with White later suggesting his retirement would not last and that he had been in regular contact with him and stated he would fight again in the future. McGregor had previously tweeted that he wanted a rematch with Khabib Nurmagomedov and that he would see him in the Octagon.

After over a year away from the Octagon, McGregor faced Donald Cerrone in a welterweight bout on 18 January 2020 at UFC 246. He won the fight via technical knockout 40 seconds into the first round. This win earned him a Performance of the Night award. The win made McGregor the first UFC fighter to hold knockout finishes in the featherweight, lightweight and welterweight divisions. On 6 June 2020, McGregor announced once more that he was retiring from fighting.

Despite talks of retirement, McGregor was booked to face former UFC Lightweight Championship challenger Dustin Poirier in a rematch of their 2014 bout at UFC 257 on 24 January 2021. He lost the fight via technical knockout in the second round, marking the first knockout loss in his career. McGregor was later handed a 6–month medical suspension after the knockout.

McGregor faced Poirier for a third time on 10 July 2021 at UFC 264. McGregor lost the fight via technical knockout in round one after the ringside doctor stopped the bout. McGregor had rolled his ankle while stepping back, resulting in a broken lower tibia which rendered him unable to continue.

After the layoff nursing his leg injury, McGregor coached The Ultimate Fighter 31 for the second time with the opposing coach being Michael Chandler. Filming of the show started in February 2023 and aired on television from May to August 2023. The show led to McGregor being scheduled to fight in a welterweight bout against Chandler at UFC 303 on 29 June 2024. Following speculation on the fight's status due to an abruptly cancelled press conference, the UFC officially announced the fight's cancellation on 13 June 2024, citing an injury (broken toe) sustained by McGregor.

On 7 October 2025, it was announced that McGregor had failed to disclose his whereabouts for drug testing on three occasions in 2024. As a result, he was given an eighteen-month suspension, retroactive to the date of his failure. His 18 month suspension ended in March 2026, and he is currently eligible to compete.

After a five-year hiatus, McGregor made his return and rematched Max Holloway in a welterweight bout in the main event on 11 July 2026 at UFC 329. He lost the fight via technical knockout due to a knee injury, one minute and nine seconds into the first round.

On 19 July, McGregor stated that he had suffered a torn meniscus and ACL.

McGregor is known mostly as a counter-striker and prefers to fight standing up, as opposed to on the ground. He is known for his striking precision and knockout power. McGregor is left-handed and primarily fights out of the southpaw stance but often switches to an orthodox stance. He will frequently try to be the aggressor in his bouts. McGregor's boxing is typically considered his best skill, with the majority of his victories coming by way of knockout or technical knockout via punches. Many pundits cite McGregor's pull-back left-handed counter as his most dangerous strike.

McGregor's signature style off arena is to repeatedly engage in trash talk and "psychological warfare" against his opponents, which has led to earning him the moniker 'The Notorious', and has brought comparisons with Muhammad Ali, whom McGregor cites as one of his early inspirations. After Ali died in June 2016, McGregor opined that "nobody will ever come close to [Ali's] greatness". McGregor has also cited Bruce Lee as an inspiration, and compared himself to Lee. During the buildup to his bout against Donald Cerrone and the rematch against Dustin Poirier, McGregor was respectful towards his opponents and refrained from trash talking. However, McGregor heavily used trash talk in the buildup to his trilogy fight with Poirier.

On 14 June 2017, it was announced that McGregor would compete in his first professional boxing match against the undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr., on 26 August 2017 at T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada. The fight was broadcast on Showtime PPV in the US and Sky Sports Box Office in the UK. The bout was contested at super welterweight (154 pounds) with 8 oz. gloves. The fight was expected to be the richest in boxing history.

On 24 August 2017, it was announced that Mayweather and McGregor would compete for the WBC Money Belt. According to the Nevada State Athletic Commission, Mayweather would earn a guaranteed purse of $100 million, and McGregor was guaranteed $30 million. The match resulted in Mayweather winning via TKO in the 10th round, with the scorecards reading 87–83, 89–82, 89–81, all in favour of Mayweather. The Nevada State Athletic Commission announced the live gate for the event was $55,414,865.79 from 13,094 tickets sold. Given the success in pay-per-views, Mayweather reportedly earned around $280 million overall, while McGregor came out with earning $130 million.

McGregor's political views have been categorised as far-right, and as populist. Opposition to immigration is his most frequent political topic.

On 23 November 2023, in response to the stabbing of a woman and three children in Dublin, McGregor made multiple anti-immigration statements, tweeting that "Ireland is at war". In response to a tweet by Britain First leader Paul Golding calling on McGregor to lead a "freedom march", McGregor condemned the riots that followed the stabbings but tweeted "Ashling Murphy murdered. Two Sligo men decapitated. This is NOT Ireland's future! If they do not act soon with their plan of action to ensure Ireland's safety, I will." He also called for the man who perpetrated the stabbings to be "tortured and killed". It was reported on 28 November that McGregor was being investigated as part of a criminal probe into incitement to hatred, following his social media statements following the stabbings. The Twitter posts were subsequently deleted and in March 2025 it was announced that McGregor would not be charged for incitement.

McGregor has shown support for Israel in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. On 26 November 2023, McGregor criticised then Taoiseach Leo Varadkar for his views on immigration and for his failure to mention the Palestinian militant group Hamas when he wrote about an Irish hostage released by the group, in which he described her as "an innocent child who was lost."

It was reported in December 2023 that McGregor was considering running for the office of President of Ireland, to which Elon Musk posted on X "Not a bad idea." A poll that month found that eight percent of people polled would vote for McGregor for office, while 89 percent said they would not.

On 17 March 2025, McGregor visited the White House in Washington, D.C. at the invitation of U.S. President Donald Trump, for a Saint Patrick's Day event. During the visit, McGregor said that Ireland was losing its Irishness and blamed illegal immigration. His comments were condemned by Taoiseach Micheál Martin, who stated that they were both wrong and did not reflect the spirit of Saint Patrick's Day or the values of the Irish people. The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Simon Harris, echoed Martin's remarks. The leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), Colum Eastwood, noted that McGregor had never been elected and did not represent the Irish people. Matthew O'Toole of the SDLP felt that the meeting was insulting to Irish people and that McGregor was an "appalling individual". During the visit, McGregor announced his intention to stand as an independent candidate in the 2025 Irish presidential election.

The chief executive of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, Rachel Morrogh, said the meeting between McGregor and Trump was shocking since a jury had recently found that McGregor had committed rape. Human rights lawyer and former head of the Rape Crisis Centre, Noeline Blackwell, said "The other thing that occurred to me, though, was the enormous sense of entitlement that Mr McGregor seems to feel. I was thinking of Nikita Hand with judgment of her peers in the jury that Mr McGregor was civilly liable for the sexual assault on her, and just thinking that that's the reality for an awful lot of people who are victims of sexual abuse – that even after a court judgment, even after hearing the level of hurt and harm that Nikita Hand suffered, that she and others like her have to, in some ways, put up with the reality that in the community sometimes the message just isn't getting through to those who are actually found by court of law to be liable along the way." Ruth Coppinger said in Dáil Éireann, that it was a meeting of two rapists.

In an April poll by the Sunday Independent, 7% of those polled said they would vote for McGregor in a presidential election, while 90% said they would not. 69% of respondents said they would be less likely to vote for a TD or councillor if they nominated McGregor to run. 78% said Donald Trump disrespected Ireland by inviting McGregor to the White House.

On 4 August 2025, McGregor launched an online petition, hoping to generate enough public support to pressure a change in the current electoral rules, which would have required an amendment by referendum to the Constitution of Ireland. His petition was aimed to circumvent the Irish constitution and allow for a direct popular vote on who can appear on the ballot. Under Ireland's constitution, a presidential candidate must be nominated by least 20 members of the Oireachtas, or by four local authorities.

McGregor has had endorsement deals with Beats by Dre, Monster Energy, Reebok and Bud Light. In 2017, his endorsement deals rounded up to $7 million. In light of a 2024 Dublin court case, in which McGregor was found to have assaulted and raped a woman in December 2018, McGregor lost his first sponsor when the IO Interactive video game company ceased its collaboration with him. After the court case, Rape Crisis Network Ireland called for retailers to stop selling his stout and whiskey brands. Musgrave delisted McGregor-linked drinks, resulting in SuperValu, Costcutter, Centra and Carry Out ceasing to sell McGregor's Forged Irish Stout and Proper No. Twelve whiskey. Tesco and Ocado additionally pulled all alcoholic products associated with McGregor from their stores, alongside Wetherspoons, Asda, and BWG Group who stopped stocking Proper No. Twelve whiskey. Irish airports in Cork and Dublin also pulled McGregor-related alcohol products from their airport bars.

Just ahead of his fight with Mayweather, McGregor announced a fashion partnership with tailoring brand David August; the brand is named "August McGregor" and is aimed at providing modern men's suits to millennials. August had met McGregor about three years earlier, via Dana White.

In September 2018, McGregor launched Proper No. Twelve Irish whiskey in Ireland and the United States. The whiskey is named after the Crumlin neighbourhood in Dublin 12, in which McGregor grew up. In 2021, it was reported that McGregor and his business partners sold their majority stake in the Proper No. Twelve company to Proximo Spirits, who previously had a 49% stake, for a deal worth a reported $600 million. In the aftermath of a 2024 Dublin court case, in which McGregor was found to have assaulted and raped a woman in December 2018, Proximo Spirits announced it would no longer use McGregor's name or image on the drink.

In an August 2022 interview Artem Lobov alleged that McGregor was initially headed towards creating a vodka product, but it was Lobov who pitched the idea of doing a whiskey instead. In the same interview, Lobov also stated that he was the one who did the background study and conducted business deals for the product. In late November 2022, news surfaced that Lobov had sued McGregor, seeking five percent of the proceeds of the $600 million deal conducted in 2021. Following the suing, McGregor aimed several social media messages at Lobov, who subsequently filed another lawsuit against McGregor for defamation, intimidation and harassment. In January 2023, the latter lawsuit was denied by the judge and Lobov was ordered to pay the legal fees.

In 2020, McGregor purchased a pub in Crumlin, renaming it to the Black Forge Inn. In 2022, the Black Forge Inn was targeted by petrol bombs. He purchased a second pub in 2021, the Marble Arch. McGregor had previously assaulted a man at the Marble Arch on 6 April 2019.

McGregor officially launched Forged Irish Stout in 2021. In 2024, complaints about the sexualised nature of its advertising were upheld by the Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland.

On 25 July 2025 at 3am a fire broke out at the Black Forge Inn, but the blaze was extinguished and there were no casualties. The fire is being treated as suspicious, though Gardaí do not believe a petrol bomb was involved. The following month, a man in his twenties was arrested by Gardaí attached to the Special Detective Unit and held in a Garda station in Dublin.

In 2022, McGregor was cast along with the actor Jake Gyllenhaal in a remake of the 1989 film Road House.

On 27 April 2024, it was announced that McGregor and his company "McGregor Sports and Entertainment" were now part-owners of Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC). McGregor has since appeared at multiple BKFC events.

McGregor has two sisters named Erin and Aoife. He is Catholic. His cousins Keith Buckley and Warren Davis are both professional footballers.

He has been in a relationship with Dee Devlin since 2008, and they have four children. They got engaged in 2020, and married at the Church of Santo Stefano degli Abissini in Vatican City in December 2025.

UFC Featherweight Championship (One time)

Interim UFC Featherweight Championship (One time)

Fight of the Night (Two times) vs. Nate Diaz (x2)

Knockout of the Night (One time) vs. Marcus Brimage

Greatest Knockout in UFC's first 25 Years vs. José Aldo

Key to the City of Miami: 28 September 2021