Sports Then and Now

Conor McGregor will have to keep his feet on the ground during his battle with Floyd Mayweather.

Conor Anthony McGregor was born on the 14^th of July in 1998, and is an Irish pro MMA fighter who is currently signed to the UFC. He is the reigning champion for the Lightweight division of the UFC, and a former champion of the Featherweight division as well. Over the course of his fighting career, McGregor has taken part in fights for three divisions:

1. Featherweight
2. Lightweight
3. Welterweight

McGregor’s Early Life in Dublin

McGregor was born to Tony and Margaret McGregor in Crumlin, Dublin, and was raised in that town, attending Gaelscoil and Gaelcholáiste in primary school and Coláiste de hÍde in Tallaght in secondary. He developed his passion for athletics at this time, playing association football for the Lourdes Celtic Football Club. He took up boxing at the town’s boxing club at 12-years of age as well.

The McGregors moved to Lucan in Dublin in 2006, and Conor started attending Gaelcholáiste Coláiste Cois Life at this point. After this he began a plumbing apprenticeship, but, luckily for fighting fans the world around, he met up with future fighter for the UFC Tom Egan at this point, and together they started training for the MMA.

A Two-Division Champion in 2016

On the 27^th of September 2016, there was an official announcement that McGregor would be facing Eddie Alvarez for the Lightweight UFC Championship, UFC 205, set to take place on the 12^th of November. McGregor triumphed with a second-round TKO and won the fight.

On the 26^th of that month, due to his inactivity in the Featherweight division, it was announced that McGregor vacated the Championship for it, and this saw José Aldo take up the title. Further reports indicate, however, that McGregor was stripped of the title, and this was confirmed by his coach. This threw punters at Australian betting sites into turmoil, as they needed to reassess who they were going to back going forward.

McGregor’s MMA Hiatus and Endeavors into Boxing

After the UFC 205 win, McGregor made an announcement that he would be taking time off in order to wait for his first child to arrive, due in 2017. He has since spent most of his time in public campaigning for the boxing match he intends to take part in against Floyd Mayweather: after many months of negotiations, the two athletes have finally agreed to terms that will see them face off against one another on the 26^th of August this year.

McGregor’s Mixed Martial Arts Fighting Style

McGregor is best known as a striker, and he prefers fighting standing up. He is left-handed, and thus makes heavy use of the Southpaw stance, but has been known to make use of conventional stance as well. He is very aggressive, and his boxing is widely considered to be his best skill. Most of his victories have been as a result of KO or TKO with his punchers. Many pundits see his pull-back left-hand counter as his most dangerous strike.

McGregor is famous for his trash talk, which he calls a form of psychological warfare that erodes his opponents. This tendency has led to comparisons between McGregor and Muhammad Ali being made, with McGregor very pleased with the comparison, since he cites Ali as one of his earliest, and biggest, inspirations.