11 Things You Didn’t Know About Conor McGregor

Conor McGregor; a lover, a fighter, the self-proclaimed ‘King of Dublin’, and ‘The Notorious’. McGregor seemed to come from nowhere; a hurricane that couldn’t be stopped. With air under his feet, he floats around his opponents, and punches that crack like heavenly lightning, he smashes down whoever stands in his way. The truth is, from his first fight, people fell in love with him and his seemingly unstoppable style. McGregor truly changed UFC as we knew it. However, there are 11 Things You Didn’t Know About Conor McGregor that brings even more to his legend.

He’s A Big Believer In The Law Of Attraction

Conor reads about the law of attraction regularly to sustain his successful lifestyle.

For those of you that don’t know what the ‘Law of Attraction’ is. Simply put, it is the belief that if you focus on something with enough positive intention, you quite literally draw that towards you. Essentially, you attract everything into your life, be it good or bad, by what your predominant thoughts are. This goes for everything from wanting a supercar, to owning a mansion, if you can think it, you can have it.

McGregor has always been very vocal about his beliefs in the Law of Attraction and claims that it has allowed him to have as many victories as he had, and have the lifestyle that he lives. He also reads regularly out of Jack Canfield’s ‘Key to Living the Law of Attraction’. This is one of the things that McGregor has said about living with intention:

“If you have a clear picture in your head that something is going to happen and a clear belief that it will happen no matter what then nothing can stop it. It is destined to happen. It’s perfect.”

He Has Lots Of Sex Before Every Match

There is a superstition that has gone around the sporting community about abstinence before commencing a big event. However, for people like Conor and Rhonda Rousey, that does not seem to be the case. When interviewed by The Independent, Conor spoke openly about not abiding to the superstition.

When asked about sex the night before a fight, McGregor said: “That is most certainly a superstition that I do not abide by. I definitely have as much sex as possible.”

It would almost seem that, contrary to the superstition, it is a point of note to reaching success.

He Kept An Old Hat From His Grandfather

Conor always kept his Grandad’s hat as a good luck token.

Behind the brutal fighting exterior that McGregor needs and has when he enters the ring, he actually has a very sentimental part as well. There is one thing that he always had in his gear bag, and that item is an old hat from his grandfather.

He kept it as a token of good luck, and a reminder of who he is and where he came from. Besides, we think it’s pretty cool to have a memorabilia from one of your ancestors. Unfortunately though, the hat was stolen out his car sometime in 2014.

He Got Into MMA As A Way To Defend Himself

What started out as something for McGregor to defend himself soon turned into an obsession.

Regardless of the astoundingly successful career that he made out of MMA, McGregor originally got into the sport as a way to defend himself. Of course, this originally started while he was still a part of the school playground. While speaking to the Daily Mail he had this to say,

‘I felt I needed to be able to defend myself,’ he admits. ‘I never felt bullied but I was a small kid and you have fights growing up. Those scuffles took up more of my thoughts than most people. I didn’t get into it to be able to handle myself but people would know I did it.

‘I started it to be left alone and became obsessed. Now I don’t know anything else.

‘I started with kickboxing then did some boxing and moved to ju jitsu. I was trying to learn every way and be comfortable in any situation.’

Needless to say, he certainly managed to far surpass his original goal.

He Won Ireland’s Most Stylish Man Award

With style like this, it’s not difficult to understand why Conor won “Ireland’s Most Stylish Man Award”.

There are a few things that McGregor loves apart from fighting. One of those things is style. He likes being well-dressed and always appear well-groomed. Anybody that knows anything about McGregor knows that he is very rarely seen out of one of his characteristic suits. Well, that style paid off and got him ‘The Most Stylish Man in Ireland’ award.

He has also been nominated for GQ Magazine’s Most Stylish Man of the Year Award for 2016!

He Was Living From Welfare At One Stage

In his early days, Conor was relying on welfare as support.

When we look at McGregor, we see a fighter, a giant in the UFC world, and somebody’s whose entire composure just speaks of success. And, it is so, because McGregor believed that it would be so. However, as most men of success have humble beginnings, Conor is no different.

Before he made it big in the ring, and in paychecks, McGregor and his girlfriend of 8 years, Dee Devlin, were living on the dole while Conor trained. While speaking to the Independent, Conor said this,

“When things were really bad I didn’t have a pot to p*ss in,” he said in a previous interview. “Really, nothing. I’m not a stupid guy and it was hard standing in the dole queue.”

Needless to say, he has moved far past that and The Sun reported that Conor’s net worth is calculated at around $22 million. In August 2016, Forbes stated that he had made $3 million from a single fight.

He Once Knocked An Opponent Out In 4 Seconds

Conor and Paddy just before the famed 4 second knockout.

We’ve all witnessed a few of McGregor’s brutal knockouts. You can hear the clash of fist meeting face and the crowd goes wild. But we bet that you didn’t know that before the UFC, he actually managed to knock an opponent out in 4 seconds!

Back in 2011, Conor went up against Paddy Doherty, and he blazed him down in 4 seconds flat with a stinging right hand. Check out the video below.

Check out some of his best knockouts below.

He Credits Much Of His Success To His Girlfriend Dee Devlin

Dee Devlin, pictured next to Conor, is a large reason of why he is as successful as he is.

There is a saying that behind every successful man, there is a great woman, and the case couldn’t be truer than with Dee Devlin. Devlin has been McGregor’s partner for the past 8 years. She met him when he was already busy with his training, but had nothing else, and she stuck with him through all the hardships because she believed in him. It was that belief that got Conor to push through to the monumental success that he has today, and he openly admits that it wouldn’t have been possible without Dee. Speaking to The Irish Mirror, he said,

“My girlfriend worked very hard throughout the years and stuck by me when I had essentially nothing. For me to be able to take her out of work, give her everything she’s ever wanted and to travel the world with, fills me with pride.”

He Follows A Majority Paleo Diet

You won’t find any junk food in McGregor’s fridge. Only lots of meat, fruit and vegetables.

We’ve all been there; you work out, but see no results. You make a change in your diet, and boom, the results are there. However, as casually as we might do it, Conor’s entire lifestyle depends on it. If he doesn’t keep an ideal weight and his body in prime condition, he can say goodbye to fighting.

To achieve this, he never eats takeout, drinks lots of water and coconut water, and follows a majority Paleo diet that consists of salmon, chicken, steak, fruit and veg, as reported by The Irish Mirror. This is what he said about his diet,

“I have a sweet tooth — that would be where I’d put on some weight out of fighting is somebody brings in a pack of cakes and coffee.

“But the majority, I’ll eat good-quality meats, good-quality greens, good-quality carbohydrates like sweet potato and butternut squash, and that is it.”

He Is The First UFC Champion To Hold Two Title Belts Simultaneously

Conor is pictured with both the Featherweight and Lightweight Titles here.

As crazy as it sounds, Conor is just that good at fighting that he has held two World Championship belts simultaneously. Each of these belts were held in two different weight categories – Featherweight and Lightweight.

By knocking out Jose Aldo at UFC 194, he gained the Featherweight title, and in November 2016 he beat Eddie Alvarez for the Lightweight title. This made him the first man to ever hold two UFC Championship belts at the same time. However, it is reported by the Guardian, that after a year of not having to defend the Featherweight title, he gave up his Featherweight title and kept the Lightweight title, ending his reign as a two-time division champion.

He Supports People Who Want To Sell His Autographs For Cash

Conor respects people who want to make cash from selling autographs.

Conor is well-known for his antics, taunting, and bad-mouthing of opponents, but when it gets to matters outside of the ring, he is a genuinely nice person. Understanding that there are people that struggle to get by, and they just need to make some money, he has no problem giving out autographs so that people can sell them. This what he had to say about them,

“They are not collecting autographs, they’re collecting cash,” McGregor said. “If they go through the hassle of standing outside in the cold, getting the pictures printed, showing up, you know what I mean?”

He also once saw a life-sized cardboard cutout of himself while in California and decided to crash the fan’s apartment. Read about it here and check out the video below.