10 Things You Didn't Know About Conor McGregor
Mystic Mac predicted the future again - he's the first UFC fighter to hold two belts at once!
In just three years, Conor McGregor has gone from a popular regional fighter to the undisputed and frankly mythical king of the UFC. Now the first ever UFC fighter to be champion in two different weight classes at the same time, McGregor has lived up to every iota of hype written about him thus far.
Yet despite being in the spotlight almost constantly, there's still tons many fans don't know about the fighter many call Mystic Mac. His rise came so quickly, so suddenly, and was so unprecedented in the sport that it's almost as if he arrived overnight: one moment, the UFC was without him, the next, it was host to an Irish invasion with McGregor at the forefront.
Following his big win at UFC 205, McGregor announced that he was taking some time off pending the arrival of his first child. However, McGregor, who fought four times in the past twelve months, likes to stay active, so don't expect him to be gone too long. And while we wait for him to return, it's the perfect time to examine some little known facts about the man.
So here they are - ten things you (probably) didn't know about The Notorious Conor McGregor.
10. He Worked As A Plumber Starting Out
Everyone has to start somewhere, right? And many, many fighters have a day job.
Rich Franklin, former UFC middleweight champion, was once a math teacher prior to jumping into the MMA world. Demetrious 'Mighty Mouse' Johnson, considered the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world by many, drove a forklift throughout most of his fighting career, right up until 2012.
Conor McGregor? Well, he's the guy you'd call if you needed to fix a leaky faucet in Dublin. In his late teens, with MMA anything but a sure bet, McGregor signed on as a plumber's apprentice, and worked the job for a year.
Per RT, McGregor said of his trade days:
"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."
Being forced to choose between training full time and still keeping his day job, McGregor dove headlong into the fight game. So if you have a sink that he once fixed, consider putting it up on Ebay.