The Rise of Conor McGregor: Part I

By JM “Shade” Daguio

“The Notorious” Conor McGregor is the most polarizing MMA superstar in a sea of polarizing superstars, the current UFC featherweight champion is indeed a sight to behold. Standing 5 feet, 9 inches tall, the brash Irishman is the king of the artful trash talk and methodical predictions which invites a lot of excitement, hype and deliberate word war with his opponents, getting into their skin and minds thus giving him some sort of mental advantage. But his talk isn’t the only thing pushing him to mainstream superstardom, his followers would strongly agree to this one; he backs his talk with his fists and utter disregard for his opponents power, goading them in before he finally cracks them with either his patented left straight or uppercut. “The Notorious” is indeed a sight to behold and before we lose sight of his legacy, we take a look back to his crucial matches which put him on the map and ignited his rise.

Fighter Profile

McGregor’s current record stands at 19 wins and 3 losses, with 17 wins via KO/TKO (89% KO rate), 1 via submission (Rear Naked Choke) and 1 by decision. McGregor is known to be a very accurate counter-puncher and a very capable stalker in case his opponents back pedals. His striking is very much reliant on deceptive kicks which masks his punches, coupled with his 74.0 reach which is the longest in the featherweight division; McGregor possesses these gifts and takes great advantage of them which makes him the man to beat in the featherweight division (145 lbs.)

March 2008 to December 2012

In the span of 4 years, McGregor fought in regional circuits in Ireland, Britain and Greater Europe, despite his submission losses to Artemij Sitenkov, a local fighter and Joe Duffy – now a UFC lightweight – McGregor bounced from those losses to become a 2-divisional champ in the Cage Rage promotion in London (Lightweight and Featherweight) but McGregor never sat on his laurels and set his eyes to the biggest promotion in the world; The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

April 06, 2013 (UFC Fuel TV 9) Conor McGregor Vs Marcus Brimage

This was McGregor’s UFC debut, he needed to prove everyone that he belonged among the elites. His opponent Marcus Brimage was a fringe top-15 featherweight fighter but McGregor dispatched Brimage in the first round using angles and looping hooks, now McGregor has arrived.

August 17, 2013 (UFC Fight Night 26) Conor McGregor Vs Max Holloway

At this point, the UFC has taken notice of McGregor, in response to his impressive win, the UFC matched McGregor with fellow up-and-comer Max “Blessed” Holloway. Holloway, despite being as young as McGregor, has already amassed a few more wins in the UFC but still honing his skills at that time, McGregor and Holloway greeted fans with a very competitive fight that ended in McGregor getting the nod via unanimous decision.

July 19, 2014 (UFC Fight Night 46) Conor McGregor Vs Diego Brandao

McGregor injured his knee during the Holloway fight and had to take time off from combat competition for 12 months. The UFC wanted to have a show in McGregor’s native country of Ireland and matched him with a brash Brazilian in Diego Brandao, the war of words preceding the actual fight was contentious wherein Brandao branded McGregor as getting weak opponents and McGregor countering with his usual KO predictions. The actual fight was a barn burner with McGregor getting his counters but Brandao just went forward with no regard for his own safety. Brandao eventually wilted to the pressure and the referee had to end the contest in the first round.

September 27, 2014 (UFC 178) Conor McGregor Vs Dustin Poirier

After McGregor dismantled Diego Brandao, fans and critics alike were begging for a top contender to fight McGregor and the UFC obliged with a match against perennial top-10 contender Dustin Poirier. Again, McGregor with more confidence this time, started the war of words claiming that he already staked his claim on the featherweight title and that there are no current featherweights will be able to defeat him, while Poirier disregarded the talk as mere banter. No one knew how McGregor would perform against a known finisher in Poirier. The fight was a typical “McGregor fight” where his opponents didn’t make it past round 1, Poirier was hit with a grazing blow almost at the back of his head and almost immediately went down. McGregor was victorious once more.

January 18, 2015 (UFC Fight Night 59) Conor McGregor Vs Dennis Siver

At this point, fans and critics alike are clamoring for McGregor’s title shot against longtime featherweight king Jose Aldo, but this time the UFC did not oblige, they wanted a tune-up fight for McGregor either to hype up the future Aldo fight and for the UFC to make extra bucks. As was predicted, McGregor utterly destroyed the German striker in Siver, after his win, the Irishman went straight out of the cage and snarled at Aldo baiting him for a fight. The beginning of McGregor’s rise to good fighter to superstar has begun and his marketability doesn’t hurt either.

To be continued… (The rise of Conor McGregor Part II coming Thursday)

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