The UFC has gone from strength to strength over the past decade and Conor McGregor has to take a huge amount of credit for bringing MMA to the masses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After winning the featherweight title at UFC 194, beating Jose Aldo just 13 seconds into the fight, McGregor was already a star.<\/p>\n\n\n
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McGregor was slated to meet Rafael dos Anjos for the lightweight title at UFC 196 but the Brazilian had to withdraw with a broken foot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nate Diaz stepped in as a late replacement and the American produced a major upset as he landed a first UFC defeat on the Irishman, winning by submission in round two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After losing to Khabib Nurmagomedov (more on that later) at UFC 229 McGregor took a break from MMA and turned his attentions to projects outside of the sport.<\/p>\n\n\n
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He made his much-anticipated return to the octagon in January 2020 when agreeing to take on former lightweight title contender Donald Cerrone in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
McGregor needed just 40 seconds to wrap up an emphatic ground and pound victory in front of a packed house at the T-Mobile Arena.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A rematch between McGregor and Diaz was inevitable after the former lost via submission at UFC and they squared off at UFC 202.<\/p>\n\n\n
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McGregor earned his revenge by way of majority decision in the Fight of the Night and a bout that will go down in the history books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was no love lost between the duo with plenty of verbals exchanged in the build-up and the main event, which broke the record for most PPV buys, didn’t disappoint as the pair finished proceedings bloodied and bruised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
McGregor’s fourth fight in the UFC came against Dustin Poirier and he made easy work of the American when securing a first round TKO victory.<\/p>\n\n\n
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A second meeting was always on the cards as they both went on to rise through the rankings in the following years and fans finally got their wish in January 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
UFC 257 saw McGregor eager to build on his win over Cerrone, but Poirier represented a much tougher challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
McGregor started brightly, but the Diamond shone in the second round, landing a series of heavy leg kicks before finishing The Notorious with a flurry of punches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The UFC 229 headliner between Khabib Nurmagomedovwill and Conor McGregor on October 6th, 2018 holds the record as the biggest ever UFC pay-per-view event.<\/p>\n\n\n
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Tension had been building between the pair since UFC 223 when McGregor attempted to confront Khabib on a bus as he left the pre-event press conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
McGregor subsequently threw a metal dolly at the bus, smashing the window and injuring other fighters in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Things became even more tense in the weeks ahead of their slated bout at UFC 229 and, after Khabib went on to secure a fourth round submission win, things boiled over afterwards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Khabib launched himself out of the octagon, attacking members of McGregor’s team, while members of his own entourage tangled with McGregor inside.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The UFC has gone from strength to strength over the past decade and Conor McGregor has to take a huge amount of credit for bringing MMA to the masses. 5) UFC 196: McGregor vs Diaz – 1.3million After winning the featherweight title at UFC 194, beating Jose Aldo just 13 seconds into the fight, McGregor […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":39465,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[811],"tags":[637],"class_list":["post-25545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ufc","tag-conor-mcgregor"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n