NEW Conor McGregor: BEFORE They Were Famous | The Notorious UFC #ConorMcGregor #UFC

Conor McGregor's UFC Journey: Historic Success, Chronic Controversy, Enduring Star Power

Dana White remembers the first time he heard the name Conor McGregor, a name that would forever change mixed martial arts. #conormcgregor #ufcfightnight #mmanews

The UFC CEO was in Dublin to receive an award from Trinity College in 2013 when he invited fans on Twitter to join him at a nearby pub after the ceremony. Drinks would be covered by White.

It was that night, Feb. 11, when he first heard a name that would become the most talked about in MMA history.

"The place was packed, full of people," White said. "I was in there with the fans all night, and everybody kept talking about Conor McGregor."

When he flew back to Las Vegas, White asked his matchmakers about McGregor. Sean Shelby was familiar with the featherweight out of Dublin, and White flew McGregor in for a meeting.

"The first time I met him, we flew him into Vegas and he and I went to dinner, and I was blown away by him," White said. "When I got in my car, I called [then-UFC owner] Lorenzo [Fertitta] and I said, 'Let me tell you what, I don't know if this kid can fight, but if he can even throw a punch, this kid is going to be a huge superstar.'"

McGregor would make his UFC debut two months later in Stockholm. He was able to throw a punch, and White's instincts were prescient about McGregor's star power.

McGregor began a meteoric ascension that topped out when he became the first fighter in UFC history to hold two championship belts simultaneously. But that has been followed by spectacle, defeat, and legal trouble away from the Octagon.

As the MMA world awaits word on when its biggest star will end his latest spell of inactivity, let's take a look at how we arrived here with "The Notorious" Conor McGregor.

#### McGregor's First-Round TKO Over Marcus Brimage

McGregor records a first-round TKO over Marcus Brimage in 67 seconds on April 6, 2013. McGregor is 13-2 as a professional mixed martial artist after making his UFC debut in the prelims of a Fuel TV card in Stockholm. The accuracy and power in his left hand live up to the hype.

Significance: McGregor tells reporters afterward that Brimage was too caught up emotionally in the prefight trash-talking, which led him to overthrow his shots. McGregor says that when he's outside of the Octagon "it's a game," and he feels like "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, but in the Octagon, it's emotion-free. That philosophy plays a meaningful role throughout McGregor's career as he becomes the sport's biggest trash-talker.

[joshw]

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