Conor McGregor’s rise to ‘Notorious’ UFC star and scandal as he is discovered to have raped lady

On Nov 22, 2024

Conor McGregor walked out of court this afternoon after a jury found that he assaulted and raped a woman in a penthouse suite in Dublin in 2018.

He shook his head, left the High Court alongside his childhood sweetheart partner Dee Devlin, and slipped into the back of a car while refusing to speak to the press.

With his name and reputation tainted even worse than before, below we explore just how it all went wrong for the former two-time UFC champion of the world.

Rise of Conor McGregor

“We are not here to take part, we were here to take over.”

McGregor was ten when he entered Crumlin Boxing Club in Dublin with mud trailing behind him.

His coach, Phil Sutcliffe, remembered: “Conor came in wearing muddy football boots, so we gave him a right telling off. He asked to join and we told him to get some forms from the office for his parents, who were outside. Instead of doing that, he started punching a bag.He still hadn’t taken off the boots so we roared at him.

“That was the Friday. He came back on the Saturday and almost every day for the next seven years.”

McGregor later traded the sweet science for mixed martial arts and earned the nickname The Notorious.

He was born in July 1988 to parents Tony and Margaret and his dad once recalled: “His fists were clenched coming out of the womb, so he was ready to fight. The midwife said, ‘This fella is going to be a boxer’.”

Despite being obsessed with football and Manchester United, McGregor remembered: “When I was really young, I felt like I needed to be able to defend myself.

“So I thought, ‘I’m going to go and train, so if anyone says anything to me they’re going to know about it’. That’s how I started.

“I emptied my books from my school bag and only carried the weight off a dumbbell. I always walked home with the bag a little bit open, ready to go, in case anything happened.

“I’d plan what would happen if I came across any bullies. I had little routines in my head. I wanted to hit them enough so I could get away and get myself to safety.

“I didn’t care about sport then and I still really don’t. I didn’t get into martial arts to be the All Ireland Champion or World Champion. I got into it so people would say, ‘This guy is doing a bit of training, we’ll just leave him alone’.

“Turns out I was good at it.”

His rise in MMA started when he joined Straight Blast Gym (SBG) and after school he became an apprentice plumber.

The fighter, renowned for his trash talking, reflected: “The other men were stooped and dead in the eyes. The 12-hour shifts were interfering with my training and nutrition. I gave it up.”

His parents were sceptical about his ambitions to be a professional fighter, and he said: “They said, ‘Who else has done it?’ There was no one before me.

“I remember saying, ‘At 25 years of age I will be a self-made millionaire’. My father laughed at me. I was a year late, but I did it.”

McGregor, under the stewardship of coach John Kavanah, landed world titles in Cage Warriors before later being signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

After beating Diego Brandao in his hometown of Dublin in his UFC debut, he famously said: “We’re not here to take part, we’re here to take over.”

And that is exactly what he did, becoming the UFC Featherweight champion by beating Jose Aldo within 13 seconds. He then became the first fighter in UFC history to hold belts in two separate divisions at the same time, after knocking out Eddie Alvarez in Madison Square Garden in 2016.

His star had never been higher and he went on to flight Floyd Mayweather in a boxing super fight at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas one year later.

Since then he has not fought as much as he used to, and more often that not has lost inside the UFC cage in recent years.

But professional defeats were the least of his problems…

Scandals and strippers

In 2018, the Irishman threw a metal trolley at a bus carrying rival fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov and other professional fighters.

Two were injured by flying glass and were unable to compete on the card- and a warrant was later put out for his arrest and he was eventually charged with three counts of assault and one count of criminal mischief.

After negotiations, he was ordered to do complete community service and attend anger management classes.

This came years before McGregor, who has four kids with partner Dee, was pictured grabbing a stripper by the bottom in Vegas in 2014.

Living up to his Notorious nickname, he later punched a man, 50, in a bar at the Marble Arch pub in 2019.

He pleaded guilty to assault and paid a €1,000 fine before later buying the pub when he quipped: “Yeah, and yer man’s barred.”

The fighter has 20 previous convictions to his name including 17 traffic offences, two public order charges, and one for assault and causing harm between 2011 and 2019.

But today (November 11), a jury ruled that he assaulted a woman and was ordered to pay Nikita Hand more than £200,000 in damages.

McGregor later told TMZ Sports: “The judge’s instruction and the modest award given was for assault, there was not an award for aggravated or exemplary damages. I am disappointed that the jury did not hear all the evidence that the DPP reviewed. I am with my family, focused on my future.”

The 35-year-old accused the fighter and boxer of “choking her three times” before “raping her” at the Beacon Hotel in Dublin, Ireland after a Christmas night out on December 9, 2018. McGregor, 36, denied the accusations.

What next for McGregor?

Last weekend, UFC star Michael Chandler called out McGregor for a fight after his match with Charles Oliveria.

But his future in the UFC is now unknown after he was found guilty of assault and rape.

The outspoken father has also teased about running for president of Ireland and blasted the government for “failed policies in protecting and securing”.

Or could he fight YouTube sensation Jake Paul who recently defeated Mike Tyson in a bizarre event on Netflix.

Who knows what next for McGregor who now has to deal with the fallout from the ruling in the civil case.

While he shook his head during the verdict, his victim meanwhile spoke outside court, and these were her first words.

McGregor later stated he will now appeal.