Conor McGregor’s rise to the top of the Ultimate Fighting Championship felt like it happened overnight. It wasn’t long before it came clear there was a rocket strapped to the back of the Irish fighter, and he was deserving of it as he entertained every time there was a microphone in his hand and every time he stepped into the octagon. Now that McGregor has proven himself to the UFC officials, they come knocking on his door when he has opportunities.
It wasn’t long ago that McGregor was knocking on doors himself, though, looking to prove himself to his peers.
McGregor had an interesting run-in with the ladies and gentleman at SBG Ireland where he where he stunned and dropped now-retired Aisling Daly during training. John Kavanagh, her coach at the time, stepped in to throw down with McGregor during training to teach him a lesson. Kavanagh told News.AU:
“It sounds worse than it was. He wasn’t hitting her in the head or anything, but just happened to throw a body shot that hit her in the sweet spot, the solar plexus, and put her down.”
“I got a little emotional because Ash had been with me a long time and the other guys would look after her. But this new guy had come in and put her down, and my protective nature kicked in.”
“I was still fighting at that stage, or hadn’t stopped that long, so I put the gloves on — actually, he has corrected me on that and says it was bare knuckles.”
“I held him down and beat the [expletive] out of him, without putting too fine a point on it.”
“I kept hitting him in the body until he couldn’t breathe and then I looked at him: ‘What’s it going to be? We can train or we can fight?’ And he was OK from the next day.”
