Back at the end of 2007 in the outskirts of Lucan, Dublin, at this time, the young man Conor McGregor was 17 years old by his parents, Mr. Tony and Margaret McGregor, scolded for an unrealistic dream to become an boxer.
Tony McGregor admitted that he loved his son, but the unclear future of a boxing athlete made him falter. Instead, he tried to convince Conor to learn something related to economics, to ensure his own income.
“At that time, my family had Erin (Conor's sister) was a athlete,” Tony McGregor said in an interview in Ireland. “I don't want Conor to become a athlete, I hope my son earns something more stable. For example, studying at college to get some economical degree.”
Tony McGregor's conception and wife at that time were not difficult to understand. The McGregor family came from the middle class, they had enough to eat, enough to wear, but not considered rich. Conor McGregor himself also had to attend vocational schools and become a plumbing worker who learned quite early, right after he graduated from high school.
“I am not interested in doing business to work for others,” Conor McGregor recounted the time when he was still studying the country in Dublin. “Can you believe it, I used to stand up the martial arts next to the highway in the coldness at 6 am, used to carry water, distribute sandwich at lunch and countless other unnamed chores.”
“But I need money to continue studying martial arts, to invest before every time the radio.
Of course, Conor McGregor is very aware that a plumbing worker's job is not his final destination. The young McGregor is still half joking and telling his parents: “I will become a millionaire, there will be nothing to prevent me. Everyone will know my name!”. And the path of becoming a millionaire of Conor McGregor can only be through martial arts.
“The decision to become a martial artist is something I have never regretted,” Conor McGregor said. “I lost the battle, I was tired, but I knew that I became a champion was my dream. I would do everything to reach that dream.”
The support from the family, as well as from his girlfriend Dee Devlin, helped Conor McGregor so much for UFC superstar to overcome the first difficulties in his life and pursue his passion for martial arts. But it was the determination from McGregor himself as the key that made him seize the opportunity and become a UFC superstar like today.