From rags to riches, poverty to wealthy, living on the street to living in mansions – there’s perhaps no story more motivational. Seeing regular, everyday people will themselves from a life of hardship to a life of luxury is inspiring as well as a slap in the face that it’s possible for all of us.

Sometimes the origin stories of today’s rich and famous can surprise us as we might have thought that they were always rich, but that’s often not the case. Take Conor McGregor for example…


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The Rise Of Conor McGregor

Conor McGregor is one of the biggest personalities in all of sports. He talks a big game, and he completely delivers. McGregor holds two UFC belts at the same time which is a first in the sport. He’s also broken UFC’s pay-per-view record twice in the same year, 2016. His fame and fortune are only set to increase, as he’s scheduled to fight Floyd Mayweather in a huge, unprecedented match on August 26, 2017. This fight is the talk of the town and will bring some enormous numbers into McGregor’s bank account.

So, what’s McGregor’s story?

His explosion onto the scene with UFC is one of the most remarkable stories in the history of mixed martial arts, and it goes back to when he was just a 24-year-old kid, totally broke and living in his parents’ house. At the time, he was a two-division champion that fought in a UK organization called the Cage Warriors. He was set to debut for UFC in 2013. His comments before his first UFC first really illuminate what his situation was.

”Just last week I was collecting the social welfare,” McGregor told reports after winning his first UFC fight and TKO’ing Marcus Brimage. “I was in there saying to them, ‘I don’t know what’s going to happen. I’m signed to the UFC. I don’t know. Blah, blah, blah.’ Now I suppose I’m just going to have to tell them, [expletive] off.”

Since His First UFC Win

Ever since winning his first UFC fight, his fighting style and charismatic personality have taken him far in the world of mixed martial arts. He’s now quite possibly the biggest star that the sport has ever witnessed.

“This is a $40 million year for me,” McGregor said last year.

McGregor’s parents wanted him to be a plumber at one point, and his father was very disappointed when McGregor decided to quit and follow his dreams of being a mixed martial arts athlete. Turns out, that might have been the smartest decision McGregor could have ever made! He trusted in himself and believed in his future so much that it was worth taking a perceived risk to pursue his passion.


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McGregor’s fight with Mayweather in August is set to earn him at least $100 million, and that merely scratches the surface of McGregor’s income. He’s worked hard at developing his brand which sells huge amounts of merchandise and earns him promo spots for big companies.

The Moral Of The Story

In the end, it seems that as tried and true as the words “follow your dreams” might be, advice like that helped McGregor to go from a life of poverty to being one of the richest men in sports. We’re not encouraging anyone to quit their day job, but perhaps a dream doesn’t just have to be a dream. Use Conor McGregor’s example of hard work and dedication as motivation to make your own dreams a reality!

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