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Struggling Conor McGregor, Who Was Initially Rejected by UFC, Was Given Ferrari Privilege by Dana White After Impressing Him

Published 10/16/2022, 10:00 AM EDT

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Conor McGregor is arguably one of the biggest UFC stars. The Irishman makes loads of money from the UFC and his other business ventures and lives a flashy lifestyle. With antique cars, designer watches, and even private yachts, ‘Mystic Mac’ has all the luxury in his possession one can think of. He has been a ruthless striker inside the octagon and a merciless trash-talker on the mic, earning him the status that he shows off today.

But things weren’t always this way for McGregor. He had to face continuous rejection from the UFC during his initial days. Originally, McGregor wanted to fight as a ‘Featherweight’, but was rejected by the UFC multiple times.

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Conor McGregor took the hard way to get into the UFC

McGregor had made every effort to make it into the UFC’s Featherweight division. But at that time, the Featherweight card of the UFC was heavily loaded with fighters. Hence, McGregor was initially barred from getting into the UFC.

USA Today via Reuters

But, ‘The Notorious One’ decided to move up a division to Lightweight and got into ‘Cage Warriors’. He went on to become a ‘two-weight-division’ champion in ‘Cage Warriors’ which finally grabbed the attention of The UFC boss, Dana White.

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UFC president, Dana White, then signed the young McGregor, after he impressed him at a dinner. White believed that McGregor possessed every potential to develop into a superstar based solely on his personality. Dana White spoke to TSN about his first impression of McGregor. He said, “Listen, I don’t know if this guy can fight, but if he can even throw a punch, he’s going to be a huge star.”

McGregor went from an unknown lightweight to two weight-division UFC champ

McGregor went on to defeat Marcus Brimage in his UFC debut in 2013. He received a $50,000 performance incentive, in addition to his regular pay for participating and winning. Dana White was also making big business through him and he obviously wanted it to continue.

Hence, they met again for a meeting which gave ‘Mystic Mac’ a chance to compete in both Boston and his home country. The meeting ended with the pair racing around Las Vegas in the boss, Dana White’s luxurious ‘Ferrari’.

McGregor didn’t disappoint White a bit. His main events continued to be huge crowd-pullers, even his pre-fight press conferences got the fans yelling and the place erupting.

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He went on to become a two-weight division champion of the UFC. He had previously achieved the same feat during his time at ‘Cage Warriors‘. It also made him the highest-paid fighter in the company at those times.

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Watch this Story – Conor McGregor offered title shot in boxing without a single win

But, 2021 didn’t prove to be the year Conor would’ve asked for. With a gruesome leg break from the Dustin Poirier fight at UFC 264 in July, ‘Mystic Mac’ is yet to grace the Octagon as of now. His regular grappling and sparring videos on Twitter have kept the fans anticipating, but McGregor hasn’t opened up about his return yet.

How soon do you want ‘Mystic Mac’ to grace the Octagon again?

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Written by:

Souvik Roy

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Souvik Roy is currently a UFC writer at EssentiallySports. An avid UFC follower, Souvik combined his love for the sport and his passion for words to turn his interest into his Livelihood. A Diploma holder in Electrical Engineering, Souvik has worked as a Freelance Link Builder and Content Writer previously and wrote for various clients and businesses.
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Edited by:

Vineet Nandwana