Conor McGregor celebrates 8-year anniversary of UFC debut against Marcus Brimage: WATCH

Tuesday, April 6, marked the eight-year anniversary of Conor McGregor's UFC debut. The Notorious faced Marcus Brimage in his first-ever UFC bout that took place in the preliminary card of ‘UFC on FUEL TV 9’. McGregor won the featherweight bout, in impressive fashion, stopping his opponent in the first round with a series of left and rights, earning the ‘Knockout of the Night’ bonus in the process - $60,000.

Conor McGregor next fight: Conor McGregor UFC debut

While remembering the bout, Conor McGregor revealed the things he went through to make his UFC debut successful. The Irishman revealed that he moved to his sister’s house eight weeks before the fight as her apartment was close to an MMA gym. McGregor claimed that he rarely took a day off and even used to train on Sundays. “I woke up, trained, walked back to apartment, ate my meals and rested, trained again, back to apt, sleep, repeat,” McGregor stated.

Conor McGregor UFC debut: Rise to stardom

Conor McGregor’s hard work ultimately paid off as he went on a historic run after the Marcus Brimage fight. He won the UFC featherweight title by knocking out Jose Aldo in just 12 seconds and went on to grab the lightweight strap from Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205, becoming the first man in history to ever hold two UFC titles simultaneously. By doing so, Conor McGregor became a global superstar and brought many eyeballs to MMA in the process.

This earned him a boxing bout with legend Floyd Mayweather, that broke PPV records. The crossover match-up drew $4.4 million in PPV buys, the second biggest PPV buys in combat-sport history. Just a year later in 2018, McGregor returned to UFC and fought Khabib Nurmagomedov for the lightweight title. While he lost, UFC 229 became the biggest event in MMA history, generating $2.4 million.

Conor McGregor next fight: Conor McGregor vs Dustin Poirier

Now, eight years later after making his debut in the promotion, McGregor is going through the roughest patch of his career, coming off a TKO loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 257. The Notorious One is 3-3 on his last six performances, losing to Nate Diaz, Nurmagomedov and Poirier. However, while looking back on his journey, Conor McGregor has promised to get back to the old mindset that got him to become a UFC champion as he prepares for his third fight with the Diamond. Both are currently tied, 1-1, with McGregor winning the first and Poirier winning the second bout. The bout is making UFC news headlines off late.

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