UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor is really living up to his nickname this year. ‘The Notorious’ faces Eddie Alvarez in the lightweight title main event of UFC 205. Having found unparalleled success in such a short time for the UFC, McGregor is now rubbing shoulders with mainstream stars.
Posting images on social media with soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, McGregor once again proved he is growing in popularity. Thinking back just 10 years, few people even knew about the UFC.
McGregor & Ronaldo
Few fighters have rose to the level of stardom that Conor McGregor has. You’ll remember he posted some images of himself with pop icon and Hollywood actress Jennifer Lopez a few weeks back.
The story behind these images is pretty funny. It involves Conor McGregor gatecrashing J-Lo’s birthday party after meeting with Cristiano Ronaldo. McGregor SBG coach had the scoop:
Gatecrashed!
Speaking with Paul Kimmage from Irish Independant, McGregor’s coach John Kavanagh told how his fighter crashed J-Lo’s birthday bash:
Paul Kimmage: What happened that night?
John Kavanagh: We went to J-Lo’s party.
PK: OK, and this is what’s confusing me, because it’s obvious from the video that Conor hasn’t been invited to this party.
JK: Correct.
PK: He doesn’t know J-Lo?
JK: Correct.
PK: So how do you end up at the party?
JK: That’s just cheeky Conor, a throwback to his youth. He just says: “Ah sure I’ll come along.” And Ronaldo goes: “Ehh… OK.”
PK: (Laughs) Really?
JK: Yeah and we’re all there thinking: “How can Ronaldo invite us to this gig? Who’s going to be there?” Even in the car as we’re driving in: “Wait! This a terrible mistake. We’re going to walk in here and be thrown out by some security guard!”
PK: And were you?
JK: We go in and J-Lo catches his eye and comes running over like a schoolgirl: “Oh! Conor McGregor! Thank you for coming. Let’s dance!” She drags him to the dance floor and they start dancing and I’m like: “Oh, here we go, just another crazy story.” Ronaldo is there. He comes over, tells me that he reads everything (I write) and follows me on Instagram. I’m thinking: “Wait until I tell my dad about this!”
PK: (Laughs)
JK: He kept coming over, and then he would drift away, and then I’d be in another part (of the room) and he’d come over again. (Laughs.) And it got to the stage where Orlagh was like: “Here’s this sports megastar harassing you!”
PK: He had you in a headlock.
JK: Yeah, it was like a drunk party: “I’ll tell you this.” But it was very enjoyable. We spoke about training regimes and the psychological aspects of competition and after a while I started to realise: “This guy is just like Conor.” Just a one-track mind, no interest in anything else. Civilians would call them obsessed or say there was something wrong with them, but you can’t get to that level unless you have that personality.”