Conor McGregor: From Welfare Checks To $180M In Annual Earnings

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Friends,

In 2007, Conor McGregor was…

• Working as a plumber

• Living with his parents

• Thousands of dollars in debt

• Cashing ~$235 weekly welfare checks

Now, he’s officially the highest-paid athlete in the world — bringing in $180 million last year.

I broke down his WILD story on Twitter this past weekend, but I also wanted to share it with you guys.

Enjoy :)

Conor McGregor grew up in Crumlin, a small suburb of Dublin, Ireland.

His parents say he was born with clenched fists, but as he got older, his first love was actually soccer. He followed Manchester United religiously.

That is until one event changed everything...

When Conor McGregor was 12 years old, a group of boys tried to bully him after school — chasing him all the way home.

His solution? Boxing.

At just 12 years old, Conor McGregor began boxing at the Crumlin Boxing Club. He trained on & off for the next few years, eventually moving to another town with his family at 16.

That's where he met future UFC fighter, Tom Egan. They hit it off & started training MMA together.

When they weren't in school, Conor McGregor & Tom Egan could be found watching delayed recordings of UFC fights on the weekend.

They would watch the fight, then mimic the moves in the backyard — they loved it.

But there was just one problem…

Now 17, McGregor needed to start making money.

His career choice?

Conor McGregor started working as an apprentice plumber.

McGregor would then spend the next 12 hours fixing pipes and toilets. He hated it.

With a plumbing job limiting his time to train, Conor McGregor had a decision to make: Keep working & make money, or quit to train with no promise of a paycheck.

Despite being thousands of dollars in debt & living with his girlfriend in his parent’s house, Conor decided to quit. He was going all in.

After quitting his job as a plumber, McGregor started training with the legendary coach John Kavanagh. He would spend all day at the gym, teaching classes for cash when he wasn't training.

Debt piled up, but welfare checks kept him afloat.

The bad news?

He started his MMA career 4-2. Not great.

Following a 22-month hiatus due to an injury, Conor McGregor came back with a vengeance. He won 8 fights in a row, with multiple coming via 1st round TKO.

The best part?

After 5+ years of struggling to get by, the UFC had fallen in love with his brash personality. Dana White offered him a multi-fight deal.

Fast forward to 2013, and McGregor is making his UFC debut.

He cashed a welfare check on the way to the airport, flew to Sweden, and beat Marcus Brimage by KO in round one. Even better, he took home a $60k bonus for his 1st "Knockout of the Night" award.

Since making his 2013 debut, Conor McGregor has become one of the most legendary fighters in MMA history. He's won 20+ fights & multiple world titles, earning himself 7-figure paychecks.

Even more impressive?

He's also become the blueprint for athletes in business.

While most athletes would have been happy earning $5M to $10M annually off endorsements, Conor McGregor wasn’t. He wanted to own equity.

Here’s how he did it…

Conor McGregor teamed up with world-class entrepreneurs to launch companies like August McGregor and Proper 12 Whiskey, utilizing his name, image, and likeness to organically promote products/companies he owned large equity positions in.

The result?

Despite only fighting once last year, McGregor made $180 million.

Even crazier?

About $160 million came from outside the octagon.

That makes McGregor only the 3rd athlete all-time — along with Roger Federer & Tiger Woods — to earn more than $70 million off the field in a single year while still actively competing.

That’s wild.

Don’t get me wrong, there have been numerous mistakes along the way, including bar fights, arrests, and allegations, but here’s my favorite part of the Conor McGregor story.

The greatest entrepreneurs in the world consistently remind us that two things are required to be successful:

1. Take a risk

2. Bet on yourself

McGregor followed both principles, going from a career in plumbing to 9-figure annual earnings.

That’s incredibly impressive.

If you enjoyed this thread, make sure to follow me on Twitter. I tweet stories like this 3x per week.

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