Are Ewan McGregor and Conor McGregor related?
Ewan McGregor is a Hollywood actor born in Scotland, and Conor McGregor is an MMA fighter from Ireland. The two are not related. 'MacGriogair' is a Gaelic last name that was anglicized to 'McGregor,' and it originally was a patronym meaning "son of Griogar."
Ewan lived in Scotland until he was 18 years old when he moved to London to pursue his career as an actor. At 18, Conor already had his mixed martial arts debut fight, after taking up boxing at only 12 years of age.
Ewan McGregor: A Hollywood success
Ewan McGregor's first role was in a Channel 4 six-parts series called "Lipstick on Your Collar" in 1993. In the same year, the aspiring actor would jump to another television series from the BBC before acting in his first feature film called "Being Human" (1994), by director Bill Forsyth.
But McGregor's real shot at becoming a celebrity would happen two years later when director Danny Boyle cast him as Mark Renton, the leading character in "Trainspotting," which earned a "Best Adapted Screenplay" nomination at the Oscars.
In 1999, McGregor would star in his first big-budget movie, playing Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequels, one of the characters with whom the actor would be most associated.
McGregor was nominated for numerous awards during his career, collecting a Golden Globe for "Best Actor in a Limited Series" with his performance in "Fargo."
Recently, McGregor made his debut as a director with "American Pastoral" (2016), an adaptation of the homonymous book by Philip Roth. However, the film had a warm reception with critics and fans alike. The experienced actor is credited in 71 movies as an actor.
Conor McGregor UFC stardom
Born in Crumlin, a suburban neighborhood in Ireland's capital city of Dublin, Conor McGregor started his history with fighting from a young age. At 12, he picked up on boxing to learn how to defend himself from bullies and boost his confidence.
It worked. McGregor fell in love with the sport and started to dedicate more of his time to training. A couple of years later, he would meet future UFC fighter Tom Egan, with whom McGregor would start his devotion to MMA.
After making an impressive debut at only 18 years of age, McGregor signed his first professional deal with Cage of Truth, an Irish fighting promotion. Simultaneously, 'The Notorious' enrolled with Straight Blast Gym (SBG) Ireland, where he would meet coach John Kavanagh, his mentor until this day.
After his professional debut, McGregor jumped in between small Irish fighting promotions until signing with Cage Warriors, Europe's leading and longest-running mixed martial arts promotion. McGregor would become a double champion there, putting the lightweight and featherweight titles under his belt.
The feat got UFC and Dana White's attention. McGregor was signed by the promotion in 2013, making his debut against Marcus Brimage in Stockholm in UFC.
McGregor's ascension inside the UFC was meteoric. Winning fight after fight against top-ranked opponents, McGregor became the UFC lightweight champion after only six appearances with the promotion. One match later, against Jose Aldo for the UFC featherweight championship, McGregor became the first fighter in UFC's history to hold titles in two different weight classes.
Such an explosive trajectory would transform McGregor into a real celebrity, transcending his own sport's barriers. In 2017, McGregor would make one of the highest-selling fights in combat sports history with a cross-style boxing bout with Floyd Mayweather, writing his name down as one of the most successful mixed martial artists ever.