Conor McGregor's record: How many different nationalities has The Notorious fought against?
As of 2021, Conor McGregor has been competing for 14 years in combat sports. He has fought a large number of nationalities. This list includes one each from Lithuania, Slovakia and Poland, two each from Brazil and Russia, three from Britain and eight each from the USA and Ireland.
On 17 February 2007, Conor McGregor (then 18) made his amateur mixed martial arts debut against fellow Irishman Kieran Campbell in Dublin. Soon after this, he turned professional and signed with his current coach John Kavanagh.
In March 2008, Conor McGregor had his first professional MMA bout against Gary Morris, a lightweight from Ireland. McGregor won the fight by TKO in the second round. He then went on to fight another Irishman named Mo Taylor, coming out with the win once again. McGregor soon moved down to the featherweight division where he suffered his first loss to Lithuanian fighter Artemij Sitenkov. He was able to bounce back with two wins over Irish fighters Stephen Bailey and Connor Dillon.
Conor McGregor suffered his second loss against Irish fighter Joseph Duffy on moving back up to the lightweight division. After that loss, McGregor went on an eight-fight winning streak. He defeated two Irish fighters (Hugh Brady and Paddy Doherty), three British fighters (Mike Wood, Steve O'Keefe and Dave Hill), a Polish fighter (Artur Sowinski), an American fighter (Aaron Jahnsen) and a Slovakian fighter (Ivan Buchinger).
During that time, Conor McGregor went on to win both the CWFC featherweight and lightweight championships, making him the first Champ-Champ.
He soon signed a multi-fight contract with the UFC and made his debut on 6th April 2013. Conor McGregor went on to fight four more American fighters (Marcus Brimage, Max Holloway, Dustin Poirier, Chad Mendes), one Russian (Dennis Siver) and two Brazilian fighters (Diego Brandao and Jose Aldo). McGregor won all of these fights and went on to become the UFC featherweight champion.
In March 2016, Conor McGregor fought American fighter Nate Diaz and suffered his first loss in the UFC. He was granted a rematch in August of that year and won by decision.
Less than three months later he fought another American fighter, Eddie Alvarez, to win the UFC lightweight championship. Conor McGregor became the first person to hold two championship belts in two different weight classes in the UFC.
After not competing for almost two years, Conor McGregor returned to fight Russian fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov, widely regarded as one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time. After the loss to Khabib, McGregor returned to action in January 2020 with a win over American-based Donald Cerrone by TKO in 40 seconds.
The rematch between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier took place in Abu Dhabi, resulting in McGregor suffering his first-ever TKO loss in the second round.
Since then, both McGregor and Poirier have agreed to a potential rematch in the near future.
Dustin Poirier appears more attracted to fighting Conor McGregor for a third time than other rivals in the division. Some reports also indicate that the fight could take place as early as May 2021. There is also speculation that this bout could be for the possible vacant lightweight belt.
Dana White has remained adamant that the lightweight division must move on and believes that Poirier should be champion.