\n<\/p>\n
While Conor McGregor<\/strong><\/a> is a champion fighter, he has faced a series of ups and downs inside \u2014 and outside \u2014 the Octagon.<\/p>\n The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) star began his impressive mixed martial career<\/a> in 2008 and was signed to the professional league<\/a> in 2013. Throughout his reign in the UFC, McGregor has collected a series of accolades<\/a> including the UFC Featherweight Championship, UFC Lightweight Championship, Fight of the Night, Knockout of the Night and more.<\/p>\n Three years after his debut, McGregor lost his first match against challenger Nate Diaz<\/strong> in March 2016. One month after the loss, McGregor announced he had decided to retire<\/a> from fighting.<\/p>\n \u201cI have decided to retire young. Thanks for the cheese,\u201d he wrote via Twitter<\/a> in April 2016. \u201cCatch ya\u2019s later.\u201d<\/p>\n However, his retirement didn\u2019t last long<\/a>. Four months later, McGregor revealed he was returning to the sport to take on Diaz in a rematch. He defeated his rival in August 2016. McGregor continued to make waves and decided the following year he wanted to challenge boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr<\/strong>. to a match. Their August 2017 showdown was billed as \u201cthe biggest fight in combat sports history<\/a>.\u201d The fighters sparred for ten rounds before Mayweather Jr. was declared the victor.<\/p>\n McGregor decided to retire for a second time in March 2019 but reversed the decision the following year to participate in a match against Donald Cerrone<\/strong>. Following his win against Cerrone, McGregor announced in June 2020 he would retire for a third time. Two months later, McGregor proposed to his long-time girlfriend Dee Delvin<\/strong><\/a> after 12 years of dating. (The couple share three children<\/a>: sons Conor Jr., and Rian, and daughter Croia Mairead.)<\/p>\n The following year, McGregor made headlines after getting into a scuffle<\/a> with Machine Gun Kelly<\/strong><\/a> at the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards<\/a> after the rapper allegedly denied taking a photo with the mixed martial artist. McGregor\u2019s rep refuted the claims<\/a> to Us Weekly<\/em> in September 2021.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is totally false. [There was] no photo request,\u201d the spokesperson told Us<\/em> at the time, noting that Kelly \u201cattended Conor\u2019s last fight\u201d and that McGregor \u201cappreciates all his fans.\u201d<\/p>\n Two years after the drama with Kelly, McGregor found himself in hot water again. In June 2023, he was accused of raping a woman<\/a> in Miami while attending Game 4 of the NBA Finals<\/a>. In demand letters obtained by Us<\/em> at the time, the woman\u2019s attorney, Ariel Mitchell<\/strong>, alleged that the MMA fighter \u201cviolently\u201d sexually assaulted her in a men\u2019s bathroom. A rep for McGregor released a statement to TMZ<\/a> refuting the allegations. At the time of the accusations, McGregor and his fianc\u00e9e announced they were expecting their fourth child<\/a>.<\/p>\n