Conor McGregor is becoming one of the biggest stars in all of sports and pop culture. His lavish lifestyle and cockiness makes you either love or hate him. Whether you do or don’t, there is no denying the positive impact he brings to the Ultimate Fighting Championship, or UFC. His early life and rise to fame is inspiring many people to follow their dreams.

Born in Dublin, Ireland, McGregor was raised in the suburbs and began a plumbing apprenticeship when he was 18. Around that time, he began sparring with future UFC fighter Tom Egan, which helped him build a passion for martial arts. In an interview with Jimmy Kimmel in December of 2016, McGregor explained how he got into the sport saying, “Where I grew up you had to be aware.  You had to be able to defend yourself; that’s how I got into the sport.”

After an impressive early professional career, UFC signed him to a multi-fight contract in 2013. Since then, he has won 19 fights and lost 3, most recently losing to Nate Diaz.

In Ireland the most popular sports are soccer and rugby, with most kids aspiring to turn pro in these sports. McGregor has sparked an interest for the UFC in kids from Ireland and given hope to many fighters who feel that location may be in their way of achieving their dream.

He has shown that even in a country where a sport isn’t popular, if you put in the hard work, opportunity will find you. McGregor seems to follow the rags to riches story, growing up in the lower class and achieving his dream through struggle and now he lives a lavish lifestyle.

Before McGregor became a successful fighter, many Americans, like myself, weren’t interested in the UFC. As time went on and McGregor started winning fights, the media captured his cockiness, charisma, and humor. His tweets and Instagram post of his houses and cars, his intimidating gorilla tattoo, and his accent increased his celebrity status. He has become a hero in his country.

Knowing his fights and press conferences are unpredictable, many new fans have paid tons of money to see them. His weigh ins and press conference draw thousands of people and create an unreal hype for the upcoming fight.

His 1-1.5 million buy rate for paid per view is tops in the UFC and shows the increase of buyers since he rose to stardom. Forbes estimated McGregor made 3 million dollars in his 13 second win against Jose Aldo. Mainstream media never really caught on to the UFC, now more sites and stations are reporting on fights and generating attention. For years the featherweight division (145 lbs) has had a lack of promotion and excitement, now it is the most exciting division because of McGregor. Nate Diaz made more money than any fight in his career just by fighting McGregor, making 500,000 dollars just for showing up and 100,000 dollars for winning. In 2014, profits for the UFC fell a reported 40 percent, but the company saw a massive turnaround in 2015 due to McGregor’s fights against Chad Mendes and Aldo. McGregor has increased profits, popularity, and interest for the UFC more than any other fighter and has inspired many young athletes around the world, which he will continue to do for the rest of his career. Ali, Tyson, and Mayweather are the things of the past, now it’s all about McGregor and his opponent.