Former 2-division UFC champion Conor “Notorious” McGregor made his promotional debut against Marcus Brimage at UFC on Fuel TV 9 in April 6, 2013.
In February 2013, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) announced that they had signed Conor McGregor to a multi-fight contract. With this signing, McGregor became only the 2nd-ever MMA fighter from Ireland to compete in the UFC, after fellow SBG teammate Tom Egan.
Following his signing with the UFC, McGregor made his debut against Marcus Brimage at UFC on Fuel TV 9, on April 6, 2013. He won the fight in round one, after buckling Brimage with some crisp boxing. McGregor dropped Brimage after a punch combination, finishing him with some follow-up strikes on the ground. The win also earned McGregor his first “Knockout of the Night” bonus, after coining the now-famous “Dana, 60 G’s baby!” quote.
Prior to signing with the UFC, McGregor had just claimed his 2nd title in Cage Warriors after defeating Ivan Buchinger via KO in the 1st round at Cage Warriors: 51 in December 31, 2012.
Rewatch the action from McGregor’s UFC debut against Marcu Brimage below:
Following the victory in his debut, McGregor picked up 5 more straight wins, before getting a shot at former champion Jose Aldo for his UFC featherweight title. He defeated Aldo by knockout in just 13 seconds into the first round at UFC 194. His win became the fastest victory in UFC title fight history.
McGregor later went on to defeat Eddie Alvarez for the UFC Lightweight Championship at UFC 205, becoming the 1st fighter in UFC history to hold titles in 2 weight divisions at the same time.
Alongside his UFC career, McGregor also made his debut in professional boxing, where he was defeated by Floyd Mayweather Jr.
McGregor has established himself as the biggest pay-per-view (PPV) star in MMA history, having headlined 5 out of the 6 highest-selling UFC pay-per-view events. He also holds notable wins over fighters like Max Holloway, Diego Brandão, Dustin Poirier, Dennis Siver, Chad Mendes, Nate Diaz and Donald Cerrone.
Meanwhile, Marcus Brimage dropped down to bantamweight following his loss to McGregor. He lost his bantamweight debut via split decision to Russell Doane at UFC 175. Brimage went on to have 3 more fights under the UFC banner, before being released by the promotion. His current professional MMA record is 7-7.
This article first appeared on CLOSEDGUARDMEDIA.com on 25th March, 2020.
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