Conor ​McGregor: An Icon for Ireland's Forgotten Generation

This story originally appeared on VICE Sports UK.

On Saturday night, thousands of travelling Irish supporters will fill the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. They will sing songs synonymous with the nation's historic sporting glories, and direct them towards a Dubliner who will compete for a world title in a sport that many of them may not have even know about three years ago.

'The Notorious' Conor McGregor's mercurial rise in mixed martial arts has shocked the world in a lot of ways. Never before has an athlete from the featherweight ranks garnered so much attention for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). While the United States, Brazil, Japan, Netherlands and even the UK were thought to have some kind of MMA culture, Ireland was always perceived as being outside the loop when it came to the new sport. Now, there's no end to the headlines heralding 'The Fighting Irish', 'The Irish Takeover' or 'The Irish Invasion'. 26-year-old McGregor is the man behind it all.

In the most uncertain times for his generation, the Irish featherweight's self-belief was unwavering. Back in 2008, most similarly aged Irish people were leaving college to find no employment options available to them. It was a financial crisis the likes of which had never been seen on the Emerald Isle – the banks failed, the construction industry folded, the unemployment rate soared and the immigration statistics went through the roof.

McGregor was one of "the lucky ones" having acquired a plumbing apprenticeship. After finishing school, 'The Notorious' sat idle until his mother found him the vacancy where he would learn his trade on a building site. However, one too many cold mornings saw McGregor refuse to leave his car when he arrived for work one day. He called his long-term girlfriend, Dee Devlin, and told her that he was finally ready to fully commit to mixed martial arts. A few months later, like many others before it, the building site that McGregor had been hired to work on was closed down, leaving its workers jobless.

At this point, he hadn't been training exclusively in MMA for that long under John Kavanagh – the first man to bring MMA to Ireland's shores. McGregor had already honed his boxing ability under Olympian Phil Sutcliffe, and his grasp of the "sweet science" was what separated him from the field early on. The straight left hand that jolts out of his southpaw stance has introduced many of his opponents to the canvas, and continues to do so as he scales the ranks of UFC – the world's flagship MMA promotion.

Right from the jump, he had no plans for mediocrity. From his first year as a professional, McGregor told people he was "the fucking future" of the sport. His two losses to date, suffered in his first two years as a professional, both by submission, affected him in very different ways. Coming into the sport from a striking background, the transition to grappling (wrestling and jiu jitsu) proved to be a stumbling block early on. The chokeholds, the joint manipulation and learning to control your opponent on the ground didn't really apply to McGregor as his hands took care of the business in his fledgling years.

His first loss to Artemj Sitenkov saw him walk away from the sport for 18 months. The fight took place minutes away from where McGregor had grown up in Crumlin, and a lot of friends and family filled the hall to see what was expected to be another one-sided victory for their man. Sitenkov went straight for his knee and silenced the assembly; the contest had taken just over a minute to bring to an end. A young man, his pride took a big hit that night.

McGregor found himself going down the wrong path without the discipline of martial arts in his life. His mother, Margret, rang his coach Kavanagh who was brought to the McGregor household to talk to his absentee student. The mission proved successful and when McGregor got back to work in 2010 he brought with him an openness to new techniques and a far more intense dedication. Everything he did, everything he thought about was combat. He got back to winning ways after a checked leg kick brought an end to Conor Dillon's night, but it wasn't long before the Irish MMA community got to see how the new McGregor reacted to losing.

Joseph Duffy caught McGregor in a head arm choke in the first round of their clash in Cork in 2010. The Dubliner had shot out of his corner throwing his hands at Duffy with reckless abandon before the Donegal man forced the action to the ground. McGregor tapped out to the chokehold that followed, and according to Kavanagh, he was back at the gym on Monday where he completely immersed himself in learning everything he could about jiu jitsu. Such was his focus on that aspect of the sport that Kavanagh claims he went up two jiu jitsu belt ranks in a matter of months, a feat that would take the average man five or six years.

The victories have been coming ever since for McGregor. Cage Warriors, a European MMA promotion, allowed him to build a solid fan base in Ireland as he lifted both their featherweight and lightweight titles in front of his hometown crowd in The Helix. When Dana White came to Trinity College in Dublin to collect an honorary award, he was bombarded by McGregor's fans who insisted that White needed the Irishman's signature.

McGregor's star was really born on April 6, 2013. Taking that big step up to face Marcus Brimage in his UFC debut in Stockholm, the thunderous uppercuts of the Irishman brought the American down in just 67 seconds. In the press conference afterwards, McGregor had the gathered media folded with laughter as he told them he would have to tell the social welfare office at home to "fuck off" because he found himself a job. He spoke of a desire for tailored suits, sports cars and luxury.

After Brimage came Max Holloway – and despite claiming the only decision victory of his career that night, McGregor injured his knee and was forced out of action for a year. The magnitude of what McGregor really means to the Irish was felt on his return to the sport in Dublin last July.

McGregor insisted that he would "drag the UFC back to Ireland" after making his debut. He said he would bring his teammates with him. That summer night in Dublin, McGregor foresaw a first round TKO over Diego Brandao and he gave the people exactly what they wanted. Three of his teammates also took victory on the night. After that he brought his sharp tongue and unique skillset to Las Vegas where the Irish followed in great numbers to see another first round TKO over Dustin Poirier. Again, they followed him to Boston where he sent Dennis Siver packing in two rounds. Then came the talk of titles.

Such is the marketing power of McGregor that many feel he has been fast tracked to Jose Aldo's title by UFC. Chad Mendes and Frankie Edgar were popular choices when it came to who was the rightful contender to the Brazilian's crown. Both Mendes and Edgar are from wrestling backgrounds and many believe they could bring something new to the table when it comes to a challenge for McGregor, unlike Aldo, who operates within the same striking wheelhouse as the Irishman. When Aldo, the division's champion, was forced out of the contest, Mendes stepped in and interest in the event hasn't dwindled at all; it's still very much the McGregor show.

And he didn't have to fight. Although the UFC reclassified the bout – which is now for an interim title – McGregor could have waited another seven weeks to get his hands on Aldo. However, with the travelling support, he felt it was his duty to perform for his countrymen.

Today, McGregor and the UFC have broken into the Irish mainstream. He has been the most googled athlete in the country over the last two years. As he puts each of his opponents away, the more the Irish talk about him. He has his fair share of detractors too, even in his homeland. His over-annunciation of words, something he does to make him more appealing to U.S. advertisers, infuriates his disparagers. McGregor's lack of caution in front of any kind of challenge bothers them; he talks down to his opponents where the Irish are used to more soft spoken, respectful and reluctant champions. The violence of the sport has been a big talking point too. It just seems too barbaric for some of McGregor's countrymen. However, those who are fans of McGregor worship him.

He is the success story that his generation wanted to be. He is self-made, self-sufficient and he literally punches, kicks, knees and elbows his way through every obstacle that is put in front of him. The suits, the cars and the money are all part of the McGregor package now as he has literally become a millionaire off a sport that didn't exist in the Irish consciousness before he came along. He is at the forefront of the sport globally; he is ushering in a new era in the fight game both with his selling statistics and his technical abilities.

A quarter of the MGM Grand Garden Arena will be made up of Irish support on Saturday, despite the fact that the country is just popping it's head out of a financial crisis. Sinead O'Connor will sing McGregor to the Octagon on the night. Arnold Schwarzenegger has even dropped by to say hello to the Dubliner during his preparation in Nevada. It's McGregor-mania.

It's not just in Ireland. The excited cheers that greeted McGregor when he told Conan O'Brien's studio audience that one of their own, an American, would "crumble" when they meet face to face is an important marker of how popular he is.

But the noise that will be broadcast all over the world from Las Vegas will mostly befrom the Irish. Murals of the featherweight grace a handful of different walls around the Irish capital and instead of the greats of Italia '90, on July 11, McGregor has a chance to give his generation one of their own defining moments. His chorus' set list will include Irish classics like 'Ole, Ole, Ole', 'Put 'em under Pressure' and 'The Fields of Athenry', and he even has his own personalised chant, although it's heavily borrowed from the days of Ricky Hatton's former glories: 'There's only one Conor McGregor', they will sing.

There certainly is.

@PetesyCarroll