There appears to be at least once instance in the life of top-ranked Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Featherweight contender, Conor McGregor, in which he was at least willing to back down from a fight.
It took a gang of thugs, as "Notorious" would explain to Dan Le Batard on ESPN's, "Highly Questionable."
"Usually it's to do with women, as I'm sure you know," McGregor told Le Batard and co-host Bomani Jones. "Growing up as a young kid I was the younger kid and I was going after this girl. She was maybe 15, 16 years of age. Her boyfriend was like 17 or 18. Him and his little crew were driving cars and everything and I was only a young kid, but I sneaked my way in there.
I was with with the girl and we were walking up the street one night and the car pulled up in front of me and a big load of them jumped out and whooped my ass. I curled up in a ball and took my beating. I'd done nothing."
Many young men can relate to the trials and tribulations of McGregor. Following the ass-whooping, McGregor embarked on a career in combat and never looked back.
"For me, after that moment I thought to myself, 'I'm going to really learn how to fight so if anyone ever jumps out of a car or jumps out in any situation they will never do it again'," McGregor said.
Before the brash Irishman ever got started, he had his doubters, which included his father. McGregor took pleasure in proving his father wrong and even paid him back with more than just words.
"As far as my mother and father were concerned, I left a safety net of a trade as a plumber to pursue fighting. My father laughed in my face at that and it was a friendly situation," said McGregor. "Now I'm 26 years of age and have achieved that. I might have been a year late, but I still got to look him in the face and say, 'Hey, guess what? I told you so."
He added, "He came in and pushed through the door. He tried to come at me, but I was training a little bit at this time so I double-legged him and ended up mounting him. I had him in a vulnerable position. That was actually probably the last time we fought. I think the power shifted in my favor."
Indeed, the tables have certainly turned.
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