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Conor McGregor has reached incredible heights in his career. His latest achievement may not have been as glamorous or high profile as his previous ones, but it’s been one he’s wanted for a very long time.
Monday night, the UFC superstar was promoted in jiu-jitsu.
Conor McGregor is now a BJJ black belt
During a no-gi training session in SBG Ireland, Conor McGregor was promoted to black belt by his longterm coach, John Kavanagh. The Irish UFC superstar has been a professional MMA fighter for 15 years, and held a brown belt for several years before finally being promoted.
“It means the world to me,” McGregor said about receiving his BJJ black belt. “It’s my life. It’s deeper when you get a black belt from John. There’s not many black belts from John. We’re now twenty years into this thing. So that’s how long it takes to become a black belt off that man.”
Watch his BJJ belt promotion below:
McGregor also wrote about it on Instagram.
“Received my black belt tonight from my coach, friend, and mentor, @coach_kavanagh of @sbgireland! 20 years of hard work!” he wrote. “Thank you John for everything over the years, and to all of my team mates throughout this incredible jiu jitsu journey! Thank you all so much from the bottom of my heart! A Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt, wow! Praise be to God and then Helio. I’ll be in the Gi in it tomorrow Helio, I promise, and I cannot wait!! What a buzz ❤️🥋🙏”
Perhaps on brand at this point, McGregor celebrated his BJJ milestone with some drinks in his pub, while wearing his black belt.
Conor McGregor completed his 10-year-old checklist
Interestingly enough, an old tweet from McGregor has since been resurfaced. It was from November 2013, just months after McGregor’s second UFC bout, when he won a decision over a young Max Holloway.
McGregor has pretty much gone on to achieve every single thing he listed there, with the Hall of Fame plaque being a formality at this point.
Three years after that tweet, McGregor basically booked his seat in the UFC Hall of Fame by getting “two gold belts” in 2016. He then got far more than the “$25 million in the bank” a year later when he fought Floyd Mayweather.
A BJJ black belt was seemingly the last of the goals from the younger McGregor’s list, and now he gets to tick that off as well.
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