After a boxing spectacle with Floyd Mayweather Jr in 2017, Conor McGregor found himself #4 on Forbes top-10 highest paid athletes 2018 list—estimated to have earned $99 million that year.
Only five months after the Forbes list was announced, ‘Notorious’ would be submitted by rival Khabib Nurmagomedov for the UFC lightweight title at UFC 229.
Following the devastating loss, questions loomed around whether McGregor had the mental fortitude to compete at the highest levels following his massive windfall of wealth. Even his own head coach, John Kavanagh had misgivings about distractions circling the Irish athlete.