“There's no talent here. This is hard work. This is an obsession.”
— Conor McGregor
McGregor said this at every press conference, and people thought it was bravado. But behind it were years of training with no money, no contract, no guarantees. He lived on 188 euros a week and trained twice a day. His story shows that obsession without talent beats talent without obsession.
In 2008 I was living on welfare in Dublin. 188 euros a week. My mother worried, my father didn't understand. I went to John Kavanagh's gym in Crumlin and fought every day. Sparring partners broke my nose, I came back. Friends went to regular jobs, I stayed. Not because I believed in myself. Because I didn't know how to do anything else and didn't want to. When you are willing to go hungry for one goal, the world starts to give way. Not right away. But it starts.