Katerina Kvaterniuk

Conor McGregor is an Irish professional mixed martial artist who is currently signed with the ‘Ultimate Fighting Championship’ (UFC). He is the former ‘UFC’ lightweight and featherweight champion. Over the course of his career, he has competed as a featherweight, lightweight, and welterweight participant. Also a skilled professional boxer, he has achieved most of his victories due to knockouts or technical knockouts via punches. He started his mixed martial arts (MMA) career in 2008, and within a few years won two titles—Cage Warriors Featherweight and Lightweight Championships, which he held simultaneously before he vacated them to sign with ‘UFC.’ He is known for being in the biggest pay-per-view draw in MMA history, and he lives an extravagant lifestyle. In 2016, he got into the ‘Forbes’ top 100 highest paid athletes list—the first MMA fighter to do so—and ranked 85th in the list. He was injured during a bout with Max Holloway which kept him out of action for ten months. After winning the lightweight championship, he took some time off from ‘UFC’ prior to the birth of his first child in May 2017.

Childhood & Early Life

Conor McGregor was born on July 14, 1988, in Crumlin, Dublin, to Tony and Margaret McGregor. He has two sisters—Erin and Aoife.

When Conor was 12, he began training in boxing at ‘Crumlin Boxing Club’ under Phil Sutcliffe. During this period, he developed a passion for football as well and played for a local club.

He received primary and secondary education at a ‘Gaelscoil’ and ‘Gaelcholáiste’ respectively. Around the same time, he developed a passion for football and played association football in Tallaght. In his youth, he played for ‘Lourdes Celtic Football Club.’

When he was 18, his family moved to Lucan, Dublin, where he attended an Irish-speaking school. Here he met future ‘UFC’ fighter Tom Egan, and they started training in mixed martial arts (MMA).

Career

On February 17, 2007, Conor McGregor made his debut in MMA for the ‘Irish Ring of Truth’ in Dublin. It was an amateur fight against Kieran Campbell in which McGregor emerged victorious. Following his victory, he was signed by the ‘Irish Cage of Truth.’

The following year, he started training under John Kavanagh at the ‘Straight Blast Gym.’ He is left-handed and fights out of the southpaw stance, but uses conventional stances as well.

On March 9, 2008, he fought his first professional MMA bout, where he won against Gary Morris. Next, he won against Mo Taylor.

Although he lost his featherweight debut against Artemij Sitenkov, he won his next featherweight fight against Stephen Bailey. He also won his next fight against Connor Dillon, after which he moved back to lightweight and fought against Joseph Duffy, but lost the fight.

Between 2011 and 2012, he won both the ‘CWFC’ featherweight and lightweight championships, becoming the first European professional MMA to hold titles in two divisions simultaneously.

In February 2013, ‘UFC’ signed Conor in a multi-fight contract. On April 6, 2013, he made his ‘UFC’ debut against Marcus Brimage. He won the bout, which earned him his first ‘Knockout of the Night’ award.

At UFC Fight Night 26, Conor McGregor fought against Max Holloway, and was victorious. During his fight with Holloway, Conor tore his anterior cruciate ligament, which required surgery. He was out of action for about ten months.

After his recovery, at UFC Fight Night 46 on July 19, 2014, he faced Diego Brandão in Dublin. He won the bout, and earned his first ‘Performance of the Night’ award.

On September 27, 2014, after Conor signed a second multi-fight contract with ‘UFC,’ he faced Dustin Poirier at ‘UFC 178,’ and won the fight. It was Poirier's first ‘UFC’ loss, and Conor earned his second ‘Performance of the Night’ award.

On January 18, 2015, at UFC Fight Night 59, he faced Dennis Siver and won the fight. About 13,828 people attended the bout. This victory earned Conor his third ‘Performance of the Night’ award.

Now Conor was expected to face Aldo at ‘UFC 189’ for ‘UFC Featherweight Championship.’ ‘UFC’ spent huge amount of money promoting the Aldo-McGregor fight. But suddenly, it was reported that Aldo had suffered a rib fracture and had pulled out of the fight. Conor was rescheduled to face Chad Mendes for the ‘Interim Featherweight Championship.’

Conor and Mendes faced each other in front of a record 16,019 spectators. It was another victory for Conor, and he won his fourth ‘Performance of the Night’ award.

Conor finally faced Aldo at ‘UFC 194’ on December 12, 2015, in Las Vegas in front of a record-breaking number of spectators. The event broke all previous records for a MMA event in the US. The fight was over in a very short time and was declared the fastest finish in any ‘UFC’ bout. Conor became the second undisputed ‘UFC Featherweight Champion’ in history. He also won his fifth ‘Performance of the Night’ award.

Next Conor McGregor was supposed to face Rafael dos Anjos for the ‘UFC Lightweight Championship.’ But dos Anjos withdrew from the fight after breaking his foot. Many competitors were asked to step-in to face Conor. Finally, former ‘UFC Lightweight Championship’ challenger Nate Diaz agreed to face Conor.

The bout began with Conor shifting stances, before establishing his signature left cross. He showcased a variety of kicks, but was forced to the cage by Diaz. Conor landed 28 to Diaz's 23 strikes. During the fight, Diaz wobbled Conor on several occasions. Finally, Conor gave in to the submission hold. It was Conor’s first loss in the ‘UFC,’ and his third overall. Both were awarded ‘Fight of the Night’ bonuses, and Conor received the highest purse for any fighter in the history of the company, a total of $1,000,000.

A rematch with Diaz took place in August 2016. The bout was contested at welterweight at ‘UFC 202.’ Conor won the rematch, and was awarded ‘Fight of the Night’ honors. On November 12, 2016, at ‘UFC 205,’ Conor won against Eddie Alvarez.

After winning the ‘Lightweight Championship’ at ‘UFC 205,’ Conor took time off from ‘UFC,’ as the birth of his first child was due in May 2017. He also wanted to campaign for a boxing match with Floyd Mayweather in August 2017.

Due to inactivity, Conor was stripped of his ‘Lightweight Championship’ after the conclusion of ‘UFC 223’ on 7 April.

It was announced on 3 August that Conor would return to the Octagon at ‘UFC 229’ on 6 October to challenge Khabib Nurmagomedov for the ‘UFC Lightweight Championship’ in Las Vegas. Conor McGregor lost the fight in the fourth round via a submission.

T.J. Dillashaw is a wrestler fighting out of Team Alpha Male in Sacremento, California. He ended his high school career with a record of 170-33 and went on to wrestle for Cal State Fullerton where he was ranked 10th in the nation at 133 lbs in his senior year. He earned a Bachelor's degree in Kinesiology. He has finished six of his nine fights with equal numbers of submissions and knockouts. He has earned the "Fight of the Night" bonus one time.

Dillashaw was invited to join Team Alpha Male by Urijah Faber to start his MMA training. He went 2-0 as an amateur before making his pro debut. He fought fellow debuter, Czar Sklovas in King of the Cage and was able to pick up a unanimous decision win. Dillashaw would win 3 more fights, finishing all of his opponents to bring his record to 4-0 when he tried out for The Ultimate Fighter.

Dillashaw defeated Matt Jaggers by a first round TKO to gain entry into The Ultimate Fighter house and was picked to join Team Bisping as the third overall bantamweight pick. He would then defeat Roland Delorme by rear naked choke in the preliminary round to move on to the semi finals. In the semi final fight, he would face off against Dustin Pague who was also a wrestler. TJ would grind out a dominating unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-26) victory to secure a spot in the final. He would make his UFC debut at The Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale facing off against John Dodson. He would lose in the first round by TKO handing Dillashaw his first loss in MMA.

Dillashaw bounced back with a Unanimous Decision victory over Walel Watson and a first round submission over Vaughan Lee. Dillashaw would continue this win streak with a nice finish by TKO in the 2nd round against Issei Tamura at UFC 158. TJ would then face off against TUF Brazil alum and undefeated fighter Hugo Viana at UFX on Fox 7. His win streak would continue with another impressive TKO finish in the first round. He next fought fellow top 10 bantamweight, Raphael Assuncao, at UFC Fight Night 29. In a very exciting and very close fight, Dillashaw would lose a spilt decision. He did however, become the first person take Assuncao down in a pro fight. Their fight would earn both fighters Fight of the Night honors. He took on Mike Easton at UFC Fight Night 35 and was able to win a convincing unanimous decision.

On 24 May, 2014 at UFC 173, Dillashaw made one of the biggest upsets in UFC's history and easily the biggest upset in the Bantam Weight Division, when he took on Renan Barao and beating him in a spectacular fashion, by TKO in Round 5 at 2:22. Dillashaw used his hands to dictate the fight from start to finish, snapping Barao's 22 fight winning streak and 34 fight unbeaten streak. The last time Barao was defeated was back in his pro debut in 14 April, 2005. Dillashaw stuck to his game plan of using lateral movement to drop kicks and punches to Barao, who did not utilize his kicks, most likely to avoid Dillashaw's takedowns. Dillashaw finished the fight with a punch, a kick, and another quick punch to drop the tired Champion on his back. Dillashaw immediately took advantage of this and landed several hard shots on the ground until Referee Herb Dean stopped the fight. This fight was also Dillashaw's second time winning the Fight of the Night bonus and the first time winning Performance of the Night.

Dillashaw was scheduled to rematch Barao at UFC 177 however the day before the event Barao would pull out of the fight because of weight cutting issues. However Joe Soto would step in to save the title fight for the card. Soto put forth a good effort but Dillashaw was able to defend his belt for the first time with a performance of the night TKO in the fight round.

Eminem was born Marshall Bruce Mathers III in St. Joseph, Missouri, to Deborah R. (Nelson) and Marshall Bruce Mathers, Jr., who were in a band together, Daddy Warbucks. He is of English, as well as some German, Scottish, and Swiss-German, ancestry. Marshall spent his early childhood being shoved back and forth from Kansas City and Detroit. He settled on the Eastside of Detroit when he was 12. Switching schools every two to three months made it difficult to make friends, graduate and to stay out of trouble. Marshall attended Lincoln High School in Warren, Michigan, 1986-1989.

Being a rap fan for most of his life, Marshall began rapping at the early age of 4. Rhyming words together, battling schoolmates in the lunchroom brought joy to what was otherwise a painful existence. At the age of 14, he began to get very serious about his rapping but it wasn't until he was 17 that he actually made a name for himself, becoming M&M, which he would later respell as "Eminem". Being rejected by most fellow rappers because of his race, Marshall grew an anger that flows through his music to this day. After failing the 9th grade for three times in a row, he quit school, but has remarked that he does not consider himself stupid and does not advise that people should follow his example. He says that it just wasn't for him. Forcing himself on radio shows, freestyle battles, Marshall threw himself head first into the rap game, where he was swallowed up most of the time. His very first album was titled "Infinite" and, while the album sold less than a thousand copies, it was the gearing up stages for the rapper who became a millionaire. It was then that his daughter, Hailie Jade Scott, was born on December 25th of 1995 with long time girlfriend Kim Scott.

Having nothing to lose at all, flat broke and not knowing where he would be living the next week, Marshall set out to rant about life in general, the set quickly caught the ear of hip-hop's difficult-to-please underground. What came out of this was the Slim Shady EP, the early work for the later Dr. Dre revised Slim Shady LP. Down to nearly his last dime, he went into the 1997 Rap Olympics in Los Angeles, basically hoping to win the $1,500 cash prize which he badly needed. After battling for an hour and throwing back every race diss thrown at him, Marshall made it to second place losing in a slip up. Furious that he had lost, Marshall didn't even notice that he had been spotted. In the crowd were a few producers from Interscope, and they were handed a copy of the "Infinite" tape by way of a demo.

Onika Tanya Maraj, (born December 8, 1982, St. James, Trinidad and Tobago), Trinidadian-born singer, songwriter, television personality, and actress who was known for her flowing quick-spoken rap style and for her provocative lyrics. She complemented her music with a bold persona that included colourful wigs and risqué clothing.

Maraj was about five years old when her family moved to Queens, New York, from Trinidad and Tobago. Her childhood was dominated by a violent drug-addicted father, and she spent time creating fantasies for herself that would allow her an escape from her tumultuous life. She adopted a new name, Nicki Minaj, from that practice. Other creative outlets included writing her first rap song when she was 12 years old and pursuing acting at New York City’s Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts.

Minaj entered the music business as a backup singer for local aspiring rap singers in New York City. She included videos of her work on her Myspace page, which was seen by a local record label. Minaj eventually came to the attention of rapper Lil Wayne, and the two worked on some mixtapes (recordings), the first of which, Playtime Is Over, appeared in 2007. As other mixtapes were released, Minaj’s exposure grew, and the next year she was named Female Artist of the Year at the Underground Music Awards. In 2009 she signed with Young Money Entertainment, the label founded by Wayne. Her first album for Young Money, Pink Friday (2010), made it to the top of the Billboard 200 chart. It featured sexually explicit lyrics—which were common in her recordings—and Minaj embraced the shock value of her work. The title also reflected her preference for the colour pink, a predilection that she used in branding her albums and such later consumer items as her Pink Friday perfume and Pink Pill speakers.

In 2012 Minaj released her second album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, which featured a number of pop songs, notably the hit single “Starships.” The following year Minaj became a judge on the reality TV singing competition American Idol. She caused controversy with her blunt opinionated judging style and with her frequent disputes with fellow judge Mariah Carey. After one season Minaj left the program. Also in 2013 she claimed title to a record 44 appearances—the most by a female rapper—on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Her third studio album, The Pinkprint, was released in 2014. It notably contained several breakup songs as well as “Anaconda,” which was a return to her earlier rap style. Queen (2018) featured collaborations with such performers as Eminem and the Weeknd.