The brash Irishman feigned retirement and was officially removed from his UFC 200 rematch against Nate Diaz before boldly declaring "I am not retired" to return to the pinnacle of his sport.
Is it all an act? We spoke to people who know McGregor best.
Dustin Poirier was seen as the opponent who could stop McGregor's hype in the Irishman's Vegas debut. Poirier lasted less than two minutes.
Poirier said: "Conor is definitely the real deal. I've had 22 fights and I've never been put out like that. I was very emotional, just because of everything that had gone on between me and Conor. The build-up to the fight between us made me fight emotionally, rather than relaxed, which is how I like to fight.
"He hit me with a good shot and I went down. I'd love to do it again. I wouldn't get hit with that shot again, and I wouldn't let myself get so emotional."
I knew Conor would be a great fighter but I didn’t know he would become so popular. He was always a charismatic guy but I couldn’t have predicted how big he would get. He never has moments where that gets on top of him. Pressure is for tyres.
Phil Sutcliffe was the first man to teach a 12-year-old McGregor to punch at Crumlin Boxing Club, but doesn't remember an outstanding talent.
Sutcliffe said: "He was like any other novice who we taught the basics to. He's ambidextrous, we teach that to all our kids, he can box orthodox or southpaw. His straight left changes fights. It's an opportunist's punch - he's always had the ability to turn on his back leg to throw his back hand. If he didn't have the right attitude, he would have never made it to the top.
Graham Boylan runs Cage Warriors, a domestic promotion that gave McGregor his big break.
Boylan said: "Without doubt, he's our biggest export, nobody can deny his prestige. I remember the phone call when I offered him a title shot and he said 'I'll fight tomorrow'.
"When we had Conor for his fifth and sixth fights, we knew he'd go on to special things. He just acted differently to everybody. He stood out from a crowd of 30-odd fighters, everybody was looking at him. People with long teeth behind the scenes realised that if he could back up the things he was saying then he'd be a star. Conor won all his fights in Cage Warriors because he got into his opponents' heads."
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