14-Year-Ago, ‘Crying’ Conor McGregor, Who Went Against His Father, Felt Devastated After His First MMA Loss

Conor McGregor is an enormous name in the UFC. The Irishman has embossed his own story in the pages of the UFC history. The sweet taste of victory is not strange to the man who claimed both the featherweight championship and the lightweight championship. But not many would believe how vulnerable the former double-division champion was after suffering his first professional loss.

The UFC great was always obsessed with beating his opponent in the Octagon, even back in his earlier days. Artemij Sitenkov is the only man who can proudly claim to be the first to defeat the Dubliner in the Octagon. But even the opponent admits what McGregor had gone on to achieve to be a phenomenal success in the UFC.

Artemij Sitenkov defeated a young Conor McGregor for the first time

Artemij Sitenkov revealed The Dubliner was crying and completely devastated after being handed his first loss in 2008. Sitenkov spoke about the incident In the book ‘Obsessions’ written by French journalist Charles Thiallier. “He is the guy who made MMA popular around the world, he is the face of the UFC and he probably changed the sport forever” Thallier wrote in the book about the Irish Superstar.

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The Lithuanian was the third opponent to face 19-year-old Conor McGregor and claimed a handsome amount of €500 for his work. Sitenkov claimed it was a sweet victory, but not sweet enough to change his life.

“It didn’t change anything. I earned something after he became famous. It wasn’t enormous money which changed my life. It was just easy money.” the Lithuanian said. “I realized I beat teenager Conor McGregor, but not the superstar Conor McGregor.”

He also spoke about how the young MMA superstar felt after the loss. “Of course Conor was upset. He was 19 at that time and it was his first loss so yeah I think he was upset.” The superstar may have felt hopeless because he pursued MMA against his father’s wishes.

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But even at the tender age of 19, Conor McGregor got emotional to be handed his first loss due to a powerful knee bar from Artemij Sitenkov. It bothered him to an extent that he stopped training for a while. Said his coach John Kavanagh.

What do you think Conor McGregor learned from his first defeat?