After an outstanding comeback in which McGregor was not met once, the Irishman fell to his knees in front of 19,000 spectators in Las Vegas and made his face.

He hardly even thought it was true.

The result in the fix star comeback was the best imaginable for him as a fighter, UFC as an organization and MMA as a sport.

31-year-old Conor McGregor is, for good and bad, one of the few faults reaching out to the wide crowd and his exemplary actions this week have been a reminder of how positively he can affect the whole sport.

When he's in that mood.

Had two master belts

Let's rewind the tape until November 12, 2016.

I was at Madison Square Garden in New York and saw Conor McGregor write history as the first ever in the UFC to become world champion in two weight classes at the same time.

McGregor knocked off the then lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez with a lightning combination and looked almost invincible. He had a master belt on each shoulder and stood at the top of his career.

Then the career ended in free fall.

Career derailed

The star sought new challenges, changed sports and joined a lucrative boxing match against unbeaten legend Floyd Mayweather in August 2017.

McGregor is said to have earned about $ 100 million, or SEK 950 million, for the match. But in the ring he was hopeless and in the fierce recharge he sometimes walked across the border with his actions.

Just over a year later, in October 2018, the hatred of Russian UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov followed. By blending family, religion and ethnicity, the Dublin son whipped up a hatred that is unparalleled in MMA history.

The boiling point was reached after the end of the match when a major fight broke out between the two camps.

In addition to his declining career, he ended up in trouble outside the octagon and was sentenced to assault, for example, after striking a man in a bar. McGregor is still being investigated for two cases of sexual abuse, but has not been convicted of any crime.

Started as poor plumber

The first time I saw McGregor was when he made his UFC debut in the Globe 2013. He stole the show both in the cage and at the press conference afterwards.

In private he still went on social contributions, but he had charisma in abundance and a star was born there and then.

McGregor has made an unlikely journey from poor plumber to financial independence as one of the world's largest and richest sports stars.

Onward to scandal-ridden, mocked and questioned.

Now a harmonious McGregor, who has become the father of a boy and a girl, says they have turned leaves in life and want to focus on the positive. If that is true, it remains to be seen when larger trials await.

What happens, for example, if he gets his long-awaited return meeting with arch rival Nurmagomedov?

But his behavior this week certainly shows that when Conor McGregor is doing well - then the whole sport of MMA is booming.