The announcement of the cooperation with the fighter who has a proven track record of launching and running a range of successful businesses marks the start of the broker’s new global branding campaign that promotes a wide range of investment solutions.
Conor McGregor is a multi-weight UFC champion, entrepreneur, athlete and global business icon. Hailing from Crumlin, Dublin, McGregor was a plumber’s apprentice and amateur fighter before bursting onto the UFC scene in 2013. He quickly rose up the ranks, winning the UFC Featherweight Championship in 2015. McGregor then made history by becoming the first fighter in UFC history to be champion in two weight divisions simultaneously, winning the UFC Lightweight Championship in 2016.
“I’ve just had this dream since I was a kid to be the best there ever was. I wanted to give an incredible life to myself and my family. And I never let anything stop me. I put in the work, took risks, and the results came,” says McGregor on successfully making his way from boxing gyms in a suburb of Dublin to the UFC championship.
McGregor is the largest draw in UFC history, headlining the top six most-bought pay-per-view events for the company. He is the most popular UFC fighter on social media with more than 70 million followers across all platforms and has set the record for being the highest earning UFC athlete.
Outside the Octagon, McGregor has found similar success. He founded Proper No. Twelve Irish Whiskey in 2018, which has become the fastest-growing whiskey brand on the market. In addition to Proper No. Twelve, McGregor has invested in a long list of business ventures including: TIDL Recovery Spray, McGregor FAST FightLab fitness experience among others.
McGregor admits there are similarities between business and sports: “If you want to win, you need to be all-in. You need to prepare, you need to know your opponents, your competition. You need to understand yourself – your strengths and weaknesses, and you need to be dedicated to craft. You can come from any background and be successful in business. It’s not just a club for the guys on Wall Street.”
He is also a restaurateur and owns the Black Forge Inn in Dublin. The former UFC double champion is always looking to add new business projects to his list. In 2020 he entered the mobile games business with the Dystopia: Contest of Heroes video game series. This diversified portfolio helped place McGregor at number 1 on the 2021 Forbes “Highest-Paid Athletes” list.
When asked what determines the success in business, he stated: “You can’t just invest money; you have to invest your time, your emotions, and make a personal commitment. I take an active role in every venture.”
McGregor has just announced a partnership with XTB, a global and market leading investment company that offers one of the most popular online trading platforms. This fintech solution is available in 13 markets around the world and is already used by over 500,000 investors. The multi-award winning xStation platform allows users to easily invest in over 5,500 assets including stocks, ETFs, forex, indices and commodities. It is designed to meet the needs of both beginners and more experienced investors.
“Determination, persistence in pursuing goals, the willingness to constantly develop and achieve the best results – these are also the features of a good investor. Conor as an athlete – and also a businessman – has the mindset of a winner. That’s why we decided to invite him to become the ambassador of the XTB brand,” said Omar Arnaout, CEO of XTB.
This partnership with Conor McGregor is not the first time XTB has entered the world of competitive sports. In 2020, the company announced the partnership with renowned football coach Jose Mourinho as its brand ambassador. Recently XTB has also been active in martial arts. The company has partnered with Joanna Jędrzejczyk, one of the most decorated female fighters and Jiří Procházka, a Czech mixed martial artist and the current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion.
MMA is one of the most dynamic and rapidly developing sport disciplines in the 21st century. Several years ago, mixed martial arts was seen as a niche discipline. Nowadays, however, we are talking about a sport that has won over the hearts of fans from around the world. On every continent, people fill arenas or even stadiums to applaud modern gladiators. One of the reasons for MMA’s popularity is the ability to combine the talents of different athletes who come from different sports. Mixed martial artists is versatile on every level. Final success can be brought about by proper preparation and the ability to take control of emotions whilst being consistent with the implementation of strategy.
With McGregor as a brand ambassador XTB plans to continue its development within the competitive sports arena. The number of the investing company’s clients worldwide has crossed the threshold of half a million. Thanks to the active global development and the systematically growing number of clients, the company is strengthening its position on the investment market – XTB ranks among top five global brokers in terms of the number of active clients.
