Conor McGregor claims prestigious award in America

Conor McGregor's meteoric rise into the American public psyche has continued even further by winning the Best Fighter Award at the ESPYs.

The awards are seen as the sporting equivalent to the Oscars in America, but McGregor was not in attendance to collect his award, as he continue preparations to fight Nate Diaz next month at UFC 202.

Congrats @TheNotoriousMMA on your #BestFighter @ESPYS! See you at #UFC202 in Las Vegas! #ESPYS pic.twitter.com/c5uMfSHabq

— UFC (@ufc) July 14, 2016

McGregor defeated boxers Gennady Golovkin, Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez, Roman Gonzalez and UFC Welterweight Champion Robbie Lawler to claim the title, which was won by Ronda Rousey last year.

The Dublin fighter turns 28 on Thursday, and celebrated the milestone by winning the award, but was also reunited with his two first World title belts as an early birthday present.

 

On the eve of my 28th birthday @coach_kavanagh surprised me with the return of my first two World title belts! My 145lb and 155lb Cage Warrior titles! We've been collecting these World titles a long time now! A nice reminder of where we came from to where we are now! Thank you coach for showing me the Martial Art life! #FightLife

A photo posted by Conor McGregor Official (@thenotoriousmma) on Jul 14, 2016 at 12:43am PDT

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