PHOTO | Conor McGregor lands cover of ESPN the Magazine’s Fighting Issue

UFC lightweight champion and transcendent MMA star Conor McGregor has added another feather to his hat. The Irish striking specialist will be featured on the cover of ESPN the Magazine’s Fighting Issue, and honored with a corresponding feature article.

See Conor McGregor on the cover of ESPN the Magazine’s Fighting Issue below:

The Conor McGregor story is no fairy tale.

Read his cover story in ESPN the Magazine’s Fighting Issue. pic.twitter.com/hf9iZ2zFS5

— ESPN (@espn) August 7, 2017

This issue of the magazine, of course, hits newsstands just weeks ahead of McGregor’s blockbuster boxing match with Floyd Mayweather, an undefeated former champion regarded as the greatest boxer of this era, and one of the greatest ever outright.

When we last saw McGregor in the Octagon, he authored an artful knockout of Eddie Alvarez to win the UFC lightweight title. Given that he still owned the UFC featherweight title at that time, this made him the first fighter in promotional history to hold titles in two weight classes concurrently. He is 21-3 as a pro mixed martial artist, and 0-0 as a pro boxer.

Mayweather, meanwhile, is a sparkling 49-0 as a pro boxer. After his last fight, a 2015 decision defeat of Andre Berto, the boxing legend elected to hang up the gloves. Yet this lucrative crossover fight with McGregor was apparently enough to pull him back to the ring.

How do you think Conor McGregor will do against Floyd Mayweather?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 8/7/2017.