Something big has changed with Conor McGregor ahead of his comeback<\/a><\/p>\nPaddy warns Max of early Conor onslaught | 07:24<\/p>\n
So as for how Richards got here? <\/p>\n
Put simply, this fella considered Wests Tigers royalty is also first cousins with McGregor\u2019s longtime partner and wife, Dee Devlin.<\/p>\n
Although so tight is Richards with the entire family that in an interview this week with Main Event Australia, McGregor referenced the flanker as his own cousin. <\/p>\n
Himself the son of Irish parents, Richards is still extremely close with that side of his family, and spent years visiting the Emerald Isle during what would be eight English Super League seasons with Wigan Warriors.<\/p>\n
Conor McGregor, Pat Richards and family.Source: Supplied<\/p>\n
In fact, it was late in his tenure with the Warriors, around 2012 he thinks, when the footballer first crossed paths with an anonymous fighter still plying his trade with popular UK promotion Cage Warriors, and while both were attending the funeral for Richards\u2019 grandfather. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt was back when I was still playing for Wigan,\u201d recalls the Sydneysider whose himself boasts almost 400 first class matches, three premierships, a Super League Man of Steel award, and seven Tests for Ireland.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen my grandfather passed, I flew across for the funeral and met Conor who was there with Dee. At one point, I actually remember asking \u2018so what do you do?\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd that\u2019s when he starts telling me about being an MMA fighter.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven now, I just remember him being so locked in. He was telling me all about his training, his diet, telling me about everything \u2026 and it was soon after that he blew up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Didn\u2019t he what?<\/p>\n
Within years of their first meeting, McGregor would have exploded into the fightin\u2019 Irish megastar whose life now boasts Lamborghinis, luxury yachts and a 2025 wedding at no less than Rome\u2019s Vatican City.<\/p>\n
Following the couple\u2019s extravagant wedding reception, which Richards attended with his wife, the party then moved on to a Roman castle in the countryside, with reception pictures showing the retired Tiger stood smiling, cigar in hand, and with an arm slung around the former UFC \u2018Champ Champ\u2019.<\/p>\n
And wonderfully, while McGregor is wearing a pair of heart-shaped sunglasses.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo don\u2019t think I\u2019ll ever be at a wedding like it again,\u201d Richards recounted this week. \u201cBut really, it was just so great to be around family. The entire wedding wasn\u2019t much more than 100 of their family and close friends.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two years ago, Richards and his family also spent Christmas Day with the McGregor clan.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were at my aunty\u2019s place in Ireland,\u201d he explains. \u201cWhich all sounds a bit crazy at first.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut really, after a while Conor is just another dad at Christmas lunch with his kids running around.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd having played rugby league in the UK for eight years, I\u2019ve been able to pop across often to catch up with family. And even now, I do like to get back as much as possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cChristmas there is great, too. Last time there were about 40 of us with plenty of good food and everyone having a great time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Conor McGregor, Pat Richards and their extended family.Source: Supplied<\/p>\n
So as for what Christmas gift you buy the man who has everything?<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, we did think about that,\u201d Richards grins. \u201cEventually my wife decided to get them all some really nice Australian presents. For the kids it was stuffed koalas, some boomerangs, things like that.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Laughs] I actually remember Christmas Day, Conor standing in the kitchen and holding up a boomerang going \u2018what is this \u2026 what the hell is this?\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cApparently, he\u2019d never seen one before.\u201d<\/p>\n
Initially, it was the same deal with rugby league too.<\/p>\n
However, during what have now been countless conversations between the pair, Richards has shown McGregor several clips involving the Greatest Game of All, although not his own try which \u2013 running off that Benji flick \u2013 earned Wests Tigers the 2005 NRL premiership.<\/p>\n
\u201cConor has asked about the game, yeah,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019ve spent a fair bit of time together now and so I\u2019ve showed him some clips around the game and obviously he loves it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you look at the UFC, it\u2019s such a violent sport, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo he knows all about the NRL. We also spoke about how the game takes its season opener to Las Vegas and I know how much Conor would also like to fight inside Allegiant Stadium.\u201d<\/p>\n
Given Wests Tigers play the Warriors at Campbelltown Stadium this Friday night, it means Richards will have Sunday clear to kick back and watch McGregor throw down in his headliner against Holloway.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I\u2019ve always loved watching his fights,\u201d the retired winger says. \u201cBecause whenever they\u2019re on, you know it\u2019s going to be something different.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomething special.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember clearly his fights against guys like Chad Mendes, Jose Aldo, Nate Diaz \u2026 it\u2019s incredible the way he\u2019s able to capture so many people.<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring the week of his wedding late last year, we were talking about him coming back.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the time, the White House card had been mentioned. But when it came to an opponent, he didn\u2019t care.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe just can\u2019t wait to fight.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pat Richards will tell you how, no, he has never shown Conor McGregor the \u201905 Flick. Which is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":790156,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-790155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/790155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=790155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/790155\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/790156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=790155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=790155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=790155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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