An Inside Look At Conor McGregor's Relationship With Dee Devlin

Conor McGregor might not be the best contender ever to enter an Ultimate Fighting Championship octagon, but he's certainly among the fight organization's best-known and beloved personalities. His fans have dubbed him "The Notorious" for the fury he unleashes on opponents, the carnage he leaves behind, and the flamboyance he brings to the sport. Throughout the fighting Irishman's decade-long tenure in the circuit, only a handful of fighters has managed to beat him, but away from the canvas, only one person has been able to tame him. That would be Dee Devlin, the love of his life, who stood by the warrior when he left his day job to roll the dice in the highly competitive combat zone. 

Together, McGregor and Devlin make up arguably the UFC's most high-profile power couple ever since Tito Ortiz started romancing adult film celebrity Jenna Jameson in 2006. But unlike the high drama surrounding the pugilist and the porn star, any differences between McGregor and Devlin are kept tightly under wraps. Devlin's been a calming, pragmatic influence on the fighter, no easy task when considering his headline-grabbing behavior ever since he became a star athlete. She's much more than arm candy, having raised three children with the combatant while taking care of his finances, promoting him on social media, and even taking part in his training regimens. Credit her silent strength for keeping her man on the straight and narrow in what is one of the most interesting relationships in pop culture today.

When Conor McGregor and Dee Devlin first became an item in 2008, they were still years away from being tabloid fodder. McGregor had quit his apprenticeship as a plumber to try to become a professional mixed martial arts fighter, while she was a high school dropout who dreamt of making a life for herself as a model. They had casually known each other, until his lengthy interaction with her in a Dublin nightclub not only ignited a romance, but set the dominoes dropping along a path leading to fame and fortune.

"I asked her to come over and we just started chatting," said McGregor to VIP. "She seemed like a nice girl, and I like good girls." For her part, Devlin said she was instantly attracted to him. "He's very funny – he always keeps me entertained and makes me laugh. He was already training when I met him, so I really admired his dedication to that, too." Devlin had a ringside seat for McGregor's career early on, and she's stayed there ever since.

Keeping a romance going has its challenges when folks have a lot of aspirations but very little money, which was the case with Conor McGregor and Dee Devlin. But if there were any signs that those hungry years could have derailed their relationship, it's not well documented. As he shared with VIP, early on in their love story, Devlin was the major breadwinner who drove him to the gym every day. While she slept, her boyfriend would shadow box in the bedroom during the wee hours. "Dee is a lifesaver for me," McGregor told the outlet a few months after his first UFC victory. "I wouldn't be doing this if it wasn't for her, and that's for sure. I'm doing all of this for her."

That's not to say that Devlin hasn't quit doing her part. After their relationship got serious, McGregor made Devlin part of his management team and put her to work handling all his finances that grew from winnings to endorsement deals that include everything from his wardrobe line to whiskey, per FanSided. She also schedules his public appearances and acts as his personal stylist. "He's always been super confident," she said about her other half's rise in the UFC ranks to Independent in 2015. "It's weird for me to say but we just always knew he was going to get to this level and every few months it just keeps going and going and going and the sky is the limit."

Conor McGregor and Dee Devlin apparently have no problem having their photos taken in public. When they're at events together, the UFC superstar seems to encourage the attention, at times mugging for the cameras and even hugging and kissing Devlin for all to see. But anyone capturing images of his home or taking snaps of his children without his permission crosses a line the celebrated fighter has firmly drawn in the proverbial sand. In 2016, British tabloid Sunday World ran into that caveat the hard way when the couple sued the publication for breach of privacy. At issue was a photo that showed the exterior of their house in Kildare County with a few luxury cars sitting in the driveway, per The Irish Times. According to papers filed, McGregor and Devlin also wanted Sunday World to remove the image from the publication's website.

Three years later, McGregor faced another incident involving breach of privacy, except in this case, he was on the other end of a lawsuit. A media release issued by the Miami-based Cueto Law Group alleges that its client, Ahmed Abdirzak, was beaten up by the fighter, who then destroyed his cell phone after the individual had taken his photo. Abdirzak then sued McGregor for damages that included "counts for battery, assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress." The charges were eventually dropped after Abdirzak wouldn't cooperate with investigators, per The Guardian.

When Dee Devlin declared she'd stand by Conor McGregor, she knew it was going to be for the long haul. "I've always supported him, so I'm glad that it's come to fruition for him, and for us, really," she said to VIP. But with that success, Devlin undoubtedly has her hands full with her main man, who's been known to spin out of control. In April 2022, police charged McGregor, behind the wheel of his Bentley, with six driving infractions, including two for dangerous driving, a case that's still pending, per the AP.

McGregor's arrest record also includes several assault charges, such as the time he reportedly punched a DJ in the face during an altercation at a party in Italy in 2021. In 2019, the fighter escaped a jail sentence but was fined more than $1,000 for punching a bar patron in Dublin, per The Guardian. The year before, he was arrested in Brooklyn after throwing a metal dolly at UFC opponent Khabib Nurmagomedov, who was in a bus departing Barclays Center. He has also faced sexual assault lawsuits, including one where he allegedly exposed himself to a woman in France, a case that was later dropped, per The Sun. A more severe incident with a woman in a Dublin penthouse in 2019 saw authorities clear McGregor of criminal charges, although he still faces a major lawsuit in the wake of that episode, per The New York Times. 

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

When it comes to romance, it wouldn't be Conor McGregor's style to charm Dee Devlin with poetry and flowers every day. Instead, he's long proclaimed that dedication to his sport underscores his devotion to the love of his life. "Damn straight!" he once stated to VIP. "That's romantic in itself; I'm putting my body on the line for my woman!" Such loyalty to her is one thing, commitment is another, something that McGregor demonstrated on August 8, 2020 — Devlin's 33rd birthday — when he proposed to her with the traditional knee-drop and a huge rock to grace her finger. After 12 years together, it made sense to take their relationship to the next level, given that McGregor was already set for life with a nine-figure personal worth and the couple already raising two children at the time. "What a birthday, my future wife!" McGregor posted on Instagram, complete with an image of the couple and that flashy ring he had just given Devlin. 

The engagement took place only a couple of months after McGregor announced his retirement on the heels of his UFC victory against Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone. "Thank you all for the amazing memories!" he tweeted. "What a ride it's been!" While People mused that retirement would enable the couple to plan their wedding, it turned out McGregor still had some unfinished business in the octagon.

None of Conor McGregor's professional bouts would be complete without his other half Dee Devlin rushing into the octagon to give her favorite warrior a huge kiss while he drapes the Irish flag around his shoulders. It's a post-scrap ritual that the two have followed ever since his first UFC undercard victory in Sweden in 2013. In the 28 pro matches he's fought, she's been by his side for every one of them, except his last fight when he lost to Dustin Poirier in 2021, breaking his left leg in the process, per People. It turns out that her absence from the Las Vegas event was at his insistence, believing that having Devlin and his three kids around would compromise his intensity before the fight. 

"I'm in a vicious mode, no family around, you know I'm a bad man without the fam," McGregor said to BT Sport. "Going from preparing to kill a man and then coming home and cuddling the children and feeding them bottles at night, you know it just doesn't mix." It's very likely McGregor missed Devlin at the fight, especially considering a regimen in which they apparently take part the night before a match. A 2015 interview with Conan O'Brien (via Independent) shed some more light on that activity, one most fighters refrain from before a bout: "That is most certainly a superstition that I do not abide by. I definitely have as much sex as possible."

In 2021, Dee Devlin must have been proud that her partner Conor McGregor was cited by Forbes as the world's highest-paid athlete, worth $180 million, validating their years of hard work. But inside the octagon, the UFC fighter didn't have much to back that value, having fought twice that year, losing both times to Dustin Poirier and breaking his left tibia during the latter bout. With a mixed-martial arts win-loss record of 22-6, McGregor once enjoyed a string of seven victories during his ascent up the UFC ranks. But his more recent stats were less impressive, having lost three of his last five fights. Hobbled by a busted leg, the worst injury he'd experienced on the mat, McGregor faced speculation that he would retire, something he had declared on three previous occasions before deciding to come back again, per CNN.

This time, however, McGregor said he'd continue to fight, posting on Twitter, "Dustin is a hell of a competitor and I look forward to going again." Later that year, however, McGregor purchased a Lamborghini yacht worth roughly $3.6 million that's been the ideal vehicle to enjoy more time with Devlin and their three children. Together, the family has since cruised the Mediterranean in their luxury watercraft.

A diamond may be forever, but an indelibly stamped tattoo can make a far more personal statement. That might have been the mindset of Dee Devlin, who, shortly after accepting a spanking shiny engagement ring from Conor McGregor, decided to surprise her beau with a unique ink job just below her left breast. The Scottish Sun reported that McGregor was at her side, holding her hand while a tattoo artist painstakingly etched a calligraphic rendering of his first name, followed by what appeared to be an electrocardiogram readout joined to a heart. She shared the image on Instagram, captioning it with "My world. I love you with all of my heart forever."

Devlin also has a leg tattoo, but in terms of quantity, her body art can't compare to what's on McGregor's epidermal canvas. Besides his name and "Notorious" moniker on the front, other inks include Arabic script on his left leg, a winged cross with a helix on his back, roses on his forearm, a tiger on his abdomen, and a crowned gorilla eating a heart. "It's nice and low-key," he said to Conan O'Brien. "I feel like I am the king gorilla, so I stuck the king's crown [on] and I had to eat the heart." However, sadly missing from his tattoo inventory is his fiancee's name, at least for now. 

Ever since Conor McGregor first skyrocketed to athletic stardom, he's kept a stiff resolve to keep matters associated with his children and property private. But that guarded stance apparently doesn't include intimate moments with longtime partner Dee Devlin. In August 2022, McGregor posted a rather suggestive video on Instagram that he took while on the deck of his expensive yacht. The clip has since been deleted. The video, according to Dublin Live, doesn't show anything anatomical, simply a downward shot of the fighter's torso and the top of Devlin's head before the camera pans upward to an oceanic horizon before the clip ends.

A still picture posted shortly after (and also later deleted) showed a shirtless McGregor reclining in a lounge chair on the yacht, captioned with "If you're getting it, get it top floor of the triple deck." Both entries also tagged Devlin. However brief the posts were on social media, it was long enough for folks to determine whether the act was genuine. Most of them believed what they saw was the real deal, adding more anecdotal evidence about why McGregor is deserving of the "Notorious" moniker. Neither subjects in the video commented directly on the deleted posts.

As of this writing, Conor McGregor hasn't fought in nearly two years, opting to spend more time with Dee Devlin and the kids, frequently seen cruising salt waterways in his luxurious yacht. In November 2022, one of those trips saw them dock on the shores of the United Arab Emirates, in time for festivities surrounding the final Formula 1 race of the season — including an uber whoop-up at one of the more posh nightspots in Abu Dhabi, which McGregor documented on Instagram. The next morning, fans saw an interesting contrast of the couple at a McDonald's outlet, still dressed in their pajamas. Despite their upscale status, even McGregor and Devlin can down pints of the good stuff, yet have a hankering for hash browns and Egg McMuffins. 

But if rumors prove correct, McGregor might have to rein in the fun sooner rather than later. According to scuttlebutt making rounds in the UFC circuit, some time in 2023, McGregor may be on tap to take on U.S. welterweight fighter Justin Gaethje, who like the Irish fighter lost his last fight, per the Daily Mail. But to qualify, he still has to submit to six months of anti-doping testing. If McGregor wants to trade his jammies in for fighter trunks and jump through those regulatory hoops, expect Devlin to stand beside him every step of the way.