At the height of his career, Conor McGregor fulfilled almost every promise he made. Two UFC belts? Check. A $100M dance with Floyd Mayweather? Double check. But there’s one promise that he was not able to fulfill, simply because he was helpless, and we bet it still stings him to this day. The ex-UFC champion wanted to take his first-ever UFC belt back to 14-year-old Brendan McGlone from Tyrone, but the young fan succumbed to stem cell leukemia before McGregor could make good on that promise. Fast forward ten years, the Irishman saw another cancer patient in need of a helping hand to make a wish come true, and he did what he could without any noise or fanfare.
While the world buzzes with Conor McGregor’s bold announcement to try his luck in the Irish Presidential elections — and rightly so — the former two-division champion has quietly performed yet another act of kindness. No press, no spotlight, just pure generosity. What’s the story, you ask? ‘Mystic Mac’ has stepped in to support a couple facing the devastating battle of stage IV brain cancer.
Life can deal a tough hand to just about anyone, and Dean and Michaela’s story is a testament to that. Dean Dunphy is going through one of the most devastating realities of his life with stage IV brain cancer. It took the disease mere months to steal his speaking and moving abilities. With nothing at their disposal, Michaela just wants one thing, and that is to give his childhood sweetheart the biggest gift of his life in the shape of a marriage.
In a GoFundMe campaign organized by one of their friends, Conor McGregor made the largest contribution, generously donating $10,785.55 (10,000 euros) to the cause without mentioning it anywhere on his social media. As per the page, the couple needs $43,144 (40,000 euros) for their ceremony, and they have already amassed $29,323.75 (28,000 euros).
Some love stories are written in stone, but Dean and Michaela’s is one of resilience, devotion, and a love that defies even the cruellest of odds.
Dean Dunphy, a devoted partner, a loving father, and a cherished friend, has been diagnosed with stage IV brain cancer. In just a… pic.twitter.com/Q3kgzsJ6Dh
— Edward White (@Editorialz) March 25, 2025
With Conor McGregor‘s generous contribution, on May 6th, Dean and Michaela plan to take the next step in their journey together, fulfilling their dream of becoming husband and wife. Well, this is not the first time that the UFC fighter has spent his money to fulfill his social responsibilities. Back in February, Conor McGregor paid £20K ($24,858) towards the aid of John Cooney, who was going through an intracranial hemorrhage.
Well, that’s not all. ‘Mystic Mac’ has also built homes for the homeless in his hometown, donated PPE kits worth over a million dollars during the peak of the COVID pandemic, helped save SBG during its financial crisis, helped his childhood football club, and much more. Who can forget the time he shaved his head in solidarity with another cancer patient?
But the time he was in tears on live TV while talking about young Brendan McGlone remains different. It was probably the most vulnerable we’ve seen the UFC star in front of a camera, that too when his mindset was, in his own words, bulletproof.
Conor McGregor and Brendan McGlone – the heartbreaking story of an unfulfilled promise
When Conor McGregor first spoke to Brendan McGlone, he was preparing for his first-ever UFC title fight at UFC 189. Speaking to TSN on ‘Off the Record’ in July 2015, McGregor recalled their conversation.
The former ‘champ champ’ said, “What happened was I got a phone call from a person in the UFC. Someone from the Make A Wish foundation reached out to them and said, ‘this kid from Ireland, he has cancer or he has leukemia and… this is probably going to be his last wish and it’s to talk on the phone to you.’ So I rang the kid and we talked for a long, long time. I talked with his friends in the hospital and his family and today or last night he passed away.”
He continued, “So it f***ed my head up because this little kid is in Ireland and I’m telling the kid I’m going to take this belt and I’m gonna bring the belt to you and we’ll raise the belt, and I would have done it. I would have flew him out here to Vegas. They were thinking maybe if he got a little bit better they could fly him out here to Vegas. It’s just a really sad situation and it’s heartbreaking. I’ve lost family members to cancer and it is a horrible, horrible thing.”
In a tweet where he posed with Mike Tyson, McGregor had written, “Me and Mike think it’s best to leave your Ma at home for the Vegas trip, but it’s your call champ? @mcglone_brendan.”
So it’s evident that ‘The Notorious’ wanted to do everything he could for the 14-year-old. The distress in his voice was evident while McGregor was speaking to TSN, and some were convinced that his shades hid his tears. The rest, as they say, is history.
McGregor beat Chad Mendes for the interim featherweight belt at UFC 189, becoming the first and only Irish UFC champion to date. Almost a decade later, McGregor seems a vastly different person from the 2015 version of him. He’s even gunning for the Irish President’s chair. But none of those changes have stopped him from lending a helping hand where he can.
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