McGregor reveals how youthful trouble and Biggie shaped his 'Notorious' nickname

Conor McGregor used a Tonight Show appearance with host Jimmy Fallon to trace the origins of his ‘Notorious’ nickname, revealing it grew from a teenage reputation for mischief and a love of hip-hop — as the 37-year-old prepares to return to the octagon at UFC 329 in Las Vegas on July 11.

McGregor told Fallon that the moniker began with his coach, who had the young fighter saved in his phone under a rather different name. “It actually came because I had a habit of getting into trouble when I was younger a little bit and my coach had me saved in the phone as ‘Trouble,’ actually,” McGregor said. “Now, I was only a young guy, but you know, I was just notorious for it. That’s it.”

The former two-division UFC champion added that the nickname also carries a deliberate nod to hip-hop legend The Notorious B.I.G., whose 1997 hit Hypnotize McGregor has frequently used as his walkout music. “I like Biggie as well, I like the music, and that was the walkout song and it just kind of gelled together over the years and it became the Notorious,” he said.

The nickname has since taken on a more complicated resonance. McGregor has accumulated a lengthy list of legal troubles over the years, including lawsuits related to destroying a fan’s phone, punching an elderly man in a pub, and a civil case in which he was found liable for sexual assault for an incident that occurred in Dublin in 2018.

With his comeback fight approaching, McGregor has been making a concerted effort to reshape his public image, repeatedly insisting he is a changed man. His Tonight Show appearance leaned into the charm offensive — he even awarded Fallon a fighter nickname after watching the host throw a few punches, dubbing him Jimmy ‘The Slow Jammer’ Fallon.

The UFC 329 bout against Max Holloway, a rematch of a past rivalry, is scheduled at 170 pounds. It will be McGregor’s first competitive outing since he broke his leg in a TKO loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in July 2021, and is widely expected to be among the most high-profile MMA contests of 2026.