Conor McGregor can now kick back on his speed boat, named the ‘188’ in reference to the dole in Ireland, and think about where it all went so right.

The Irishman has fulfilled a long-held ambition to top Forbes’ Athlete Rich List having picked up his last welfare cheque – for €188 – just eight years ago.

Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lewis Hamilton now trail the UFC star who was once struggling to make ends meet working miserable hours as an apprentice plumber, still living with his parents.

Conor McGregor has gone from struggling as a young man (left) to being named the richest athlete in the past year on the Forbes list

McGregor made huge money over the past 12 months from his Proper No. Twelve whiskey

Now, his parents, family and probably great, great, great grandchildren will never have to work a day in their lives.

McGregor banked an eye-popping £127million this year alone and wants to be the first athlete worth more than £1bn.

To call it rags to riches would be a step too far as the ‘Notorious’ had the stability of a supportive family and girlfriend, now fiancee, Dee Devlin.

But those early days were far from easy. He lasted 18 months as an apprentice plumber before signing on.

The 5am starts and gruelling days were too much and the decision was made to focus squarely on MMA.

McGregor, pictured here with now fiancee Dee Devlin, has always wanted to top the rich list

But a young MMA fighter in small regional promotions outside the snap, crackle and pop of the UFC still makes a pittance.

He was only taking home €100-a-fight in the early days and lost his third contest against a journeyman named Artemij Sitenkov.

It was then he had a serious wobble and fled the venue in Dublin that night with €500 of ticket money he owed coach John Kavanagh.

‘He was crying after and was being comforted by his trainer,’ Sitenkov previously told Sportsmail. ‘I went home and didn’t think of him again.

‘Then, a few years later, wow. UFC, fame, everything. The thing with, Floyd Mayweather, wow!’

McGregor lost to MMA fighter Artemij Sitenkov, who was paid just €400 to fight him in 2008

The Irishman released a documentary about his rise to the top which was bought by Netflix

McGregor was distraught at the setback and considering his future before his mother desperately called Kavanagh up to try and convince him to come out of his bedroom.

The coach wrote off the debt and gave McGregor another chance. Former team-mates have spoken about seeing a switch flip inside him and the drive to be successful became all-consuming.

‘He had something in him — this obsession to get better, to make a different life,’ ex-team-mate and former UFC strawweight Aisling Daly said. ‘You have never seen anything like it.’

Of course, the renewed devotion to his craft paid dividends. Despite the blip of a loss to Joseph Duffy by submission, the ‘Notorious’ went on the rampage, winning the featherweight and lightweight titles in Cage Warriors, a competitive promotion and breeding ground for future UFC fighters.

The huge cross-over showdown against Floyd Mayweather was his biggest payday

The ‘Notorious’ has a huge number of endorsement deals and now lives the high life

People were beginning to take notice of the swagger, the charisma and the quality to back it up. Then the call came from the UFC for McGregor to hit the big time and make his debut on a card in Stockholm.

Before he flew out, the fresh-faced featherweight stopped off one final time to pick up his welfare money.

Marcus Brimage was McGregor’s first victim by first-round TKO and afterwards the debutant offered an insight into his thinking, saying: ‘This is the firs time I’ve ever experienced something like this, it’s like the WWE to me, it’s all just a little game, I’m just playing a game and when I get in there just keep calm.’

The reference to the WWE is a fascinating one and a huge part of McGregor’s success has come from his ability as a salesman, the overblown drama seen in professional wrestling that can translate to real combat sports was a key tool in his arsenal.

Press conferences became must-watch TV and would sell out. His soundbites would go viral and McGregor even had a camera crew following him around, putting out content and increasing the snowball effect on his popularity.

McGregor, pictured here as a fan with UFC legend Chuck Liddell, is still a massive draw

McGregor’s financial impact on the UFC as a whole was crystal clear to see.

The promotion made an estimated £252m increase in revenue between 2016 and 2020 having only made incremental gains before that, even suffering a dip between 2014-15 with a drop of £52m.

McGregor’s best year in the UFC was in 2016 and he elevated the sport to another level, fighting three times, his two high profile Nate Diaz scraps and the demolition of Eddie Alvarez to become ‘champ, champ’.

It wasn’t just the man himself getting rich off the back of his work, the explosion of growth boosted the pay of other fighters.

His coach Kavanagh previously tweeted: ‘I’ve a had a few UFC fighters pull me aside and say something along the lines of “I might not like your boy but we should all be sending him 5%. He’s changed the game for all of us.” Be grateful and you’ll receive more to be grateful for.’

McGregor suffered defeat by Dustin Poirier but most of his cash is earned outside the cage

McGregor’s popularity is clearly illustrated by the pay-per-view figures. His fights are the top five most bought in the organisation’s history, with the Khabib Nurmagomedov showdown in top spot at £2.4million.

Of course, it would be foolish to overlook the impact his mega-bucks crossover bout with Floyd Mayweather had on his bank balance and profile.

The stadium tour of press events spread across north America and packed out arenas. McGregor ended up taking home an estimated £92m for his work.

To understand why McGregor has forged his way to Forbes’ No 1 spot, the business empire he has grown is key.

As a salesman, there has never been anyone more accomplished in combat sports

Even the long list of controversies, including assaulting a man in a pub, injuring fellow fighters by smashing up a bus window, breaking a fan’s phone and leaping into the Bellator cage to confront a referee, hasn’t really made a dent on his earning power.

A total of £112m of the £127m was made outside of the octagon in the last year. In fact, McGregor has only won one fight since 2016. The profile he raised from fighting sprung endorsement deals and business opportunities but those now far outweigh his earnings from the day job.

Proximo Spirits, the company who own Jose Cuervo, acquired a majority stake in McGregor’s Proper No. Twelve whiskey in recent months.

And he added adding DraftKings, video game Dystopia: Contest of Heroes, and the lifestyle brand Roots of Fight to his burgeoning collection of endorsement deals.

He has worked with Burger King, Beats by Dre, Monster energy drink, Anheuser-Busch InBev, and Budweiser.

McGregor exceeded his own expectations after bursting on to the scene as a young fighter

The Dubliner also boasts his own clothing line, ‘August McGregor’, and has his fingers in a number of pies, even weighing up purchase of a stake in Celtic or Manchester United.

One of the criticisms often levelled against him is that these outside interests have diminished performances inside the octagon, whether that be through lack of motivation or time commitment to training.

His January defeat by Dustin Poirier was a rude awakening and career-wise, much rides on the outcome of their trilogy in July.

But even if McGregor loses and struggles to ever reach the peaks of before, his ever-expanding business empire is likely to see him dominate the Forbes list for years to come.