UFC star Conor McGregor welcomes third child

Although he had already been high on the list of top-earning athletes for several years, 32-year-old mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor reached the No. 1 spot this year, according to Forbes. However, even that might not be his proudest or happiest achievement for 2021. McGregor announced that he was a dad — again — on May 17, following the birth of his youngest son and third child Rian to fiancee Dee Devlin.

Along with making his own announcement on his Instagram page on May 18, McGregor’s Irish Whiskey brand tweeted a note of congratulations with a cute, pre-baby clip of the couple. It was the recent sale of his majority stake in this company that catapulted co-founder McGregor to the top of the highest-paid athletes list released this month.

“Congratulations to our founder @thenotoriousmma and @deedevlin1, the Proper Super Mom, on the birth of their newest edition, Rían McGregor,” posted Proper No. Twelve Whiskey. The brand closed the tweet with the hashtag #PartyOfFive and “Sláinte,” a commonly used drinking toast that means “health” in Irish and Scottish Gaelic.

McGregor and Devlin met in 2008 at a nightclub when they were just 19 and 20 years old, respectively. He had recently quit his plumbing apprenticeship to chase his dream of becoming an MMA fighter. He has long spoken of her support for his career, stating that he probably wouldn’t be where he is today if not for her.

“Every day, since I started out in this game, she’s supported me,” McGregor said in a 2015 interview with VIP Magazine. “She’d drive me to the gym and she’d listen to all my dreams. Dee is a lifesaver for me. 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.”

Devlin agrees that her partner has her full support.

“I’ve always supported him, so I’m glad that it’s come to fruition for him, and for us, really,” she said in the same VIP Magazine interview. “We’re going to make a living out of this now and it’s great! It makes me go a bit gooey inside when he says that he’s working hard for me.”

The couple was engaged to be married last year. The family of five also includes the couple’s four-year-old son, Conor Jack Jr., who was born in born in May 2017, and their two-year-old daughter Croia, who was born in January 2019.

Congrats to this family on their new addition!