Conor McGregor’s tattoos are concentrated on his chest, stomach, arms and wrists. The crowned gorilla on his chest, the tiger on his stomach and the lettering around it are the best-known pieces. They were added at different points in his UFC career, giving the front of his torso a layered look.
The crowned gorilla on his chest
The large chest piece shows a gorilla wearing a crown and holding or eating a bloody human heart. McGregor has talked about the tattoo on UFC programming and described its imagery in direct terms. The design is clear in photographs, though its full personal meaning is less certain.
Esquire described the gorilla as a major piece at the centre of McGregor’s upper body. Training, weigh-in and interview photos show it clearly. It sits above the stomach lettering and tiger, linking the front of the torso.
The tiger on his stomach
McGregor added the tiger in 2015, before his fight with José Aldo. UFC reported that it sits on his lower torso, with “McGregor” and “Notorious” arranged around it. MMA Fighting also covered the addition in the run-up to UFC 189.
The tiger sits between the two words, so photos often make the stomach look like one large panel. Its placement and date are well documented; online claims about what the animal represents have not been confirmed by McGregor.
“McGregor” and “Notorious” lettering
“McGregor” runs across the upper stomach, with “Notorious” below the tiger. The words use the public name and nickname associated with his fighting career. UFC’s 2015 report dates the addition, instead of relying on an undated photograph.
Older photos show a different stomach layout before the tiger was added. Later fight-week images bring the tiger, both words and the chest gorilla into the same frame.
Wrist and forearm tattoos
Esquire noted a mustached man in a top hat on McGregor’s left wrist, alongside the phrase “slow is smooth, smooth is fast.” The wording is visible in photographs and often listed among his recognizable smaller tattoos.
Other arm photos show a rose, a clock and additional lettering. Those pieces are harder to date because they are not always visible together, and the available accounts do not establish when each one was added.
Artists and studios behind the work
UFC’s 2015 report links the stomach tiger to Pin at Sideshow Tattoo in California, giving that piece a specific artist and studio.
MMA Fighting interviewed Steve Butcher about a separate chest tattoo and described a twelve-hour session at FY Ink in Toronto. Butcher said the work was outside his usual style and commented on the quality of McGregor’s existing tattoos. These accounts point to different artists and studios across the collection.
How McGregor’s collection changed over time
The chest gorilla was already a defining feature in early profile coverage. The tiger and stomach lettering came later, creating a larger composition across the front of McGregor’s body. His wrist and forearm pieces appear in interviews and training photos, though sleeves and camera angles often hide them.
The dates matter. A photo from before 2015 cannot show the tiger UFC reported ahead of the Aldo fight. Later images may capture more arm work, and any tattoo count belongs to the period it describes.
What is confirmed and what remains unclear
The clearest record covers the chest gorilla, stomach tiger, “McGregor” and “Notorious” lettering, the wrist phrase, and artist credits tied to particular pieces. Other small designs are visible in photographs, but their dates and meanings are not always public.
No reliable source establishes the meaning of the animals or credits the whole collection to one tattooist. The reports do identify particular designs, dates and artists; the rest need no invented backstory.
Frequently asked questions
Who tattooed McGregor’s tiger?
UFC connected the 2015 stomach tattoo with Sideshow Tattoo and named Pin in its accompanying post.
What is McGregor’s largest tattoo?
The crowned gorilla on his chest is among his largest and most visible pieces.
Does he have tattoos on his arms?
Yes. Photos show lettering, the wrist phrase, a rose, a clock and other smaller work on his arms and wrists.
Other documented details
UFC coverage places the tiger before McGregor’s fight with José Aldo and records the words around it. That lets the earlier chest piece and later stomach design be dated separately.
The wrist phrase has its own context. Esquire described it alongside the top-hat figure, but did not connect it to the gorilla or tiger.
The artist credits are specific: Pin and Sideshow Tattoo are tied to the stomach tiger, while Butcher discussed a different chest session at FY Ink. The accounts indicate more than one artist may have worked on McGregor, without assigning the whole collection to one person.
Weigh-in and training photos show the front of the torso most clearly. His back, sides and legs appear less often, so the record there is thinner. Esquire helps identify some of the smaller arm and wrist work; its personal meanings remain private where McGregor has not discussed them.
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