There was a time when "Call of Duty" was a staple of Conor McGregor's regimen.
According to McGregor, his schedule would go something like this: Wake up. Go to the gym. Train for two to three hours. Come home. Play "Call of Duty: Black Ops II." Go to sleep when his girlfriend left for work. Wake up when she returned home.
To put it in his words, he "wasn't training so much as [he] was playing the game."
Now the Irish fighter will experience the game in a whole new way: as a featured character for its upcoming installment, "Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare," in which he'll play an SDF soldier in the campaign story. He's the first fighter to be cast in one of the franchise's games.
m"It's an absolute honor to be part of a franchise so big, and to be leading the way for my fellow competitors in the UFC," he said in a behind-the-scenes interview shared with ESPN.com. "I seem to be leading the way a lot, so I am very happy with that."
McGregor has a reach unlike many other UFC fighters, adding gaming to the ever-growing list of spaces his brand has influenced. To put it in perspective, his sponsorships include YouTube, Electronic Arts, Reebok, Bud Light, Rolls Royce, Monster Energy, Fanatics, BSN and Universal Studios.
"I think it's a no-brainer relationship and it showed how big Conor's brand really is in pop culture as a whole," McGregor's agent, Audie Attar, said in a statement to ESPN.com. "'Call of Duty' is one of the leading modern-day video games out there and it's a huge honor for them to want to work with Conor. It re-enforces just how high Conor's brand has gotten through his athletic success.
"I know Conor is excited and wants to continue to push the envelope, not only athletically but as a businessman and entrepreneur as well. We have other major deals in the works that will continue to expand Conor's reach into other categories with the biggest brands in the world."
Pre-order sales for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One combined to reach more than 163,000 in the United States as of Aug. 27, according to the most recent update from vgchartz.com. The game is set to release Nov. 4.