O’Sullivan reveals his favourite athlete ever and says ‘I’m fascinated by him’

RONNIE O’SULLIVAN has revealed Conor McGregor is his favourite athlete of all time.

The snooker legend also gave an honourable mention to basketball great Michael Jordan.

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But he picked McGregor as he believes the UFC fighter is box office entertainment.

In an interview with fellow seven-time world snooker champion Stephen Hendry on his YouTube channel, O’Sullivan said: “I know he’s not the best ever but Conor McGregor.

“I’m fascinated by him, he’s come from nothing, there’s no filter, he says it out there.

“I’m really into how he’s gone about his stuff – he doesn’t care.

“He’s brilliant, when you watch him on TV…you have to watch him.”

Like McGregor, O’Sullivan used to be a bit of a maverick and even as a kid he used to make thousands of pounds with his skills down at the snooker halls.

The Rocket also struggled with drink and drugs when he was younger and admits he lost seven years of his career because of it.

That period was sparked by his dad being sent to prison for 18 years – when O’Sullivan was just 16-years-old.

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Reflecting on that period, he said: “That’s when the mad seven years began. The benders, the blackouts.

“There wasn’t the self-awareness when I was in the thick of it all.

“I was in the moment. I was trying to fit in a lot of the time, doing the things I thought I should be doing, as a bloke of my age with a bit of cash.

“Clubs, girls, the sort of thing you do in clubs to impress girls. That’s what I thought you were supposed to do. I wanted to be liked.

“That’s when trouble starts. I tried to fit in and my personality began to change. Drink and drugs accelerated it.

“I became an unpleasant person. A bit of attitude with strangers, like I fancied myself, and that was never me.”