UFC champ Conor McGregor is now a horse jockey, with Jon Lovitz as his trainer

UFC lightweight champion and arguably the biggest star in MMA, Conor McGregor, is turning his attention to horse racing.

For a series of digital comedic films with actor Jon Lovitz, anyway.

McGregor (21-3 MMA, 9-1 UFC) recently won his second UFC belt (though he was stripped of the first), and he’s expected to be out of action for the next 10 months, according to UFC President Dana White. However, the 28-year-old Irishman is keeping busy with side gigs, including one for the $12 Million Pegasus World Cup Invitational, which bills itself as “the world’s richest Thoroughbred horse race.”

Ahead of the Jan. 28 race, which airs on NBC from Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla., McGregor will be featured as the honorary “13th jockey” for the 12-horse race. He’s teamed up with Lovitz for a four-part comedy series, with new episodes debuting weekly.

Here’s how the project came together, according to today’s announcement:

The Stronach Group teamed up with Frank Coraci who directed the shorts and enlisted actor and comedian Jon Lovitz to co-star as McGregor’s trainer. McGregor, Lovitz and Coraci filmed in December at The Stronach Group owned Santa Anita Racetrack in Arcadia, California. Patrick Knapp Schwarzenegger, attorney, Bloom Hergott LLP, who represents both McGregor and Lovitz, assisted The Stronach Group in bringing the two A-listers to this project.

Check out the first short above.

And for more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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