The number 188 is a well-known figure to Irish people who dealt with the crippling recession that sent numbers similar to the Great Famine exodus fleeing to greener, foreign pastures.
'The 188' is also the name of Conor McGregor's luxury yacht. The moniker for the Dubliner's vessel is a personal reminder of tougher times.
If you ever got the dole you'll know that 188 is, in euros, the precise amount Ireland's unemployed masses receive weekly on social welfare.
Like many others, McGregor needed it in the late noughties but now he's about to dance around the ring with a boxing legend for a fee in the region of $100m - a new paycheck record for a mixed martial artist.
McGregor's rise to superstardom instils hope. Financially supported by his girlfriend Dee Devlin as an unfulfilled plumbing apprentice, he began his obsession with movement and the fight game.
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A humble MMA debut in 2007 led to his UFC debut in 2013 where he famously shouted 'Dana, 60 Gs baby!' (his payment for the bout) after soundly beating Marcus Brimage.
UFC president Dana White - who stuck by the Irishman and watched him blossom into a UFC megastar - was responsible for finessing negotiations between both camps to help push through McGregor's ambitious bid to fight 49-0 Floyd Mayweather, the biggest name in boxing.
Since his UFC debut the Irishman's flamboyant, explosive fighting style and accurate, concrete fists have steadily earned him legions of fans in Ireland and abroad as he sliced through UFC's 145lb division.
In 2015 he defeated the 145lb champion Jose Aldo in just 13 seconds, obliterating the Brazilian's 10-year reign with the belt.
This victory catapulted him to legendary status but McGregor kept looking up and gained 10lb before knocking out the 155lb champion Eddie Alvarez in 2016 to become the MMA organisation's first fighter to hold titles in two weight classes. Predictably, this still wasn't enough.
In his mind there always seems to be a higher plain to strive for in a limitless, money-filled sky. With his celebrity rising at a frightening speed McGregor mania has swept across Ireland with noticeably more beards, cocky attitudes and puffed-out chests on the country's streets.
His brash, often offensive antics are unquestionably an acquired taste but one can't help but welcome the sight of one of our own with the bit firmly between his teeth.
Laying a solid glove on Mayweather is like trying to catch smoke.
Achievements like his can change perceptions of entire nations so it's a nice change from those abroad with narrower minds seeing the Irish as chatty, twinkly-eyed drunken folk with luck on our side.
McGregor's astonishing ascension also beautifully coincides with Ireland gradually pulling itself out of the recession. Its like he's leading the charge into a brighter new era. He allows the Irish to dream that little bit bigger, once saying: "If your dreams don't scare you they aren't big enough."
You would imagine Saturday's surreal contest - not thought remotely possible when the far-fetched whispers of it first began - is surely big enough to inhibit and possibly faze McGregor.
Wednesday's press conference suggested as much. It was a strange, subdued affair and at times the atmosphere inside the KA Theatre was more library than superfight build-up.
The calm before the storm? Perhaps. Although McGregor seemed focussed, there were also signs of irritation.
The Dubliner told off some loud mouths in the crowd before reiterating his plan to knock out Floyd Mayweather within two rounds.
Mayweather was in an unusually grateful and reflective mood, thanking those who made him who he was.
For a brief moment there was real emotion shown by the American but he soon reverted back to his second-best talent: selling fights.
The Michigan-born pugilist once again doubted his own chances for Saturday.
"What better city to take a chance than Las Vegas," he said. "This city was built on gambling and I'm taking a gamble."
It's hard to believe that a famously cocky, five-division world champion with a perfect record has ever truly doubted his fists in his life but you can bet that quote sold an awful lot more pay per views.
"This is a fight made by the fans, for the fans," said the CEO for Mayweather Promotions Leonard Ellerbe at that same press conference. And again it's difficult to fully agree with Ellerbe.
Tuned in fans, general spectators and critics of the event know it is all about the money. These two fighters worship and glorify cash like no other athletes in the history of sport.
The introduction of a customised 'Money Belt' before the fighters' last words to the media backs up this viewpoint.
This overly-decadent, jewel-encrusted creation framed in alligator leather is the grotesque trophy for the victor and it's probably worth more than a normal person would make in a lifetime.
They're not calling it 'The Money Fight' for nothing.
Las Vegas' large, sun-scorched homeless community serves as a reminder of why it is easy to be conflicted by this bout.
On one hand it's a mouthwatering prospect for any sports fan but on the other it's a stark confirmation of the world's ever-widening wealth divide.
There is genuine excitement to watch it but there is also a nagging guilt.
Come Saturday at 9pm Vegas time (5am Irish time) McGregor must face up to a harsh reality. Overcoming unfavourably long odds is his only route to immortalising himself at the T-Mobile Arena.
Mayweather is undefeated his entire career while the Crumlin native has never boxed professionally.
McGregor likes to call himself "ghost" in the UFC octagon but he is facing the original ghost, the archetype, the undisputed master of punch-dodging.
Laying a solid glove on Mayweather is like trying to catch smoke.
A historic McGregor victory would send his army of fans into a state of delirium but the most realistic scenario is the American grinding out a trademark points win and breaking Rocky Marciano's 49-0 record.
It's too hard to buy Mayweather's prediction that "this fight is not going to go the distance".
Even if McGregor lands a hard shot, which he might, it will likely be absorbed and Mayweather will probably return to his highly effective defensive, counter-punching strategy.
Yes, 'The Notorious' has what George St Pierre's trainer Firas Zahabi calls "the touch of death" but so have several of Mayweather's past opponents.
"(Manny) Pacquiao had bombs, Canelo (Alvarez) had bombs, Shane Mosley had bombs, but I have a great chin," Mayweather reminded all at Wednesday's press conference.
McGregor's greatest advantage is that he is a wildcard. Only a select few have actually seen him box so everyone is in the dark about what style he will employ.
This makes him as unpredictable as one of Vegas' many roulette wheels so striking early is a must for McGregor before the savvy American figures out his patterns.
Chris Eubank thinks Conor McGregor has a real shot at winning - "Brexit couldn't happen, right?" https://t.co/RFxwEXnLfG #MayweatherMcGregor pic.twitter.com/ojibSLddiQ
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 25, 2017
Should Conor somehow manage to send Mayweather to the canvas for ten seconds the Las Vegas bookmakers stand to lose millions of dollars in what would be the biggest single event loss in the history of sports betting.
Optimistic, diehard McGregor fans have flooded bookies with varying amounts backing the mixed martial artist, and even a late surge of money on Mayweather might not be enough to balance the books.
The deep-pocketed high rollers have their notes on Mayweather, and who can blame them?
However, so many McGregor fans are betting small amounts that apparently the betting slips at William Hill are 18/1 in the Irishman's favour.
Sunday morning's chess match between these respective champions should prove to be a fascinating encounter. The "what if?" factor is propelling this thing along and with pay per view numbers steadily rising it's on course to be the most lucrative bout ever.
"I may damage him, put him down for a count and then play a little bit... I’ll have the option to finish it in the first round" #McGregor pic.twitter.com/T0pBnwnGue
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 24, 2017
On Wednesday Floyd commended Conor for "being a great competitor" and while McGregor's huge ego wouldn't allow him to return the compliment, it has been documented that the Dubliner idolised Mayweather growing up.
This admiration is evident in how he has promoted all his major fights to date. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
These two giants of combat sport embracing after the last punch is thrown, regardless of who wins, is a likely outcome.
Yes, their four-city press tour in July was often ugly, infantile and riddled with profanity - just like Friday's weigh in at the Irish-dominated T-Mobile Arena - but the pair are clearly using theatrics to sell a product.
Mayweather and McGregor are intense, never-say-die competitors but once the fight ends they will be human beings again and - if McGregor's past clashes are anything to go by - the two will likely hug and even converse once it's is all said and done.
Let the show begin.
