“There is a difference when McGregor fights in town,” admits John Kavanagh.
The eyes of the sports world will be coming down on Fight Island, Abu Dhabi, this weekend as ‘The Notorious’ Conor McGregor walking into the Octagon for the 13thth time under the banner of UFC.
Along with Kavanagh, his longtime coach and founder of the Straight Blast Gym stable, the McGregor star has risen above any other in MMA sports.
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During a pulsating run that took him from the UFC debate in early 2013 to an uncertain night at UFC 205 in 2016, the 32-year-old hit two different weight divisions at the same time, beating who is a legendary fighter along the way.
But since then, the Irish fighter has caught the Octagon just twice, suffering an infamous loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 before kicking back with a stunning 40-second blow last year from Donald ‘Cowboy ‘Cerrone at UFC 246.
The long recent absences that have punctuated the later years make an interesting difference to the pace of a career that moved at a brisk pace to 2016.
But which version of McGregor is the most dangerous – the busy, hard-working brawler or the one with a good rest and hunger for return?
“It simply came to our notice then. I believe there is a bit of both, ”Kavanagh responds when sent to him by BTSport.com.
?? In terms of training for this, the last few months have been full of heaven ??
– John Kavanagh
“I will say this time we have had a year and it has really taken time to allow everything to heal. He’s always just been carrying the weird thing here and there and right now he’s well-tuned. No accents and pain.
“His weight on the water cutting target is very slow and light. So from that perspective it has been good.
“From my point of view, as a fan who wants to see inside as often as possible, it wasn’t good. But look, that ‘s the past here in the future. We are ready for Saturday 23rd January and are ready for a busy year.
“I hope you and everyone else are harassing the UFC for giving us an immediate date. When the fight is over that morning, let’s go for lunch and that afternoon we’ll pick the next date. ”
Like many of us, McGregor had big plans for 2020; he talked regularly about his desire to fight at least two more times after his resignation hit Cerrone, but when a global coronavirus crisis took hold in March, all plans were thwarted. the window.
McGregor and the rest of the team have had to deal with their first training camp since the pandemic struck – but Kavanagh suggests the impact of their forced isolation has not been severe.
“I feel very guilty because the last two months have been difficult in other respects [of life] but in terms of training for this, it has been a complete heaven, ”he continues.
“We have had a month or two in beautiful Lagos, Portugal. We are really able to separate ourselves and we only had one action. My gym is shut down like a lot of other guys out there so I had nothing else to think about other than this.
370 days
Between a Cowboy fight and a Poirier replay
“You wake up in a warm sunny place, you train; you go down to the beach, you have a nice meal, you stretch, you relax and then you go back in the evening and you do it [train] again. We had that for months and now we’ve been in Dubai for a week or two and it’s been the same.
“It’s a little warmer here, a little drier. Conor has stayed with us in an amazing five star hotel, my own swimming pool is in the back garden here!
“The environment has been amazing, with nothing more. We also have a full medical team with us to make sure the [Covid-secure] bubbles are tight and we move things up our noses every day to make sure we are on top of that.
“He has a good team of guys who take care of all this logistics … all of those guys do amazing 20-hour days to make sure we only have the training team – and to Conor’s specialty as the athlete – just one thing to think about and that’s competition and achievement. ”
After just 18 minutes and 43 seconds inside the cage from November 12, 2016, preparations to face former opponent Dustin Poirier this weekend have been focused on McGregor’s sharp recovery.
“It’s about making sure the sparring you do has a fighting feeling,” Kavanagh says.
“Some gyms don’t have an Octagon and there are ten pairs on the whole mat making MMA a push. That will feel a lot different than if it’s just one pair and you’re walking into the gym that has an elevated Octagon and you have to walk up into that with a bit crowd watching. As you can imagine it feels very different.
“Going from there to UFC Fight Night is another level again but at least we’ve been able to do that part for months now. He has a full-size UFC Octagon in the back garden of his house! We’ve been up there night after night, going in there for me to say more like symbolic fights than sparring sessions.
“You have a huge crowd, there is a referee and so on. We really make it feel like a fight. I think if you really take control of that side of things and try to incorporate all aspects of it, not just the physical side but the scene, with corncrakes and so on, it will give you a feeling of intimacy to fight at night. ”
Kavanagh knows McGregor needs to be at the top of his game if he is to deliver a replay in Saturday’s replay of his UFC 178 victory over Dustin Poirier
It took Notorious Poirier just 106 seconds to deliver unaided in the eyes of the referee at the MGM Grand during their first meeting, but since that night, “The Diamond” has established itself as one of the top players in the 155lb division.
A former interim king, the only 32-year-old in the last four years, like McGregor, came at the hands of Khabib Nurmagomedov.
?? The first few connections will be made and it’s not going to look much different than the first time ??
– Kavanagh on UFC 257
Renowned for his style of action and his understanding of maximum violence, Poirier’s latest tour saw him kick back from that loss against Khabib in the Fight of the Year tournament against Dan Hooker from New Zealand last summer.
Hooker, who will simultaneously pick up the main event at UFC 257 in an emergency against a UFC player against Michael Chandler, he was very successful against Poirier with his early strike, punishing his opponent ‘s inconsistency with an alarming frequency.
The Americans would show the heart of a contest to fight back into controversy as he made a worthy decision on the night – but it was a performance that left Kavanagh with much to chew while and the pair were preparing to lock their horns again this weekend.
“Check out his last few shows before Hooker won, check out the fight with Eddie Alvarez, Justin Gaethje’s fight. That’s why he’s always up there in the top five, in the title mix all the time. It’s very interesting, ”says Kavanagh.
“Calling a UFC top teenager ‘almost’ is a waste of words but it’s difficult among a difficult group of people.
“It has many good features. He’s a strong man, take a look at all the charitable work he does as well. But it’s going to be the same [as UFC 178] comes 23 January.
“The first few connections will be made and it’s not going to look much different than the first time. ”
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