Photo by Stanislav Krasilnikov\TASS via Getty Images
Conor McGregor’s head coach, John Kavanagh, is wrapping up the bulk of the ‘Notorious’ UFC star’s fight camp ahead of his PPV bout against Donald Cerrone in Las Vegas, and suggests great things are in store.
This UFC 246 training camp has been a different one for Conor McGregor. And this isn’t just in regards to Owen Roddy’s recent admissions that they’re running a different schedule and focusing on different things at SBG this time around.
In the past, the lead-up to Conor McGregor fights has been marked by a steady diet of highly selective training footage and highlights. Against Khabib Nurmagomedov, McGregor’s team released footage highlighting his pressure and wrestling work. Against Mayweather, videos of him dropping sparring partners circulated like wildfire. In the run up to his Diaz fights, videos highlighting his work with movement coach Ido Portal, as well as numerous videos showing off his hand-speed and bag-work made the rounds.
Against Donald Cerrone? Things have been a lot more quiet from the McGregor camp. The notable exception has been a few pics making the rounds, of McGregor looking ‘jacked’ or ‘ripped’ or ‘huge’ as he gets ready to fight at welterweight once again. It could be a change in training focus, or perhaps just a change in hype tactics.
Either way, head coach John Kavanagh recently took to twitter to quell any doubts that McGregor will be anything less than perfectly prepared to fight ‘Cowboy’ on January 18th.
“Jan 1st, last heavy spar today before going to Vegas,” Kavanagh wrote. “Can honestly say this is the best I’ve seen him and I wasn’t sure that was possible to do 6 months ago. You guys are in for a real treat, I’m just glad to have a good seat!”
Meanwhile, Cerrone has put together a mini-doc series on his preparation for McGregor, available over on Amazon Prime. Notably, Cerrone has been highlighting that, in getting ready for the biggest fight of his career, he’s hoping to ignore the pressure and treat it just like any other bout. We’ll see whose preparation has paid off more in just a couple weeks.
UFC 246: McGregor vs. Cowboy, takes place at the T-Mobile arena in Las Vegas, NV. Alongside the welterweight main event, the PPV card is expected to feature a women’s bantamweight rematch between former champion Holly Holm, and recent title contender Raquel Pennington. Stay tuned to Bloody Elbow for more news and notes as the event approaches.