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Conor McGregor’s Coach Feels Like They’re ‘Almost Cheating’

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Anticipation for the rematch between Nate Diaz and Conor McGregor is at an all-time high. UFC 202 is just eight days away, and the welterweight do-over is rich with back story. After replacing Rafael dos Anjos on short notice at UFC 196, Diaz submitted McGregor in the second round of a truly enthralling scrap. As the Stockton bad boy got on the mic for a classic interview, ‘The Notorious’ remained humble although clearly disappointed. Their story was far from over though.

It didn’t take long for McGregor to demand a rematch, once again at welterweight, and the promotion threw up no resistance. The featherweight title would have to wait, as the second fight 25 pounds above his championship category beckoned. With August 20 now within touching distance, the recent headlines have been dominated by the biggest draws in MMA today.

Diaz whips a straight left hand that wobbled McGregor during their UFC 196 encounter... — Diaz whips a straight left hand that wobbled McGregor during their UFC 196 encounter…

Revenge or Repeat?

Still the same questions are being asked as when the fight was first booked–How will McGregor overcome the factors that caused him to lose first time around? It’s an interesting ponder, but one the Irishman has addressed many times since the loss. Improved cardio, bigger and higher calibre sparring partners, and overall just a more organised approach to the fight. Will these alterations lead to revenge for McGregor?

Coach John Kavanagh seems to think so. As quoted by Talk Sport, McGregor’s long time coach at Straight Blast Gym Dublin reveals his fighter;s much more calculated approach and more:

Changes

“The word we’ve been focusing on for this camp is ‘routine’,” he said. “We basically did the same thing every day since we arrived in Vegas: Leave the house to go to the gym for a skill session at 1pm, before working on cardio in the evenings”.

“Anyone who knows about the history of [Kavanagh’s mixed martial arts gym] SBG Ireland will be aware that we were always regarded as the last-minute gym — the guys who would be ready to step in at short notice… All you can do in those circumstances is try to get your skill set to such a high level that the opponent doesn’t matter.

“I believe that worked well for us and the results were proof of that, but I also feel that when you’ve done that for so long, you can end up getting caught out against certain styles of opponent. This has provided us with an opportunity to experience the other method of extreme game planning and being very opponent-orientated.

“It’s been a new approach for me, and for us all. I’d describe it as doing an exam after seeing the questions on the teacher’s test sheet. I feel like we’re almost cheating going into this fight because we know what questions we’re going to face in the test”.

Judging by this recent image of Nate Diaz, he too is taking this fight extremely seriously... — Judging by this recent image of Nate Diaz, he too is taking this fight extremely seriously…

We know from past experience that a motivated Nate Diaz is the most dangerous possible. Of course ‘The Notorious’ is raring to go too, making this rematch so much more intriguing.

Stay tuned.

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RIP Joao Carvalho, MMA Fighter Dies Following KO Loss In Dublin

The post RIP Joao Carvalho, MMA Fighter Dies Following KO Loss In Dublin appeared first on LowKick MMA.

The tragic circumstances surrounding Joao Carvalho’s last mixed martial arts fight may be disturbing to some, but it’s a story that needs to be told. At this weekend’s ‘TEF’ event in Dublin, Ireland, young MMA hopefuls Joao Carvalho and Charlie Ward faced off in a three round fight. Carvalho, of Portugal, travelled to the national arena in Dublin to face Ward in front of the Irishman’s home crowd. The fight went in to the third and final round, where Ward rallied for a hard fought TKO win. Sadly, Carvalho began suffering the side effects of concussion/compression, including nausea and headaches, and was rushed to the Beaumont hospital.

Carvalho remained in critical condition for 48 hours as doctors attempted emergency surgery to relieve the pressure on the fighter’s brain, but alas they were sadly unsuccessful. As per the Team Nobrega, Carvalho’s gym, he tragically passed away n the late hours of last night:

“It is with great sorrow and sadness that we write these words, that the death of the athlete Joao Carvalho happened after 48 hours in critical condition,” the statement read.

“On the site (Carvalho) was immediately assisted by the medical team this, and then quickly transported to the hospital Beaumont, where he was subjected to a brain surgical intervention, after which the athlete remained in critical condition during the 48 hours following, eventually passed away on this Monday the 21:35 hours.”

As Charlie Ward is a team mate of UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor, ‘The Notorious’ was in attendance at the event when the fight went down. He offered his opinion, stating the ‘Referee should have stopped it sooner, I feel like these referees need to be a bit more on the ball.’ The promotion released an official statement on the harrowing news of Carvalho’s passing, as per SevereMMA:

“The doctors checked him between each round and each time he gave a full response to them. He responded to each question. He was asked where he was, what round he was going in to and what day of the week it was, and all of his answers were perfect.

“When the referee stopped the fight in the third round, our team of doctors and medics looked after him as he was bleeding quite heavily from his nose. He was asked if he felt any pain or was suffering with any headaches directly after the fight, and he said he had no pain or headaches, but he did feel quite tired.

“It was explained to him that he had to visit the medical room that was set up in the venue and that he would have to go to the hospital afterwards, because the doctor recommended that he should have a CT scan after the fight. At this stage, the fighter was walking, talking and smiling. Everything seemed perfectly fine.

“After he walked back to the medical room the doctors did some tests backstage and there was nothing out of the ordinary about their results. They prepared the ambulance to take him to the hospital.

“Ten minutes later he started complaining that he was suffering from headaches. He felt a lot of nausea and he began to vomit. Five minutes later he was significantly worse so we got him into the ambulance and rang the hospital to let them know he was coming.”

This is a harrowing reminder of the harsh realities of the fight game, and also a prompt that we as fans, and also the promoters and fighters, should do away with the ‘go out on your shield’ attitude. But that’s another subject for another day, for now, we send our hopes and wishes to the family and friends of Joao Carvalho, who was tragically taken last night. RIP.

The post RIP Joao Carvalho, MMA Fighter Dies Following KO Loss In Dublin appeared first on LowKick MMA.

Makwan Amirkhani Poised To Become A UFC Star

With the anticipated return of Anderson “The Spider” Silva (33-6) this Saturday all the focus has been on the main event. While the promotion leading up the event have been largely on the co-main and main event fighters, a fighter to look out for on Saturday is Makwan Amirkhani (12-2) when he faces Mike Wilkinson (9-1).

“Mr. Finland” created a lot of hype for himself after his debut in the UFC. He TKO’d Andy Ogle in just 8 seconds in the first round last January. He went on to submit Masio Fullen last June when he fought in Germany. That fight also lasted in just the first round. In Amirkhani’s two fights, he has only been inside the cage for 1 minute and 49 seconds.

He is a tall fighter for the UFC Featherweight division, standing at 5-foot-10 inches tall with a 72-inch reach. He grew up as a wrestler in both Greco-roman and Freestyle before making the move to MMA.

Although impressive with his abilities inside the cage, Makwan Amirkhani is just as impressive for his talk outside the cage and his charismatic persona.

In an interview with Fox Sports, he was asked if there was anything impressive about his upcoming opponent Wilkinson.

“Yeah probably his girlfriend. Nothing else.”

According to Bloody Elbow, he said that Wilkinson has “one week left, so he better enjoy it with his family, before I come to London and make everybody cry there.”

He also lets people know that he is better looking than everyone else in the UFC. Fox Sports also asked him what it was like to train in Stockholm before his debut against Andy Ogle.

“Everything is much better. I’m more dangerous and powerful, faster more handsome because I’m hanging out with my friends ins Sweden, and it’s like normal for them to look good, so I have to keep up with that.”

The 27 year-old has a large social media presence as well through his Instagram account. He posted a video of himself eating an apple before his UFC debut fight against Ogle that went viral. Take a look:

https://www.instagram.com/p/x4ekGSSSwy/?taken-by=makulaku

Amirkhani was asked about the apple in the post-fight press conference at UFC on Fox: Gustafsson vs. Johnson and said that girls would send him friend requests, compliment his smile, and the way he eat the apple.

Surely enough, the Kurd-born fighter has taken the MMA community by storm with his mix of charm outside the cage and deadly skills inside. He will gain an even bigger presence now that the featherweight trains at SBG Ireland with the likes of Conor McGregor, Artem Lobov, and Gunnar Nelson.

Makwan Amirkhani has all the essentials needed to become a mainstream fighter. He is poised to become a star in the UFC if he can continue to win and climb up the ladder of the featherweight division.

Amirkhani will headline the preliminary card of UFC Fight Night: Silva vs. Bisping this Saturday on UFC Fight Pass.