Conor McGregor is Hard at Training in the Gym and His Focus is Very Interesting…
It is now 568 days since Conor McGregor last fought for the UFC, against Eddie Alvarez, on November 12, 2016. If it feels like a long time, that’s because it is. He did, of course, fight Floyd Mayweather last August, but that was more of a gimmick than a real contest. Now though, it looks like he is finally on his way back.
An insane new story broke yesterday, that the UFC was planning what was effectively an unofficial mini-tournament in the lightweight division. It would involve the current champion Khabib Nurmagamedov, Georges St. Pierre, Nate Diaz, and finally Conor McGregor.
However, thanks to his legal problems and St. Pierre’s health issues, that whole idea was cast by the wayside. Now though, Team Khabib is actively pursuing a fight with Georges St. Pierre, leaving the door open for McGregor to finally finish his trilogy against Nate Diaz.
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Focus
As can be seen from his training pictures on Instagram, McGregor’s overwhelming focus at the moment is upon improving his ground game. Even though he is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu brown belt, most critics believe that he is most vulnerable against wrestlers and submission artists.
The ‘Notorious’ has lost three times in his professional MMA career, including once in the UFC to Nate Diaz. All of these defeats came via submission, so there’s definitely a history there. McGregor is one of the slickest strikers in the sport, so it’s no surprise that he’s trying to fill in the holes in his game. He captioned the post:
“I will usually work towards the temple, but when training in the GI, it is fun to work towards the limbs or the neck instead.”
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Top Team
McGregor trains out of Ireland’s top MMA gym, SBG Dublin. Head Coach John Kavanagh was Ireland’s first Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt. The gym regularly has guest instructors and fighters, with BJJ expert Nerijus Gulbinas training the other day. McGregor clearly wants to make sure he’s ready for whatever gets thrown at him.
It is increasingly likely that Nate Diaz will be McGregor’s next opponent. The Stockton native was also in legal trouble recently after getting into a brawl at a Combate Americas event. It’s time for these two guys to unleash their testosterone and just give the fans a fight.
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Wait and See
‘The Notorious’ definitely intends on making his comeback this year. While Khabib Nurmagamedov is probably the fan’s choice for his next fight, it definitely wouldn’t be a bad thing if he did finish the Diaz trilogy at lightweight. Especially since both men have been out of action for so long, a title shot straight away isn’t really fair.
Unfortunately for the Irishman, it all depends on the outcome of his court date on June 14. If it goes well, he’ll walk free, with a slap on the wrists, to pursue his MMA career. However, if he gets jail time or ends up being barred from the US, then suddenly his prospects won’t look so good at all. Tick tock.
