Conor McGregor had it all figured out.
The Notorious put on an MMA masterclass in his UFC 202 victory over Nate Diaz and was still taken to the brink.
John Kavanagh, McGregor’s coach, admits he was ‘slightly terrified’ by Diaz’s ability to eat so many big shots and still keep walking forward. His fighter knew Diaz would soak up a lot of punishment but felt certain he would end the fight within five rounds. Still, he was prepared to go the distance.
McGregor has gained even more credibility within the fight community for his performance on Saturday night but one old skill seems to be as polished as ever – his predictions.
Brendan Schaub recently marvelled at pre-fight, dressing room, footage of McGregor practising the exact sequence that led to Jose Aldo’s 13-second knockout at UFC 194. There was no footage this time out but there was a WhatsApp message. Kavanagh told The MMA Hour:
“I was really upset by that [successful Diaz take-down in Round 5] because I was expecting it, as he did a very similar one of Josh Thompson. We had a counter to it but it didn’t exactly pull off.
“Technically, over 25 minutes, it was a real joy for me, and Conor. All the shots… I have a WhatsApp message from Conor, a kind of an essay, on the day of the fight. I kind of sent him what was going to happen and he sent back what was going to happen.
“It’s funny, looking over it, every shot that we spoke about happened. Every sequence that we drilled happened…
“We formulated a very strong game-plan, a very detailed game-plan and, technique by technique, move by move, it played out as we drilled endlessly in the gym. It’s really, really gratifying to have so much hard work rewarded.”
McGregor definitely did seem to have a lot of Diaz’s moves worked out. Maybe this preparing for specific fighters thing has some merit to it after all.
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