Coach: McGregor looking ‘super slick and ‘sharp as ever’ in the gym

Following a momentous night of fights at UFC 300, Dana White dropped some equally important news: UFC superstar Conor McGregor would make his long awaited return at UFC 303 against Michael Chandler.

The fight announcement has been long awaited, and there were some doubts that McGregor would never sign on the dotted line and step back in the octagon. But with contracts locked in and a June 28th date in place, “The Notorious” is back to training hard at the Straight Blast Gym in Dublin, Ireland.

Head coach John Kavanagh recently spoke with Irish MMA outlet Severe MMA and gave his thoughts on how Conor is performing after such a long layoff.

“He’s looking super slick,” Kavanagh said. “There’s fighters that when they’re not fighting … it starts becoming a job. And it’s hard to keep the level of intensity. Even if it’s not physical, the level of mental intensity to always be thinking about training, always thinking about sequences, always thinking about techniques.

“That’s something Conor’s had naturally his whole career. So even though when there were times where he’s filming and he’s he’s doing this, he’s doing that, we’re still always having conversations back and forward. Whereas some fighters are like, ‘If I’m not fighting, I don’t even wanna look at shows. I’ll just get ready when there’s a fight coming up.’”

“He’s come back on the mats as sharp as ever,” he said. “Of course, we’ve gotta get the rounds in and get the conditioning up so as to be ready for competition, but his technique is as sharp as ever.”

Kavanagh dismissed concerns that McGregor has too much on his plate these days to focus properly on an MMA fight.

“Let’s say he has 20 different areas that he needs to focus on — martial arts will always be No. 1 because it’s because he really enjoys it,” Kavanagh said. “It’s it’s the most fun. Going through the paperwork on a really long complicated property deal, probably not the most exciting thing in the world. But for for martial arts, I feel I I have a trump card. I can always, like, send him a high send him a highlight, send him a technique and I’ll always pop to the top of the list. So I don’t feel I have to compete with those things.”

“Conor’s very good at compartmentalization,” he added. “Training is realistically maybe two 1 hour sessions a day. There’s plenty of other time in the day where he can be focused on other areas. So when you’re in here, you’re on for the hour, you’re on for the 90 minutes, and then when you’re gone, you’re on for whatever it is you’re doing out there.”

While Kavanagh isn’t taking Michael Chandler lightly, he sees the fight playing out like a past McGregor victory.

“I see similarities to the [Chad] Mendes fight,” he said. “I’d be surprised if it can go two rounds. I’d be surprised. He just hits too hard. He’s too sharp. Is there gonna be scrappiness and take down stuff? Maybe. But every round starts on the feet, and his ability to get back there is underestimated. So I I’d be surprised if we see two rounds.”