Conor McGregor has revealed the one piece of mid-fight advice he received from long-term coach John Kavanagh that helped him to beat Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone at UFC 246 on Saturday night.
McGregor was making an eagerly anticipated comeback after 15 months away and did not disappoint, needing only 40 seconds to stop the American veteran Cerrone at the T-Mobile Arena.
The Irishman made a sensational start to the bout: charging at his opponent before bloodying his nose with several unorthodox shoulder strikes in the clinch.
McGregor then stepped back and a precision head kick high over the guard landed square on the jaw of Cerrone, who was also caught by a flying knee and crumpled to the mat as the Dubliner went for an early finish.
However, McGregor initially failed to land many strikes after pouncing upon his fallen opponent and, after the fight, the former two-weight world champion revealed that his coach had shouted some advice out to him mid-fight.
“It could have been stopped earlier,” McGregor told ESPN journalist Ariel Helwani in his dressing room after the bout.
“But I had to concentrate myself. And John [Kavanagh] told me to settle and pick my shots.
“I did that. And that is when I got him. So I will celebrate tonight and spend some time with my family and then get back to training.”
Cerrone, who was later taken to hospital, meanwhile admitted that he had “never seen anything like” the unorthodox shoulder shots which rocked him prior to his stoppage defeat.
After the fight, Cerrone said: “He got me with an elbow straight away and then he headkicked me.
“I have never seen anything like the shoulder shot he hit me with. I was disorientated. Then he stepped back, I was bleeding and he headkicked me.
“But I love this sport and I am not stopping yet.”
