John Kavanagh has shed light on Conor McGregor's training camp ahead of his UFC return against Donald Cerrone on January 18.
McGregor and Kavanagh were back at work before Christmas for the first time since Ocotber 2018 and many fans were left wondering how the Dubliner was taking to an intense training camp after over a year off.
And now the SBG supremo has revealed all, claiming that the camp this time around has been all about enabling McGregor to excel - noting that it's the 31-year-old himself who dictates the intensity and direction of training.
“With Conor’s fighting IQ, with Conor’s understanding of the game, really, this training camp is about all of us getting out of his way,” Kavanagh told The Mac Life.
“Provide him an environment where he gets different looks, different feels, and support him. Where he wants the training camp to go, with intensities, and listening to him – where he has days where he has days where he wants to push hard, and days where he wants to slow down.
“It’s not so much about us coaches sitting down to game plan and then filling Conor in. Conor knows more about fighting than the rest of us put together".
And Kavanagh thinks that Conor McGregor will stop Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone when the pair finally trade blows, but it will be a more enduring win for the Notorious one.
Renowned for his explosive starts to fights, McGregor has finished plenty of opponents in the opening rounds - but Kavanagh reckons thathe will be in it for the long run this time around.
It comes as a surprise, given Cowboy's reputation for starting slowly in previously bouts, but the SBG coach hasn't ruled out an early knockout victory coming the Dubliner's way.
The added weight at 170 pounds, 15 pounds heavier than the lightweight category the 31-year-old last fought at, is Kavanagh's primary reason for making the prediction.
"I think it's going to be late. I can see it being in the championship rounds so that's the mindset that I personally have and be ready for that."
"Now, he could go in and spark him in seconds but I think there's a bit extra weight involved so I think in the later rounds," Kavanagh told The Mac Life.
It comes amid news that McGregor has drafted a two-time Olympian into his coaching setup for his fight with Cerrone, according to reports.
The Notorious has brought in Phil Sutcliffe who was his coach during his youth at the Crumlin Boxing Club, according to Irish-Boxing.com .
Sutcliffe boxed at the 1980 and 1984 Olympics and has previously been praised by McGregor.
McGregor said: “Phil Sutcliffe is a phenomenal boxing coach and my time under Phil in Crumlin Boxing Club, I learned so many fundamentals that I still carry with me today.
"I learned so many shots off Phil and the coaching staff down there and the sparring with Phil Sutcliffe Jnr in my early days was phenomenal, it got me to that next level I feel.”
McGregor often visits his old boxing gym to train where Sutcliffe trains as the pair are to link up in Las Vegas.
Sutcliffe will reportedly join up with McGregor's long-term John Kavanagh in the 31-year-old's corner as McGregor returns to the Octagon for the first time since losing to Khabib Nurmagomedov in October 2018.
If you haven't already, be sure to like our Irish Mirror Sport and Irish Mirror GAA pages on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
