Getty Conor McGregor poses during a ceremonial weigh-in for UFC 229.
UFC superstar Conor McGregor’s head coach John Kavanagh provided a major update about his leg injury.
In an interview with Blockasset, coach Kavanagh shared that “The Notorious” returned to SBG Ireland, his longtime gym, for a grappling training session.
The Irish superstar could not resist some light sparring with his coach, and the result reflected on Kavanagh’s face.
“He just kind of showed up by surprise,” Kavanagh said. “Of course, he grabbed me by the neck and I was subjected to a couple of rounds by this 2,000-pound gorilla. I came home, and I walked in the door, and Orlagh went, ‘What the f*** happened to you? What’s wrong with your head?
“And I said, ‘Oh, Conor showed up.’ She just sort of rolled her shoulders and went, ‘Yeah, that makes sense. But yeah, we had a great roll around.”
Kavanagh informed that McGregor’s return gets closer by the day.
“I think that’s literally my first time doing some grappling with him since the lead-up to the last fight so it’s been a while. He’s back healthy now, he’s back able to do all the facets of MMA training so.
“He kinda remarked at the end of the session, ‘well, that’s day one,’ and I said, ‘Nah, that’s more like day one hundred thousand. He had a bit of a break there but that ain’t our first time doing this.
“But you know, it lifts the whole gym, you have a busy jiu-jitsu class there. Just a regular civilian, if I’ll put it that way, jiu-jitsu class. You got guys that are a couple of months (in) training some amateur fighters, some blue belts, some black belts, and he walks in and it just, the whole gym you feel kind of lifted.
“There’s great energy in it. He brings that intensity to every training session. It was great to see all the younger guys on the mat there get a great buzz off that.”
Conor McGregor Inches Closer To Return
McGregor, former two-division UFC champion, has remained out of action since his last outing against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in July 2021. He suffered a horrific leg injury in the first round and lost the bout by TKO.
He recently returned to kicking again after getting his broken fibula and tibia fixed. Now that he can fully immerse himself back in training, his comeback looks sooner than ever.
The iconic fighter was the first European mixed martial artist to hold titles in two divisions and the man responsible for the Irish flag being on the UFC gold.
Will McGregor Return to 170 Pounds?
Having been a traditional featherweight, the first UFC ‘champ-champ’ has also competed at 155 lbs. While not a regular contender in the weight class, McGregor has experience fighting higher at 170 lbs.
Ahead of his return, McGregor reportedly bulked up to 190 lbs and appears to be jacked in recent photos on Instagram.
In an interview with Oscar Willis for TheMacLife earlier this March, McGregor expressed his desire to challenge the reigning UFC welterweight king Kamaru Usman in his first fight back.
However, it’s unlikely to happen right away as the pound-for-pound targets a move up to light heavyweight to cement his status as the greatest mixed martial artist of all time.