Opinion
Conor McGregor is considered one of the greatest athletes in UFC history. The Irishman is certainly one of the best strikers, who can knock the opponent down in the blink of an eye.
The southpaw was last seen in the octagon against Khabib Nurmagomedov in UFC 229 in October 2018. McGregor submitted to Nurmagomedov’s rear-naked choke followed by a few moments of heat with Nurmagomedov’s teammates after the match.
There was a hiatus in McGregor’s octagon return. After 14 months, Conor McGregor will be seen facing Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone in the upcoming UFC 246. Here is the list of three strategies McGregor will look to employ in the upcoming match.
Cardio
McGregor was seen struggling with his cardiac endurance during his boxing bout with Floyd Mayweather in 2017 as well as in the UFC match against Khabib Nurmagomedov. His exhaustion was quite evident on the face. He went for a couple more rounds after that. Also, McGregor says has put on five to seven pounds of weight in recent times. In any case, McGregor will have an eye on his fitness and cardio along with his MMA training.
(Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)
Fighting a grappler
We have witnessed McGregor’s amazing knockout ability during his career but his lack of focus on his grappling skills was quite well observed by his opponents. Khabib Nurmagomedov in the UFC 229 press meet talked about McGregor’s grappling skill.
“Your wrestling is zero. Your grappling is zero. I’m gonna maul you,” Nurmagomedov said.
McGregor will have a watch on his grappling tactics against Cerrone, who is a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and 17 of his 36 wins have come from submission. Apart from being well versed with grappling, Cerrone is also a good striker, which has earned him ten wins through knockouts.
Striking
McGregor’s striking ability cannot be matched. This area of strength will be explored by McGregor in his return match where he will be attempting to knockout Cerrone.
Recently, McGregor released a three-minute video of his training where he was seen working on his striking power and balance. He was seen landing accurate punches with proper footwork and balance. McGregor will look forward to striking Cerrone.
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