In an in-depth interview with Submission radio in recent days, Owen Roddy, striking coach for Conor McGregor, explained why he believes the Irishman’s upcoming fight against Eddie Alvarez will provide the ideal platform for the Dubliner to put on his best performance yet in the UFC.
Some detractors have argued that McGregor is overly reliant on his height and reach advantage at Featherweight. The theory goes that at Lightweight, he will be fighting opponents with similar physical measurements as him and that this will negate his power. In Nate Diaz’ more blunt words, “You knocked out three midgets and you’re pumped up.”
But Roddy is quick to reject this train of thought as he points out that McGregor has fought at Lightweight plenty of times in his pre-UFC career.
“People who are saying his size advantage was the main reason behind his knockouts at featherweight need to realise he has fought at Lightweight plenty of times throughout his career. Most of those fights ended in first and second round knockouts.”
He also referenced Nate Diaz’ durability as being unique and explained that it is something McGregor will never encounter again at Lightweight.
“This guy went up to Welterweight and fought a guy with a granite chin and dropped him on multiple occasions. He’ll never meet someone again with that kind of durability… Diaz is on a different level to Alvarez in terms of taking punishment. If Conor lands the shots he did on Diaz against Alvarez, I really think he’ll put Alvarez to sleep, to be honest.”
Interestingly, Roddy even put a figure on his estimations as he guessed: “When he’s fighting at 145 and gets down to 155, that’s when we see him sharper than ever, physically and mentally. Then he does the big cut to get down and I seriously doubt he gets himself back to 100 percent in 24 hours when he fights at Featherweight. He’s firing at maybe 70 percent when he fights at Featherweight.”
As regards his latest bouts at Welterweight, Roddy explained that there is a different kind of drawback.
“At Welterweight, it’s hard for him to carry the same pace that he usually likes to push with the extra pounds. As well as that, his explosiveness just isn’t the same with the extra weight.”
The interview makes for fascinating listening from start to finish but to sum it up in one quote, Roddy asserted that, “There’s no doubt in my mind that this will be the best McGregor ever.”
Tremendous words indeed…
Vincent Whelan, Pundit Arena
Recommended Read: Watch: The Only Time Eddie Alvarez Has Been Finished By Strikes
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