Conor McGregor's close friend and former teammate Paddy Holohan has backed his pal to
once again become world champion, this time at welterweight.
McGregor and Holohan have been close friends for years, and trained together at SBG Ireland under coach John Kavanagh during their rise to prominence in the promotion. The Dublin duo competed on the famous UFC Dublin card in 2014, and Holohan is one of just six men including McGregor to headline a UFC event in the Irish capital.
Now the head coach at his own Holohan Martial Arts gym in Tallaght, the former fighter still keeps a keen eye on his old pal. And he believes he can come back and make a run at welterweight for an unprecedented third world title, after first taking out lightweight contender Michael Chandler.
"If there's anybody that can do it, it's Conor McGregor," Holohan told Mirror Fighting of his chances at 170lb gold. "I like the Chandler fight, I think his body shape is perfect.
"It's like Alvarez, Aldo, certain body types suit Conor and he will put them to sleep. Let me tell you one thing, when Conor was running around saying loads of mad things on his way up and nobody believed him, we believed him and if there's a man to do it, it's Conor McGregor."
After winning undisputed titles at featherweight and lightweight, McGregor has struggled to remain active and consistent in recent years. He has slumped to three defeats in his last four fights, including two losses against Dustin Poirier.
He made over £100million from his crossover boxing match in Floyd Mayweather in 2017, but has only won once since. And he is currently nursing a broken leg, which is expected to keep him out until the start of next year.
But Holohan is confident in his countryman, saying that he has "100 per cent" certainty that he will return to the sport's pinnacle after injury. "Not only could he do it again," Holohan continued. "I'm going to say he will do it again.
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"Conor will own another one of them belts and that's just the way it is. When he puts his mind to something and goes after it, he's like a dog with a bone."
McGregor has insisted that his next fight will be at 170lb, not 155lb where he faced Dustin Poirier twice last year and became champion in 2016. And he wants to go on a run towards an unprecedented third world title, taking on the seemingly unbeatable current ruler of the division Kamaru Usman.
But he will likely need at least one fight before earning another chance at gold, and has been called out by Chandler among a host of other names. The American campaigns at lightweight, but has said that he would be willing to move up to face McGregor, who has seemed receptive to the idea.
