UFC star Conor McGregor reminded fans that he isn't just a striker by showing off his "underrated" grappling in a recent training video.
McGregor, 34, was recently filmed working on his wrestling with longtime coach Sergey Pikulskiy at SBG Naas in Kildare. Although the former two-weight champion is yet to return to full training following his leg break last July, he was able to work on defending takedown and controlling positions on the ground with Pikulskiy and another training partner.
The Irishman, who is known for his stand-up skills, has faced criticism for his ground game throughout his UFC career. McGregor's first two UFC losses came by submission, as he was tapped out by Nate Diaz and Khabib Nurmagomedov with the same choke. Fans think McGregor's grappling skills looked good in the newly-released video and some are optimistic he will look even better in his UFC return, despite being without a win in almost three years.
One user commented: "Conor your wrestling looks good, maybe even amazing. Another user thinks McGregor's ground game has been overlooked throughout his fighting career, as they wrote "His grappling was always underrated. Great takedown defence even against Khabib."
"This is actually great. You can see him still training and clearly not done yet. He gets a lot of s*** but he’s putting in the work where he needs it. I’m still a fan," a third user wrote. Another commented: "Considering the leg break, he’s improved so so much! Ever since the Khabib fight his wrestling has got so much better! This just makes me even more excited for his comeback."
A final user praised McGregor on his takedown defence but urged him to show "some offensive wrestling" in his comeback fight. "It's cool to see him focus on his other skills besides striking. Looking forward to seeing it translate in the cage. He's definitely going to improve his takedown defence, but to see some offensive wrestling from him would be refreshing."
What are your thoughts on the Conor McGregor's wrestling skills? Let us know in the comments section below
McGregor also released a 19-second video of him sparring at his gym in Dublin this week, although the footage is seemingly years old as his frame is a lot smaller to his current physique. The former two-weight champion is seen landing a head kick and overhand left on his sparring partner in the video, which prompted fellow UFC star Paulo Costa to ask him: "Why your spars eats every single shots?"
Having lost consecutive fights to Dustin Poirier last year, there have been concerns from fans about whether McGregor will ever be able to recover from his losses and leg break. Bellator prospect Darragh Kelly, who trains with McGregor, insisted that he looked "sharp" in his return to training and is confident he will be successful in his comeback fight.
