Conor McGregor UFC news: coach says McGregor is concerned about brain trauma
Ever wonder why Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight champion Conor McGregor combines precision and power with an elusive footwork? Most fighters who hit as hard as he does will just brawl with their opponents, but McGregor does everything he can to avoid getting hit with a clean punch. Why doesn't he give the audience a show and brawl with his opponents?
In an interview with Ireland's the Sunday Independent, McGregor's coach John Kavanagh confirmed that his fighter has always been concerned about the possibility of brain injuries. "It's a concern of every fighter. At that level of fighting the risk is very real," he stated.
Kavanagh went on to say that the fear of suffering from brain injury has shaped McGregor's fighting style. "I think you can add on two hands the number of clean head shots Conor has taken in 10 years of pro-fighting. His style of fighting answers that, because his style is not brawling. He doesn't step in the pocket and exchange punches. His style is in-and-out — he's very defensive. That style was born through not wanting to lose and not wanting to take head shots, and not wanting to damage the software," he said.
Fight fans want to see two fighters beat each other up to a pulp, but many pro fighters suffer brain trauma as a result of years of action. McGregor was clearly shaken when Joao Carvalho died following a technical knockout loss to Charlie Ward last year. Ward is his teammate at Straight Blast Gym, and McGregor can't get over the fact that he helped train his teammate to kill someone in the cage.
No matter how elusive a fighter is, he/she will eventually get hit square in the face. Just ask former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida. For years, nobody could solve that Machida puzzle. But MaurÃcio "Shogun" Rua managed to knock him out with a single punch to the temple and that's all he wrote.
McGregor can't avoid all the punches. But hopefully, he'll be healthy enough to enjoy the rest of his life when he decides to retire.