Conor McGregor has the same impact on people as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, his MMA coach John Kavanagh has claimed. The former UFC lightweight champion hasn’t set foot inside the cage since his UFC 264 trilogy with Dustin Poirier, which he lost via technical knockout.
McGregor’s hiatus from the Octagon is largely down to the breaking of his left leg’s lower tibia, more commonly known as the shin bone, last July.
However, the Irishman recently managed to take part in a jiu-jitsu class at the SBG Ireland gym in Dublin last week for the first time in over a year.
Kavanagh told the BBC: “He just walks in and takes part in a regular jiu-jitsu class, and you’ve got guys on the mat there who have only been training a couple of months. “So imagine like a group of guys on the park having a kickaround, and then Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo comes up and says ‘hey, I’ll join in’ – it really elevates everybody’s attitude on the mat. “He’s got that true kind of martial arts personality.