Conor McGregor's Coach Roddy Confirms Irishman 100% Going Into UFC 205
Conor McGregor's Coach Roddy Confirms Irishman 100% Going Into UFC 205
The excitement for Conor McGregor versus Eddie Alvarez is steadily building, though questions remain about the Irishman's current state of fitness.
The excitement for Conor McGregor versus Eddie Alvarez is steadily building, though questions remain about the Irishman's current state of fitness.
In the immediate aftermath of McGregor versus Diaz II in August, it was rumored the UFC featherweight champion suffered a broken foot, and McGregor wouldn't be able to compete at UFC 205 given the required recovery time.
His SBG striking coach Owen Roddy, however, spoke to Submission Radio earlier this week and dispelled any myths that McGregor was injured and said that the foot injury sustained at UFC 205 was misreported and not as bad as first feared.
"He was back in the gym moving about two days afterwards in Vegas," Roddy confirmed. "You saw the amount of kicks he threw in the Diaz fight and he obviously just caught a few of them on the knee and he just really badly bruised his shin.
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/rowdyowenroddy/status/770393063231455232" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
"There was no serious issue with the foot. I think they found a small fracture from a while back, but it was nothing. The shin itself was really bashed up from after the fight, but within a couple of days, he was back training and moving around. There's no issues there and he's 100 percent -- he was a couple of days after."
In addition to the fears about his foot, UFC President Dana White said just days before the McGregor-Alvarez fight was booked that that McGregor wouldn't make UFC 205 because of a leg injury. Again, Roddy denied any existence of the injury and said that McGregor would be fully fit to take on Alvarez in six weeks.
"No, no, nothing really -- Conor's leg is perfectly fine," Roddy said. "As I said, after the Diaz fight he was back within days. He's good to go. We have six weeks now and he will be fine and all from now until the fight."
Having made a significant amount of changes to McGregor's training camp for UFC 202, Roddy said that the same structure would be kept in place for the upcoming fight with Alvarez in November. The SBG man said the team were very much working by the ethos of not changing a tried and tested training formula.
"It will be similar to the Diaz camp where everything will be far more structured," Roddy said. "He will be doing the same type of cardio with like three or four days on, whatever cycle we decide to do. Everything will be structured to a tee though and we will stick to it.
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/rowdyowenroddy/status/769903786743697408" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
"Seeing what he did in that Diaz fight and seeing him able to go five rounds with a guy that is a lot heavier -- that proved it worked and it doesn't need to be changed and it will work again this time."
Roddy then gave his own prediction for the fight. Unsurprisingly, he was predicting that his man would get the job done inside the distance.
"No disrespect to Alvarez -- he's a great fighter, but he moves very similar to a lot of the guys that Conor has fought," Roddy said. "Even when Conor has fought strikers, they've all become that type of fighter. When Conor lands, they become a panicked wrestler. That's what's going to happen. Conor lands clean, and when it comes to a few exchanges, Alvarez is going to feel the difference in accuracy and power and he's going to try and wrestle.
"It's what they all do. Conor has fought that type of person all his career. Alvarez is a great wrestler so there will be stuff we will be working on with Conor to make sure Alvarez can't keep ahold of him and can't keep him against the fence. Conor is going to land, and it's going to be a matter of time before Alvarez goes to sleep to be totally honest."
Don't miss breaking news, feature stories, event updates, and more. Sign up for the FloCombat mailing list today.
In the immediate aftermath of McGregor versus Diaz II in August, it was rumored the UFC featherweight champion suffered a broken foot, and McGregor wouldn't be able to compete at UFC 205 given the required recovery time.
His SBG striking coach Owen Roddy, however, spoke to Submission Radio earlier this week and dispelled any myths that McGregor was injured and said that the foot injury sustained at UFC 205 was misreported and not as bad as first feared.
"He was back in the gym moving about two days afterwards in Vegas," Roddy confirmed. "You saw the amount of kicks he threw in the Diaz fight and he obviously just caught a few of them on the knee and he just really badly bruised his shin.
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/rowdyowenroddy/status/770393063231455232" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
"There was no serious issue with the foot. I think they found a small fracture from a while back, but it was nothing. The shin itself was really bashed up from after the fight, but within a couple of days, he was back training and moving around. There's no issues there and he's 100 percent -- he was a couple of days after."
Leg injury? What leg injury?
In addition to the fears about his foot, UFC President Dana White said just days before the McGregor-Alvarez fight was booked that that McGregor wouldn't make UFC 205 because of a leg injury. Again, Roddy denied any existence of the injury and said that McGregor would be fully fit to take on Alvarez in six weeks.
"No, no, nothing really -- Conor's leg is perfectly fine," Roddy said. "As I said, after the Diaz fight he was back within days. He's good to go. We have six weeks now and he will be fine and all from now until the fight."
No changes to the training methods
Having made a significant amount of changes to McGregor's training camp for UFC 202, Roddy said that the same structure would be kept in place for the upcoming fight with Alvarez in November. The SBG man said the team were very much working by the ethos of not changing a tried and tested training formula.
"It will be similar to the Diaz camp where everything will be far more structured," Roddy said. "He will be doing the same type of cardio with like three or four days on, whatever cycle we decide to do. Everything will be structured to a tee though and we will stick to it.
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/rowdyowenroddy/status/769903786743697408" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
"Seeing what he did in that Diaz fight and seeing him able to go five rounds with a guy that is a lot heavier -- that proved it worked and it doesn't need to be changed and it will work again this time."
Predicting his man finishes Alvarez
Roddy then gave his own prediction for the fight. Unsurprisingly, he was predicting that his man would get the job done inside the distance.
"No disrespect to Alvarez -- he's a great fighter, but he moves very similar to a lot of the guys that Conor has fought," Roddy said. "Even when Conor has fought strikers, they've all become that type of fighter. When Conor lands, they become a panicked wrestler. That's what's going to happen. Conor lands clean, and when it comes to a few exchanges, Alvarez is going to feel the difference in accuracy and power and he's going to try and wrestle.
"It's what they all do. Conor has fought that type of person all his career. Alvarez is a great wrestler so there will be stuff we will be working on with Conor to make sure Alvarez can't keep ahold of him and can't keep him against the fence. Conor is going to land, and it's going to be a matter of time before Alvarez goes to sleep to be totally honest."
FloCombat's hottest content, delivered to your inbox
Don't miss breaking news, feature stories, event updates, and more. Sign up for the FloCombat mailing list today.