UFC-welterviktaren Stephen Thompson spenderade nyligen tid med MMA:s världsstjärna Conor McGregor och tror att denne kommer att komma tillbaka i gammal god form fast med extra power.
Stephen Thompson: Vi kommer få se den gamle Conor i comebacken
McGregor håller i nuläget på att filma den kommande säsongen av The Ultimate Fighter där han coachar mot Michael Chandler. Herrarna kommer efter det att realityserien sänts drabba samman i oktagonen senare i år. Detta blir McGregors första match på över två år då han drabbades av en otäck benskada i TKO-förlusten mot Dustin Poirier i juli 2021 vid UFC 264.
Efter att ha sett McGregor personligen och han fått chansen att träna med honom var den forne titelutmanaren Stephen Thompson imponerad. Han sade följande till Submission Radio:
For someone to come off of an injury like that, his mindset is like it didn’t even happen. He’s getting back to his roots. He’s never trained in karate, but he’s trained with a lot of karate guys and that’s where he gets a lot of his movement from.
I don’t know if you’ve seen the size of his fist, he’s got like a melon of a fist, like what the heck, man, and no wonder he puts people out with that one-hitter quitter punch. But he’s back to his movement. I think he listened to the fans. His last two fights with Poirier, he was kind of in that boxer mentality, he’s got to get back to his roots of movement, and that’s what we’re going to see from Conor the next time he steps out there.
McGregor har byggt på sig rejält
Thompson har umgåtts med McGregor många gånger förut och är medveten om vad som gör irländaren till en stjärna. Detta var återigen tydligt när herrarna umgicks i Las Vegas. Det var även svårt att ignorera de extra musklerna som McGregor byggt på sig. Thompson säger sig dock fortfarande vara något tyngre än irländaren:
It was cool. You see Conor fight and you see everything he says on social media, but to be able to hang out with him the entire time, it was cool, man.
We’ve crossed paths many times in the past, we’ve fought on the same cards, he’s part of my management — and probably owns some of my management, I think — so we would cross paths all the time. But to be able to hang out with him that entire week, it was cool. It’s funny how he can turn it on. He knows when a camera is on him. For some reason, it’s like a super power… he turns into that Conor persona. He’s a showman for sure.
He looks bigger than I am [in the picture that appeared on social media], but I’m actually bigger than him. He’s around 185, maybe 180, I’m around 195 — the heaviest I’ve been in a while, actually — but he knows how to inch forward and make himself look bigger. It’s pretty cool to watch.
Thompson gick sin senaste match i december när han avslutade Kevin Holland via TKO.
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