The training for mixed martial arts has long been grueling, even brutal. With the rise in awareness around chronic traumatic encephalopathy, sparring is generally much more controlled than it used to be.
But conditioning remains grueling, and even brutal. Fight Gone Wrong scenarios abound, as do plyometrics, heavy lifting, and other body beating exercises.
However, there is change in the air around training, too.
SBGI founder John Kavanagh has a must-read blog in Ireland’s The 42. In his latest, the coach for UFC interim featherweight champion Conor McGregor’s talks about a fundamental change in the way fighter are preparing now. Kavanagh notes more and more camps are seeking to develop agility and fluidity, and he credits ‘Notorious’.
Whenever I’m on social media, flicking through Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or whatever, I see a lot of UFC fighters posting videos of what they’re up to in training. Now, they’re obviously all going to say they’re not doing it, but they’re putting up their capoeira kicks, spinning kicks, their movement drills on the ground… Let’s be honest, was any of that stuff happening before Conor started doing it? No, it wasn’t.
I remember when people were posting about their Sean Sherk-style ‘Fight Gone Bad’ fitness training and weight-lifting, but now everyone is saying, ‘Of course we don’t do that, it’s all about movement drills and keeping the body fresh’. I can do nothing but smile when I see it, but I’m happy too because I do genuinely believe that Conor has changed the general approach to training.
In the long run, that’s only going to be good for MMA as a sport. It’ll mean that we’ll have more healthy athletes, fewer people being hurt and injured, and subsequently better fights. If other fighters are copying what Conor’s doing and it improves the sport as a whole, that’s fine with me.
In saying that, however, they’re looking at stuff he was doing last year. They have no idea what he’s doing now. Things change by the day with Conor and there are new things coming which I know other fighters will be doing this time next year. It’s been interesting to observe that evolution. Obviously I’m not going to let you in on what those new things are, but the styles and techniques you’ll see in this fight haven’t been done yet.
The agility was on full display vs. McGregor sparred with Hafthor Julius Bjornsson. Bjornsson has of course risen to fame as Game of Thrones’ eye gouging The Mountain. He is also The World’s Strongest Man.
The 6′ 9″, 400 lb Icelander moves surprisingly well, but McGregor moves like the future.
