Henry: ‘McGregor is one of the best boxers I’ve ever seen – ever’
Henry, who coaches Eddie Alvarez and Frankie Edgar, praises McGregor’s boxing skills.
Look, if I was Conor, I would definitely pursue the boxing, because he can make more in one fight than in 10 or 11 with the UFC. But, while he’s doing it, they should definitely make another 155-pound belt, because it would be ridiculous if they didn’t. Conor is one of the best boxers I’ve ever seen – ever. From his precision to his power to his speed, and I think he has a shot in the first two rounds. Because Mayweather, like a lot of boxers do when they’re sparring MMA guys, he may not think he’s that good. He might not realize how fast Conor is, and you’ve got to remember that Conor is going to be taller, longer, 13 years younger, and a southpaw. Early on, I’d give him a chance of doing some damage. But after that, it’s not going to be too good for him.
Henry: McGregor can beat Mayweather
Henry, Eddie Alvarez’s coach, says McGregor can beat Mayweather.
All credit to Conor that he hit [Eddie] from the beginning early and rocked him. It’s like I said, the swing that he has is unbelievable. I think he would have the possibility of knocking out Mayweather. He’s way bigger than Mayweather too. Boxers only cut about ten pounds, whereas Conor probably walks around at 173lbs. So he’s also a lot bigger than Mayweather too. I even think he has a chance of knocking out Mayweather if it was in the first three to four rounds. After that, I’d definitely give the edge to Mayweather.
Henry: McGregor must beat Nurmagomedov, Edgar to be GOAT
Edgar’s coach says McGregor still has to get past Edgar and Nurmagomedov to be considered the greatest fighter of all time. Henry:
I’d say he’d be the greatest if he beat Frankie and Khabib. Then I’d put him as the greatest. But until he does that, I still think he’s one of the greats…He’s never defended the featherweight title. He says he’s cleaned out the division, but until you fight Frankie, you haven’t cleaned it out. If he fought Frankie he’d be able to say that as he’s already fought Holloway, he’s already fought Aldo and he’s already fought Mendes. But he’s never fought Frankie. I think Frankie has been a staple as one of the best fighters ever. And he’s definitely a staple at 145lbs. It doesn’t matter that he beat Aldo and Frankie didn’t because you could say, ‘whoever beat Nate Diaz can beat McGregor’ and that’s not true. That’s just stupid even saying that.
McGregor ‘can figure out Mayweather’
Alvarez’s coach says McGregor could beat Mayweather.
You cannot teach somebody how to hit like that. It takes a certain shoulder, it takes a flick of the wrist, it’s all many tiny mechanics, like what it takes to make an eyeball work. It’s the same thing to make the perfect swing. Like Babe Ruth, I just compare Conor to Babe Ruth man, his swing — we watched tape of it — but to be that close to it was a whole other thing. It comes along once in a lifetime, or once every hundred years, and I think God has just blessed him with a swing that, I know I’ll never see again. Before this fight, I would highly doubt him fighting Mayweather, but man I think this dude can figure out Mayweather. I don’t know if it went [long], but I could easily see him knocking anybody man. Like I said, it’s a Babe Ruth swing, there’s so many things you need to make it work. That four punch combination he used to finish off Eddie, he knew where his head was going to be on all four moves, he knows ahead of time where you’re going to be. What he does is just incredible.
https://soundcloud.com/siriusxmrush/mark-henry-conor-mcgregor-is-a-once-in-a-lifetime-fighter-can-defeat-floyd-mayweather
Alvarez coach: McGregor has ‘maybe the best hands I’ve seen in MMA’
Despite McGregor saying “f-ck Mark Henry” at the UFC 205 press conference in September, Alvarez’s coach compliments the Irishman’s abilities.
Nobodies a fool, Conor’s amazing. In my opinion, he’s got some of the best hands. Take away my guys, maybe the best hands I’ve seen in MMA, and you know, I’m going to be partial to my guys. But he has some of the best hands I’ve ever seen. His preciseness, his power, his speed, knowing where the guy’s going to be, he can adjust his punches. He can slide back, he does those slip lefts, he’s got the beautiful right uppercut, slide off uppercuts to the left. Even his wrestling, I’ve seen him do some great defence against [Dennis] Siver, when he peeled out with his legs. I think Conor’s great all around man, he’s impressive. It’s going to be a great fight.
Alvarez training with Bilharinho
Coach Henry tweets an image of Alvarez and Bilharinho, who is well known for having a fighting style similar to McGregor’s.
Awesome work with champ
It’s unclear at this time whether Bilharinho has been a regular part of Alvarez’s preparations for this fight or not. His participation may even have been limited to a single session.
AWESOME workout wit Champ @Ealvarezfight & @JonasSpeed!! @andersonfranca. TEAM @RenzoGracieBJJ @Almeidabjj LETS GO! pic.twitter.com/nI2BJUf4dU
— Mark Henry (@MarkCoachmark13) October 24, 2016
Henry disses Kavanagh
In reply to a screenshot of an article where Kavanagh said he’d prefer for McGregor to go to 155lb and fight Alvarez for the lightweight championship, and in addition predicted a second round knockout, Henry says:
John Kavanagh, for a jiu-jitsu coach who can’t event teach his student Conor McGregor how to tie his belt and just got subbed quick you have a lot to say. PS give the proceeds of your book to the striking coach, he deserves it.
Kavanagh responds:
it won't. I'll focus on my fighter. I'm not a fighter and I'm not interested in headlines, I'm just a coach doing my best.
— Coach JK (@John_Kavanagh) August 30, 2016
Henry: McGregor should give up belt
Henry, Edgar’s coach, says McGregor who give up his featherweight belt.
You know Conor was holding up the belt, he had the belt you know. I think it’s baloney how he fought Nate in his second fight which he got knocked up on, striking and on the ground. Why a rematch for a guy holding the belt? Just give the belt up. We wanted the belt at the time, we could care less about Conor and what he thinks he is or the UFC and what they think of him. The only thing was that he held the belt, everything else, I could care less about that guy.
Edgar’s coach: McGregor needs to ‘let go of the binkie’
Henry, Edgar’s coach, wants McGregor to step aside so Edgar can fight.
Everybody keeps stoking up Conor so much, but Frankie is also trying to go for his second belt, too, and this guy – the thing with my daughter growing up, she was a great kid, but she wanted the baba and the binkie and the blankie (and) she was scared. She just wouldn’t get rid of it and held on tight to that. And I think Conor needs to let go of that baba and the binkie and just let go of the 145-pound title…I want Frankie’s legacy, so the only thing Conor is doing is holding up everything. Now my big question is, so if Conor is not fighting this fight, is he fighting Diaz in November, and now this title is going to be held even longer? There’s never been a title held unless a guy was hurt and they had an interim…All the rules are changing, and I just want the belt. This guy just won’t let that baba go, man. You’ll be OK, pal. You want to go and fight 155? Go fight 155 and come back and fight 155, but (McGregor) wants to fight 170, he wants to retire, and he doesn’t want to retire. I don’t know if I’m talking to my wife or talking to Conor sometimes