“DO YOU EVER sit back and think about how much has changed for you and your team in the last two years?”
It’s a question I’m asked nearly every day. We’ve got four UFC fighters in the gym now, but this time in 2013, none of them had stepped in that Octagon.
Ten wins later, things are a little different. A lot has happened in the meantime, but I don’t spend much time living in the past. I also try not to project too far into the future.
All I know is that the training session I do with my fighters today will be the best I’ve ever given them. If you train like a champion every day, the future will look after itself. It sounds pretty simple, but that’s basically the approach we take.
We’re having a great run and maybe sometimes it will come up in discussion when I’m with my family. But we don’t sit around the gym patting each other on the back.
It’s definitely surreal to see how many people have become fans of the sport recently and stop you in the supermarket or on the street to chat about it. Every once in a while it does catch me off guard, but it’s not something I dwell on at all. We work too hard every day to find the time to do that.
Advertisement
John gives Cathal Pendred some guidance during last month's win over Sean Spencer. Emily Harney / INPHO
Emily Harney / INPHO / INPHO
Maybe you take it in your stride because of the fact that it was a gradual process, particularly over the last 18 months, so there’s been time to adjust. One of the things I did learn, however, is that when I speak now a lot more people are listening. And a lot more people are listening to nit-pick.
That took some getting used to; being more aware of what you’re saying and how you hold yourself. The number of people listening and watching is something we have to be mindful of, and I tell other coaches this too.
We’re the first generation of MMA in this country, so we’re giving the public here their first perception of what the sport is and who the people involved are.
It’s important that we do that well and present the sport in a positive light. I did a radio interview recently and afterwards the guy said he was disappointed that I seemed so ‘normal’ because he was expecting some sort of brute to come in.
When MMA started to really take off in the US, maybe five or so years ago, I didn’t see any reason why it wouldn’t travel to Europe. I think Dana White has said that nobody cares about sports like cricket over there, whereas here we don’t have an interest in baseball.
But people are interested in fighting everywhere, and when you add that to the fact that the UFC is able to package it so well in terms of production and entertainment, people find that interesting — whether they’re in Ireland or India. Fighting has always interested people, it just took a couple of billionaires to come along and market it efficiently.
Something I’ve always told my fighters is they need to realise that if they’re being paid to fight — even if it’s one euro — it’s no longer amateur sport, it’s professional. And you’ve got to realise that professional sport is not purely about performing, it’s about entertaining.
Conor McGregor, accompanied by John Kavanagh, preparing to weigh in for UFC Dublin. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
The guys who are earning the most money in the UFC, or in professional fighting in general — Floyd Mayweather, for example — have realised that that’s the case. They’re able to walk that line between entertainer and athlete.
The purists might not like to hear that, but I’m not about putting my head in the sand and only looking at the world the way I want to see it. I try to see the world how it really is.
You need to be able to do both, of course. There’s no point in being a mouth and then getting a hammering every time you fight. I do think it’s equally important to not only perform and win, but also to interact with the fans and make your sponsors happy.
It’s about having the intelligence to see that sport, plus entertainment, equals prizefighting. If a fighter has a personality and can give a good interview, while at the same time being successful when they compete, it’s a recipe for success.
The sport in Ireland is obviously on the rise at professional level, but it’s good to see that success filtering down to the grassroots too. My gym is doing quite well, but what I hear from other gym owners is very positive too.
They all seem to be getting a rush of 14/15-year-olds coming in, wanting to be the next Conor McGregor, Aisling Daly or whoever. A rising tide raises all ships and young kids realise that it’s attainable.
When I was younger, we wondered if it was really possible to go to America and compete with the best. These days, if I have a kid in my gym who wants to fight at the highest level and make a good career out of this, the path is now there. Our top fighters have paved the way so others know exactly what they have to do to follow it.
'Professional sport is not purely about performing, it's about entertaining'
“DO YOU EVER sit back and think about how much has changed for you and your team in the last two years?”
It’s a question I’m asked nearly every day. We’ve got four UFC fighters in the gym now, but this time in 2013, none of them had stepped in that Octagon.
Ten wins later, things are a little different. A lot has happened in the meantime, but I don’t spend much time living in the past. I also try not to project too far into the future.
All I know is that the training session I do with my fighters today will be the best I’ve ever given them. If you train like a champion every day, the future will look after itself. It sounds pretty simple, but that’s basically the approach we take.
We’re having a great run and maybe sometimes it will come up in discussion when I’m with my family. But we don’t sit around the gym patting each other on the back.
It’s definitely surreal to see how many people have become fans of the sport recently and stop you in the supermarket or on the street to chat about it. Every once in a while it does catch me off guard, but it’s not something I dwell on at all. We work too hard every day to find the time to do that.
Maybe you take it in your stride because of the fact that it was a gradual process, particularly over the last 18 months, so there’s been time to adjust. One of the things I did learn, however, is that when I speak now a lot more people are listening. And a lot more people are listening to nit-pick.
That took some getting used to; being more aware of what you’re saying and how you hold yourself. The number of people listening and watching is something we have to be mindful of, and I tell other coaches this too.
It’s important that we do that well and present the sport in a positive light. I did a radio interview recently and afterwards the guy said he was disappointed that I seemed so ‘normal’ because he was expecting some sort of brute to come in.
When MMA started to really take off in the US, maybe five or so years ago, I didn’t see any reason why it wouldn’t travel to Europe. I think Dana White has said that nobody cares about sports like cricket over there, whereas here we don’t have an interest in baseball.
But people are interested in fighting everywhere, and when you add that to the fact that the UFC is able to package it so well in terms of production and entertainment, people find that interesting — whether they’re in Ireland or India. Fighting has always interested people, it just took a couple of billionaires to come along and market it efficiently.
Something I’ve always told my fighters is they need to realise that if they’re being paid to fight — even if it’s one euro — it’s no longer amateur sport, it’s professional. And you’ve got to realise that professional sport is not purely about performing, it’s about entertaining.
The guys who are earning the most money in the UFC, or in professional fighting in general — Floyd Mayweather, for example — have realised that that’s the case. They’re able to walk that line between entertainer and athlete.
The purists might not like to hear that, but I’m not about putting my head in the sand and only looking at the world the way I want to see it. I try to see the world how it really is.
You need to be able to do both, of course. There’s no point in being a mouth and then getting a hammering every time you fight. I do think it’s equally important to not only perform and win, but also to interact with the fans and make your sponsors happy.
The sport in Ireland is obviously on the rise at professional level, but it’s good to see that success filtering down to the grassroots too. My gym is doing quite well, but what I hear from other gym owners is very positive too.
They all seem to be getting a rush of 14/15-year-olds coming in, wanting to be the next Conor McGregor, Aisling Daly or whoever. A rising tide raises all ships and young kids realise that it’s attainable.
When I was younger, we wondered if it was really possible to go to America and compete with the best. These days, if I have a kid in my gym who wants to fight at the highest level and make a good career out of this, the path is now there. Our top fighters have paved the way so others know exactly what they have to do to follow it.
‘I’ll relish this’ – Cathal Pendred is heading to Mexico for his next UFC bout
Missing your fix of McGregor? Here’s the trailer for the next episode of ‘The Notorious’
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
column Conor McGregor expert view John Kavanagh MMA Opinion UFC