Conor McGregor's coach outlines the differences between his sparring sessions in the previous fight camp and the one for UFC 264

Conor McGregor's coach John Kavanagh caught up with ESPN MMA's Brett Okamoto. Kavanagh explained how the Irishman's fight camp for UFC 264 differs from the one leading up to UFC 257.

"In the lead up to the last one, probably a lot more of the sparring was done with boxing gloves and, you know, the full protection gear on. And for this one, no sparring has been done with boxing gloves. All of the sparring has been done with MMA gloves, which, when you combine his [McGregor's] power with, you know the MMA gloves are a lot smaller, so it's been a lot more brutal, I would say. We had to have a lot more sparring partners ready to cycle through, so that we can get to the finish line." John Kavanagh said.

Kavanagh also said they had solved the problem of calf kicks ahead of the third fight.

"It was a great tactic [calf kicks] by the guys. They spotted something and exploited it and well done. But that's been solved. No more card tricks. It's down to just fighting now."

Watch the full interview below:

For the uninitiated, John Kavanagh is an MMA coach who runs the Straight Blast Gym in Dublin, Ireland. Kavanagh's students include UFC superstar Conor McGregor, Gunnar Nelson, and Makwan Amirkhani.

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Conor McGregor will return to the octagon on July 10 to face Dustin Poirier for the third time at UFC 264

Conor McGregor is ready to take on Dustin Poirier for the third time at UFC 264. The fight will take place on July 10, 2021, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. This is the first time a UFC live event will be held in Las Vegas with a full crowd since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

The trilogy fight between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier will serve as a title eliminator, with the winner being guaranteed a shot at UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira.

The co-main event of the UFC 264 fight card will feature a welterweight scrap between Stephen Thompson and Gilbert Burns. Both fighters will be looking to strengthen their claim to a title shot with a win at UFC 264.