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Conor McGregor is set to make his much-awaited return to the Octagon on January 18 against Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone and the entire MMA world is waiting eagerly to see how the fight turns out.
In a recent interview with TheMacLife, McGregor's long time coach John Kavanagh provided some insight on how he thinks the fight will end, and if he is to be believed, the fans of the Irishman are in for a surprise.
Kavanagh thinks it'll be a late finish
Kavanagh was asked if Conor will pump the accelerator early on in the fight, which is something he has done in almost every one of the bouts he finished. However, the SBG Ireland head coach had different opinions.
According to him, McGregor might be looking for a late finish and wait out till the Championship rounds since there is a lot riding on him winning this one.
"I think it's going to be late. I could see it in the Championship rounds. That's the mindset that I personally have - to be ready for that. Now, he could spark him in seconds. But I think there's a little extra weight involved, so I think in the later rounds."
If Kavanagh's prediction plays out, it will be the first time that McGregor finishes that late into the fight. So far in his career, he has seen the Championship rounds only twice out of the ten five-rounders he has fought in. One of them was his decision win over Nate Diaz in August, 2016, and the other was in his last outing against Khabib Nurmagomedov in October 2018, where he was submitted in Round 4.
When it comes to the fighting strategy, Kavanagh is not worried about his student. In fact, he said that the training camp is more about supporting McGregor and providing him the right environment than telling him how to fight, because he already knows it better than them.
"With Conor’s fighting IQ, with Conor’s understanding of the game, really, this training camp is about all of us getting out of his way... It’s not so much about us coaches sitting down to game plan and then filling Conor in. Conor knows more about fighting than the rest of us put together."
The McGregor vs. Cerrone fight will take place at UFC 246 on January 18, 2020 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada
