My Rating: 8/10

Get this book

Summary

John Kavanagh’s (and Ireland, and Conor McGregor’s) MMA journey. Highly recommend for MMA and CM fans, a great look into the mind of a coach with an intelligent outlook on the game.

Notes

Early MMA In Ireland

MMA was already struggling to get off the ground in terms of popularity and this was hardly going to help its cause. For many people at the Point Depot that night, it was their first taste of the sport. If they never wanted to experience it again they couldn’t have been blamed. It was that bad. The aftermath was challenging, but in tough times you must persevere. It was a difficult period, but I never once considered throwing in the towel. Soon we were all back in the gym preparing for the next batch of fights. If there’s a perception that the growth of MMA in Ireland followed a constant upward curve, I can assure you that certainly wasn’t the case. There were almost as many downs as ups, particularly early on, and that was one of several setbacks.

However, if you’re on the road to success, you cannot reach that destination without encountering some failures along the way. The people who matter, they don’t care whether you’ve won or lost. You lose on a Saturday night and start afresh on Sunday morning. That’s why I’ve never gotten carried away with celebrating when we win, just like I don’t get too down in the dumps after defeats. Winning and losing are two sides of the same coin. Win or learn is the SBG mantra, not win or lose.

LOCATION: 590

The initial plan was for him to stay at my apartment in Ranelagh for a couple of weeks, before finding a place of his own. Three months later he was still living with me. Every day I scanned newspapers and websites, looking for a room for him to rent somewhere in Dublin. I’d send him off with the addresses, but every time he came back with bad news. ‘Didn’t get it.’ What’s going on here? I wondered. Arni was a nice guy, and it seemed strange that nobody would rent him a room. The next time Arni went out to look at a place, I went along too. And then I realized why nobody wanted to rent to him. When we arrived at the house, a young woman answered the door and Arni just barked: ‘I want room!’ He had a black eye – as he usually did – and wore his hood up. Slightly terrified by this angry foreigner with a busted-up eye who had arrived at her front door, the girl just said ‘It’s gone’ and slammed the door. Confused, Arni turned to me and said: ‘This happen every time.’

LOCATION: 616

Another of the promising youngsters in the gym at Harold’s Cross was a very exciting seventeen-year-old named Tom Egan. Tom was really slick on his feet, he had a lot of charisma and was a superb athlete. As far as SBG’s younger generation was concerned, he was the main man in the gym at the time. There was also my very first female fighter, Aisling Daly. When she first showed up at the gym I was apprehensive about a teenage girl training with a load of guys, and she seemed like a quiet, nerdy person who wouldn’t be cut out for that environment. I had to give Aisling the same treatment as any of the lads, so I put her through hell in order to see if she had what it took to fight. Every time I did, she kept coming back for more.

LOCATION: 626

Operating on a part-time basis took a toll on my income, and as a consequence I resumed working on the doors of bars and nightclubs several nights a week. A couple of years earlier, when the gym was growing and I was able to drift away from door work, I had told myself that if I ever ended up having to rely on that job again, it was probably a sign that it was time to give up on the dream of making a successful career in martial arts. I was starting to feel the pressure to get what my parents would call ‘a real job’. At one stage I locked myself in the bathroom at home, curled up on the floor and just cried for a couple of hours. It all stemmed from the fear that I might have wasted years of my life going down a dead-end when I could have been taking advantage of my education. Then, as the summer ended, we finally found a new home. It was in an industrial estate in Rathcoole, about fifteen kilometres from Dublin city centre. The location was by no means ideal: it required at least two bus journeys to get there from the centre of town. But it was a nice building for a gym, and we hadn’t lost a single member during the fallow period. The dream was still alive.

LOCATION: 640

Early Days of Conor At SBG

I came out of the office and saw Ais keeled over in the ring. She was in tears. Conor had hurt her with a body-shot. Okay, I thought, I let you away with that once, but you’ve got another thing coming if you think you can come in here and bully people. ‘Right, Conor, I’m next,’ I said. After strapping on a pair of gloves and stepping into the ring, I took Conor down and beat him up until he received the message loud and clear: These people are your teammates, not your opponents. When we finished, Conor looked at me and said: ‘Yeah, I deserved that.’

LOCATION: 661

At one stage we were doing a winner-stays-on wrestling drill, in which the person who’s taken down first is eliminated and a new person comes in. But when Conor was taken down, he’d just keep on fighting. ‘Conor,’ I said, ‘did you see when your back hit the mat? That was the end of the round.’

LOCATION: 670

In every training session he was exceptionally intense and competitive. There were always a lot of questions afterwards, too. I’d be at home watching TV late in the evening and the text messages would come through: ‘That escape you demonstrated tonight, can we go through that again tomorrow?’ He had an obsessive mind when it came to learning. I don’t think he ever switched off.

LOCATION: 672

It was also in Rathcoole where I reached the top of the Brazilian jiu-jitsu ladder. A BJJ black belt is extremely difficult to attain. I’m a lover of all martial arts, but if someone tells you they’re a black belt in karate, it can mean two very different things. It could be an eight-year-old girl performing dance-type sequences, like I was doing when I started out. Or it can be Lyoto Machida, who’s been using karate to brutally knock people out for years in MMA. The point is that if someone tells you they’re a black belt in karate, it’s impossible to know if they can actually fight or not until you see them in action. However, if someone has a black belt in BJJ, it’s safe to assume that they’re a pretty tough dude.

LOCATION: 702

In order to become the first Irish person to achieve black-belt status in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, after so many years of training, I had to overcome one final massive hurdle. Matt Thornton came to the gym in Rathcoole to grade me in the last challenge. It is called an ‘iron man’ and it requires you to spar with every person in the gym to submission. There were seventy people in the gym that night. It was a huge task and it took absolutely everything out of me, both physically and emotionally. When it finally came to an end and Matt wrapped the black belt around my waist, I was struggling to hold back the tears. I was completely overwhelmed. The first time I’d encountered BJJ was on my TV screen at home when I watched Royce Gracie at UFC 1.

LOCATION: 707

Conor vs. Sitenkov – His First Lost

The plan for Conor in the fight was to land his strikes and back away, but Sitenkov wasted no time in shooting for a takedown, so that blueprint went straight out the window. Conor actually defended the takedown attempt well. Sitenkov opted to pull guard: dropping to his back, with his legs wrapped around Conor. Conor sought to posture up and land strikes, but then he made a costly error. In an attempt to pass guard – effectively, to breach Sitenkov’s defences – he allowed Sitenkov to transition and lock on to his leg in search of a kneebar submission. I just sat there thinking: What on earth are you doing? You don’t even know how to pass guard yet! The excitement of having so many of his friends and family there among the few hundred spectators in the crowd had obviously got into Conor’s head, and he pursued an ambitious move a little too enthusiastically

LOCATION: 748

I sat down on the bed and we started talking. I told Conor that I knew he was mixing with people he shouldn’t have been mixing with and getting up to things he shouldn’t have been getting up to. I told him that it clearly wasn’t doing him any good. I asked him to tell me if I was wasting my time. Should I leave the house and never come back again? Or, do you want to start off with a clean slate? This was a Friday night, so I told him if he came to the gym on Monday we could forget about the tickets and start from scratch. But first, I needed to hear that acceptance of responsibility: Yes, I’ve fucked up, but I’m willing to do whatever it takes to make it better. If that hadn’t been there, I would have walked straight out the door. I didn’t want to do that. In spite of the incident with the tickets, I liked Conor and knew he had the ability to go places in MMA. His family had gone to great lengths to have me come over and speak to him. I was willing to give Conor a clean slate, but from Monday onwards it was never to get to this stage again. ‘Whatever you need, I’ll provide,’ I said. ‘But you don’t take a step back or fall off this path. You’ve got to give me everything back, one hundred per cent.’ Conor took it all on board, looked me in the eye and said: ‘You’re right. Let’s do it.’

LOCATION: 791

I get phone calls from concerned parents fairly regularly. I remember one kid’s mother ringing me to say that her son was refusing to do his homework. She put the boy on the phone to me and I told him he wouldn’t be allowed to train at the gym unless his homework was done. As I was speaking to him, I began to realize that I didn’t recognize his voice. His name wasn’t familiar either. When his mother took the phone again, I asked her if he was a member at Straight Blast Gym. ‘No,’ she said. ‘But I knew he’d listen to you and that you’d put him straight.’ Fair enough.

LOCATION: 806

The UFC was the reason I fell in love with this sport in the first place. Just over twelve years earlier, I was in awe as I watched these guys battling it out inside that octagon for the first time. Now a fighter I had coached was about to become one of them. Thinking about that aspect of it was quite overwhelming, so I tried to put it to the back of my mind.

LOCATION: 889

That’s an attitude I’ve passed down to my fighters, because late pull-outs are a part of the game that you just have to get used to. Our philosophy is that there is no opponent because we can only control our own actions, so let’s just get on with it. If an opponent is particularly adept in one area, of course you can ensure that you’re ready for that. But spending time obsessing over it is likely to be detrimental to your own preparations.

LOCATION: 988

That theory was further enhanced when there was some reshuffling with Gunni’s opponent for his UFC debut after Pascal Krauss was forced to pull out. Then his replacement, Rich Attonito, withdrew too. Ten days before the fight, the experienced DaMarques Johnson – who had already fought nine times in the UFC – stepped in. Originally scheduled to be a 170lb fight, the late notice saw it amended to 175lb. However, Johnson ended up tipping the scales at 183lb on weigh-in day. Amid the calls for Gunni to compete at lightweight, we were now set for a UFC debut at middleweight. To those on the outside looking in, the odds were stacked against Gunni. But there was never any doubt in my mind that he was about to surprise everyone.

LOCATION: 1058

A lot of people involved with the biggest gyms in the UK and on the continent, gyms I had always admired and looked up to, were mentioning on social media and in interviews about how they believed SBG Ireland was now the top team in Europe. That gave me an enormous feeling of pride. Whenever we attended events after that night, I could sense the increase in respect from the other teams towards us. Coaches I had a lot of time for were now approaching me, asking for advice and feedback. For me as a coach and for SBG as a team to receive that level of recognition from our peers who shared the same objectives really meant a lot to me.

LOCATION: 1133

Flow Sparring

better way of doing things. I bounced some ideas off Matt Thornton, the founder of Straight Blast Gym in the US, and decided to introduce the very simple concept of lowering the contact but keeping the training as realistic as possible.

You want to recreate a fight scenario as closely as you can, but you do so without the same level of impact. Throw your big shots but pull them before they connect. We call this ‘flow sparring’. It requires experience and intelligence on the part of both athletes involved. If you’re standing over someone who’s on their back and you’re throwing these big shots, the other person can’t simply ignore the strikes just because they’re not really being hit. They might be tempted to work for a leg-lock while you’re throwing your shots, but they have to respect the fact that you’re in control and those shots wouldn’t allow them to set up that leg-lock in a fight situation. Otherwise you’ll end up with the guy who’s in control being unfairly submitted because their sparring partner refuses to acknowledge the strikes. You’ll have two guys claiming ‘I got you first!’ and it complicates the entire process. Next time, the guy might actually decide to land his shots properly

LOCATION: 1190

It took me a couple of years to introduce this way of thinking as the norm in the gym, but it’s now widely accepted as the most productive method of training. Ironically, Conor and Artem have probably become its two biggest advocates. We refer to it as ‘updating the software without damaging the hardware’. My fighters can still train hard but there’s no need to take unnecessary damage while they do so. We saw significant results from this change in approach very quickly. In the last few years, I can’t imagine that any other team can rival our track record for the lowest number of pull-outs from fights at all levels, from the UFC down to the domestic circuit. I’m not suggesting that we’re the only team who train this way, but it’s not something I see in a lot of other gyms. Conor McGregor’s fight against Jim Alers

LOCATION: 1207

himself in the UFC. It was the only place where his career as a full-time fighter could be financially viable. His teammate Gunni Nelson was preparing for another outing on the biggest stage in the world, having earned $16,000 for his UFC debut a few months earlier – over six times what Conor had been paid for his last fight. All the while, Conor was broke, and relying on Dee, his girlfriend, to get him from A to B in her old Peugeot, which needed to be push-started.

LOCATION: 1243

Conor In The UFC

‘I’ve been speaking to Sean Shelby about Conor,’ Halli said. I liked the sound of that. Sean Shelby was the UFC matchmaker. ‘They’re offering him a place on their card in Sweden on 6 April. It’s for $8,000 plus an additional $8,000 to win. Are you happy to accept that?’ ‘Hang on, Halli,’ I said. ‘Are you telling me the UFC are offering Conor a fight?’

‘Yes. So, are you interested?’ ‘Of course we’re interested! It’s the UFC. We’re in, no doubt about it. It doesn’t matter how much money they’re offering.’ I was so keen to tell Conor the news that I hung up on Halli without asking for any other details, such as who the opponent was

LOCATION: 1254

had no concerns about him at all. In my view, most of the guys on UFC prelims were a level below the likes of Ivan Buchinger and Dave Hill anyway, so this wasn’t a step up for Conor, despite how it was being billed by fans and the media. All I had ever wanted was for him to get one shot on this stage to show the world what he was capable of. Now that the opportunity had finally arrived, there was almost a sense of relief. We felt we had already completed the toughest part of the journey – getting to the UFC.

LOCATION: 1271

Conor towered above Brimage and they butted heads before being separated. The crowd loved it. Backstage afterwards, Brimage and Chris Connelly smiled in our direction as they remarked that the incident would serve to ‘hype the fight up’. But Conor wasn’t playing games. ‘Get the fuck away from me,’ he said. ‘I’m going to destroy you.’ Reinforcements arrived from SBG for fight night, as Owen Roddy and Artem Lobov flew over from Dublin to join me in

LOCATION: 1322

‘Welcome to the UFC!’ Dana laughed. ‘There’s been a lot of hype. I guess the hype is real … People are going crazy on Twitter, man. People are going fucking crazy. Ireland’s going nuts! We’re pumped!’ In the post-event press conference, Dana couldn’t praise Conor highly enough: ‘I’m blown away. First of all, it’s his first fight ever in the UFC. He walked out tonight and got into the octagon like it was his hundredth fight in the UFC. From the minute the bell started, he was nice and relaxed … and even after he gets the knockout, it’s like he’s been here before and done it a hundred times. The kid is totally relaxed. He’s a beast. I’m impressed.’ Conor’s win really felt like the conclusion

LOCATION: 1349

Coaching fighters on small local shows for so many years certainly allowed me to get the hang of that routine by the time we were ready for the UFC. When the cage door closes, it’s the same proposition every time: my fighter against an opposing fighter. Everything else – venue, attendance, atmosphere, consequences of the result – is irrelevant. That’s something we often speak about at SBG Ireland. Whether that cage is in the gym on a quiet weekday or a massive arena in Boston or Las Vegas on a Saturday night, what difference does it make? It can have an emotional or mental impact, but only as much as you allow it to. As long as you want it to be, the fight takes place in the same environment you’ve been training in for the previous six to eight weeks. I understand entirely why many people might read that and think it’s not that straightforward, and for 99 per cent of people it’s probably not. But the fighters who learn how to approach a fight in the same manner as a Tuesday-afternoon sparring session are the ones who are the most successful. My first real experience of

LOCATION: 1374

For his part, Conor was already of the opinion that it was a bit of a waste of time facing anyone other than the champion. He already believed he was at that level, so these fights in the meantime were merely a formality.

LOCATION: 1403

His apparel was now sponsored by Dethrone Royalty sportswear, but Conor still had the tricolour draped over his shoulders. Conor waited to be prompted forward, while Tom Egan and I stood behind him. There seemed to be a lot of UFC crew running around, then a bunch of cameras appeared in front of us. It still didn’t dawn on me at the time, but the UFC were giving Conor an extended walk-out and the lights-out treatment that’s usually set aside solely for the fighters in the main event of the night. Another unprecedented move. When Conor appeared, the noise from the crowd was deafening. It seemed like every person in the arena was waving an Irish flag. I tried to play it cool by acting as if it was no big deal, but my stomach

LOCATION: 1462

SBG’s New Gym

‘It’s a great place, John,’ he said. ‘But you can’t afford it and you’ll never fill it. It’s massive. Just forget about it and keep an eye out for somewhere else. You’d be crazy to take the risk.’ But I refused to be diverted. I had become a little bit obsessed with moving the gym to this unit. It sounds cheesy but I had a vision for how the gym would look in there and I couldn’t shake it off. It was exactly how I had always pictured my ideal gym. Even though the interest in SBG was growing, I still only had just over a hundred members.

LOCATION: 1516

Conor’s Injury

‘You’re going to shock people with how fast you recover from this. And if they thought you were good before, they’re going to be blown away by what you show them when you come back. You’ll recover from this injury quicker than GSP did.’ Stuff like that really struck a chord with Conor. The chance to take on an MMA legend grabbed his attention. Former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre sustained the very same injury in 2011 and was lauded for returning just 322 days after surgery to beat Carlos Condit. Conor latched on to that. ‘Yeah, fuck it. I’m going to break records with this. People have seen nothing yet.’ That was the beginning of his journey to

LOCATION: 1545

While Conor was restricted to simple things like calf-raises and an exercise bike, his teammates were sparring and preparing for fights. I often sent him video clips of the guys sparring in the gym to ensure that he never began to feel detached from the team. Despite the bad days, Conor’s updates were mostly positive. ‘Another good day of work here,’ he’d say. ‘Making progress every day. I am a machine.’ I never had any doubts about Conor’s

LOCATION: 1561

He used the opportunity to learn. Even though he couldn’t spar, I used to send questions to him by text message about how he’d respond if he were to be caught in a certain position during his fight. That kept his mind sharp and in the game. I would challenge any medical professional to take on Conor McGregor in a quiz about the anatomy of the knee. During his rehab, he studied it intensely. Conor became obsessed with knowing every detail of how the knee works in order to have a clearer understanding of his rehab. There’s not a thing he doesn’t know about it now. He also examined in detail the recoveries of other professional athletes from similar

LOCATION: 1566

even more. Heather told Conor that his muscles were too tight, so he became fixated with making sure that he was always loose and supple. He learned the importance of massage, and came to understand that lifting heavy weights really isn’t necessary for building strength. It was all about focusing on soft training. Conor competed for a long time before

LOCATION: 1573

priorities. Thanks mainly to the ‘KO of the Night’ bonus he was awarded after beating Marcus Brimage, he had gotten off to a pretty good start on that front. However, the injury layoff provided him with a good opportunity to ensure that he was ready to take things to another level. When he wasn’t in the gym or receiving treatment, Conor devoted plenty of time to learning about how the UFC is run as a business and the role of a fighter in the media. He recognized the importance of promoting himself effectively, particularly given that the injury could very easily have pushed him away from the spotlight. The

LOCATION: 1576

when they’ve got a fight on the horizon, but Conor had different ideas. In spite of the injury, significant commercial offers were starting to come in from companies who were keen to be associated with him. That only served to encourage Conor to sharpen his business acumen. He didn’t fight for almost a year, but Conor managed to become an even bigger star in the interim. During Conor’s time on the sidelines, people were constantly asking me how his recovery was going. Even the elderly woman behind the counter in my local shop would ask: ‘How’s his knee? Is he going to be okay?’ He couldn’t train or fight for a long time,

LOCATION: 1581

There seemed to be press and TV crews in the gym nearly every day, looking for access to Conor, Gunni, Cathal and Paddy. Irish journalists and reporters who had never reported on MMA before were suddenly looking for a piece of the action. Ireland was gripped by UFC fever. There was no escaping it. The tickets sold out in minutes, which ultimately became a bit of a headache. I was receiving messages from people I hadn’t spoken to in years: ‘Two will do fine, John. I don’t need any more than that. Thanks.’ Six weeks

LOCATION: 1788

Conor vs Denis Siver

active. During his three and a half years in the UFC, Aldo had fought just six times. Conor had already spent enough time out of action owing to his knee injury, so he had no interest in sitting out and waiting to see what happened. He wanted to go again – ideally before the end of 2014 – and harassed the UFC about arranging another fight. There were no openings for him to compete again before the end of the year, but with an event scheduled for Boston on 18 January 2015, who better to headline in the home of Irish America than Conor McGregor? He had moved up to fifth in the featherweight rankings, while Dennis Siver was down in tenth. Sure, it would have been nice to fight one of the top contenders, but the reality was that in spite of what they said in interviews, very few of them put their hands up for the opportunity.

LOCATION: 2174

In the run-up to the Siver fight, an Irish politician, Senator Catherine Noone, called for ‘this vile so-called sport’ to be banned in Ireland, while adding that she had never actually watched a fight. The senator quickly backed down, admitting that she had ‘jumped the gun’. Unfortunately, she received a lot of nasty verbal abuse from MMA fans as a result of her comments, which didn’t exactly help to improve the reputation of the sport and those involved in it. I’ve always found that the most effective way to change someone’s opinion for the better is to encourage them to attend an event or visit a gym. It gives them an opportunity to see at first hand that the individuals involved are just everyday people who enjoy competitive sport, not bloodthirsty savages. We invited Senator Noone to the gym and she took us up on the offer. Following her visit, far from calling for MMA to be banned, she was now calling for it to be recognized by the Irish Sports Council. She’s an extremely nice lady who made some ill-informed comments while speaking from a position of ignorance, but that soon changed when she had a chance to see what the sport is really about.

LOCATION: 2197

eggs. Obesity is a far greater concern for society than the aggression involved in some sports. I once heard a former Gaelic football player, when asked if soccer was the enemy of his sport, respond that the only enemy is inactivity. The most important thing is to encourage kids to be physically active, whether it’s through martial arts, ball games, gymnastics or something else entirely. Growing up, I spent all day, every

LOCATION: 2226

The weight-cutting process has become much more sophisticated over the years – we’ve gradually worked out the right way of doing things – but it took me quite a while to learn. I remember doing a same-day weigh-in for one of my own fights and I really pushed myself to the limit to make 145lb. After the weigh-in, with the fight itself just a few hours away, how did I refuel? By immediately scoffing down a massive pizza! I hadn’t a clue what I was doing. Thankfully, nowadays we’ve acquired the knowledge from years of experience to do things a little smarter.

LOCATION: 2270

weight. Often it’s women who are trying to slim down for a wedding. They’ve heard of an MMA fighter who cut ten pounds in twenty-four hours and want to know what the secret is. But there is no secret. Cutting weight and losing weight are very different things. If a fighter completely drains their body in order to get to a certain weight for a couple of hours for a weigh-in, they’ll put that weight back on again in the following twenty-four hours as they take on fluids and refuel their body for the fight. The whole painful process is geared towards gaining as much of a size advantage as you can on fight night. It’s funny that

LOCATION: 2285

For one of his fights, Artem still had about thirteen pounds to cut on the evening before the weigh-ins, i.e. just shy of one stone in under twenty-four hours. He decided that he’d cut half that night and do the other half the next morning. After a few intense hours, Artem had managed to get rid of seven pounds before going to bed to get some rest. He woke shortly afterwards, feeling a bit delirious. He was extremely thirsty, and he remembered that there was a two-litre bottle of Fanta in his refrigerator. I’ll go down and have a little sip just to quench my thirst, he thought. Ten minutes later, he was sitting at his kitchen table, staring at an empty bottle of Fanta. He had consumed every last drop – and put back on all the weight that he had spent the evening torturing himself to cut. He was back up at dawn and spent the entire morning in the bath to make up for his mistake, with his mother holding him down to make sure he couldn’t back out. Artem still managed to make the weight, but that’s a good example of how not to do it. Weigh-ins usually begin at 4 p.m.

LOCATION: 2299

Conor on weigh-in day, I’m in his hotel room by 9 a.m. and I don’t leave until 2 p.m. It’s a long, difficult five hours of hot bath after hot bath after hot bath. It’s well publicized by now that Conor cuts a significant amount of weight to make the featherweight limit of 145lb. He doesn’t look healthy when he steps on the scales. We’ve taken some pictures while the weight-cutting process is ongoing and it’s not pretty. I’m sure he’ll treat you to those when he writes his own story. It’s difficult to watch, particularly for Dee, his girlfriend. Fighters subject themselves to severe dehydration and overheating in order to make the weight and it’s everyone’s least favourite part of the game. At his lowest ebb while doing it, it evokes a ‘never again’ type of feeling for Conor. But when he arrives on stage to step on the scales, with the Irish tricolour draped over his shoulders and thousands of fans going berserk, the adrenaline kicks in and it ignites a fire in his belly that makes the suffering seem worthwhile.

LOCATION: 2307

the first time in the UFC. That was a statement. He’d come in at 146lb for all his previous fights, because an additional one-pound buffer is allowed for non-title bouts. The belt wasn’t on the line just yet, but Conor wanted to let the world know that he was ready for it. To build up the hype, the UFC brought José Aldo to Boston to sit cageside for the fight. Their plan was to bring him into the octagon afterwards if Conor was victorious. However, Aldo refused, saying that he only enters the octagon when he’s fighting – which was odd, because I remember seeing him in there playing football with Kenny Florian when they were promoting their bout in 2011.

LOCATION: 2337

think you can apply that to sequences in grappling and striking too. It’s not magic. For the vast majority of the time, there are only a limited number of positions you can find yourself in so you can work on deducing the right responses to those. That’s the role of a coach; to ensure that the athlete has the right answers to the most common positions. Then it’s up to the athlete to find the area in which they particularly want to express themselves. I want my guys to be rock-solid in the over-under clinch hold, the double-leg and single-leg takedown and on how to throw a jab. After they have that foundation, their personalities will lead them to specific styles of fighting.

LOCATION: 2438

Another subject of fascination for the fans was Conor’s earnings. People asked if I was worried that the money would go to his head and distract him from the task at hand. Will he start to slacken off now that he’s rolling in the cash? Will you lose him to that?

I’m sure that has happened on countless occasions in the past to athletes in many sports, but I had known Conor for long enough to realize that this wasn’t a concern for us. Sure, now that he was earning the kind of money he could once only have dreamed of, he was certainly making the most of it. But Conor is astute enough to recognize that it could all disappear in an instant if he were to take his eye off the ball. Ultimately it comes down to what motivates you.

If money is your only incentive, your determination to succeed in competition will fade as soon as you start admiring your bank account. Conor has stated publicly that money is a motivating factor for him, but only because it happens to be a consequence of learning, improving, competing and winning – which is what drives him, first and foremost. If an athlete is motivated solely by money, they’ll come unstuck as soon as they start to make it in large amounts. It’s happened many times before.

Mike Tyson wanted money and fame, but he was never the same soon after he began to experience it. Some people said his decline was a result of the death of his coach, Cus D’Amato, but for me the problem seemed to be a lack of motivation.

LOCATION: 2453

As a younger fighter, with his boxing background, he has a lot of friends who would have travelled to places like the Wild Card Boxing Club in Los Angeles over the years. When you go to a place like that as a newcomer, you join the back of the queue for the attention of the coaches. That’s also quite true for new fighters who join us at SBG. They’re welcome, of course, but they’ll need to work hard to move their way up the pecking order and prove that they’re serious about becoming a permanent member of the team. I’m not going to compromise the time and effort I put into fighters who have trained under me from day one for somebody who could be gone again in a few months. If a professional fighter leaves their own team to join SBG, I have to wonder how long it will be before they decide to depart SBG for somewhere else? Particularly in recent years, we’ve had high-level fighters come to the gym to train from every corner of the world. The door is open to them and they’ll be greeted warmly, but it’ll take some time to build up the trust that’s required to consider them as part of the team.

LOCATION: 2466

Conor and Jose Aldo Media Tour

Siver fight in Boston, Aldo didn’t seem too bothered. But over the course of the media tour, Conor poked and prodded, chipping away at Aldo. It was clear that Aldo wasn’t enjoying himself. On the set of a TV show, Conor grabbed Aldo’s neck and snatched his belt while it was unattended. Aldo’s coach, André Pederneiras – asked Dana White to make sure that Conor didn’t make physical contact with the champion. As soon as Conor found that out, he was never going to be able to resist. The fighters had a hectic schedule over the course of the media tour, but I wasn’t concerned about it placing too much stress and strain on Conor, especially as the fight was still nearly four months away. He had Artem Lobov with him along the way, so they were training as they travelled. We’ve learned over the years that there’s always time to train, even if that involves moving the beds aside in a hotel room to create sufficient space for a session.

LOCATION: 2485

John, bad news. Can you take a phone call? My stomach started doing somersaults when I read Artem’s message. He and Conor were in Canada for the final North American leg of the UFC 189 media tour, before it made its way across the Atlantic Ocean for stops in London and Dublin. When I got Artem on the phone, he told me news I didn’t want to hear: ‘Conor has hurt his knee.’ Artem explained that Conor and Rory MacDonald – a Canadian welterweight who was scheduled to take on the champion, Robbie Lawler, in UFC 189 – had been training together that afternoon. Nothing strenuous, just a bit of grappling. But during

LOCATION: 2495

their session, Rory landed awkwardly on Conor’s left knee – the same knee he had injured against Max Holloway. The knee was already swelling up and Conor was having it looked at by a medic. I was almost afraid to pose the question out of fear that I’d inevitably receive an unpleasant answer. But I needed to know. ‘Artem, how bad is it?’ ‘I’m not going to lie,’ he said. ‘It doesn’t look good.’

LOCATION: 2501

By now, Conor had mentioned the injury to Dana White, who recommended that Conor visit a clinic in Germany which specialized in stem-cell therapy. As a sufferer of Ménière’s disease, Dana had undergone stem-cell treatment at the same clinic and found it to be very effective. Conor took his advice. He flew straight out to Germany and was given stem-cell injections into his knee. Within a few days, he was back in the gym. ‘It feels good,’ he insisted. ‘It’s not perfect but it’ll get better over the next few weeks

LOCATION: 2531

The situation reminded me of something former world boxing champion Steve Collins once said to some of my guys when he visited the gym: ‘I’d rather be 75 per cent physically ready and 100 per cent mentally ready than 100 per cent physically ready and 75 per cent mentally ready.’

LOCATION: 2545

The day before we left for Vegas, I was in my office at the gym when Orlagh walked in and handed me the phone: ‘This is for you.’ ‘I’m really busy at the moment,’ I said. ‘Who is it?’ ‘I think you want to take this call. It’s Royce Gracie.’ When Orlagh handed me the phone, I couldn’t believe it was actually Royce on the other end of the line. I was speechless for a moment before I could actually utter a greeting. ‘John, hello,’ he said. ‘My name is Royce Gracie, I’m from the Gracie family.’ ‘I know exactly who you are, Mr Gracie. You don’t need to introduce yourself to me.’ It turned out that one of Royce’s private students was in Dublin and needed a gym to train in. Naturally I was delighted to be able

LOCATION: 2553

‘While I have you on the phone,’ I said to Royce, ‘I can’t allow you to hang up without telling you that you’ve basically given me this life. I saw you when I was a terrified nineteen-year-old kid who didn’t know where he was going or what he wanted to do, but when I saw what you were able to do, it changed my life. I really can’t thank you enough. You’ve given me an amazing life. None of us would be doing what we’re doing now without you stepping into that octagon.’ He just laughed and told me that we’re all standing on the shoulders of his father. He wouldn’t accept the credit. That was an amazing phone call to receive, especially just before departing for our biggest fight yet. Without Royce Gracie, I wouldn’t be where I am today. For him to send one of his students to me was one of the biggest compliments I’ve ever been paid.

LOCATION: 2560

Eager to play my part in ensuring that everybody remained on track for the duration of the training camp, I decided to subject myself to a strict diet. My nutrition is pretty good anyway, but here it became extremely rigid. It was all geared towards fostering a world champion mentality. Even Conor said it gave him a boost to see me rowing in behind him in that manner. To maintain a sense of discipline, we pinned a list of house rules to the door of the refrigerator. One of those was that no processed or sugary foods were permitted. Everyone in the house adhered to it.

LOCATION: 2580

This was my first experience of coordinating a training camp for a world title fight. I suppose I made the natural assumption that longer is better. But, as I came to realize in the latter stages, ten weeks was a little too long. It became difficult to sustain the intensity in training and the guys were getting a bit agitated towards the end. It was another lesson learned. No matter how long you’re involved in this, or any other, sport, you’ll never master it entirely. Anyone who claims

LOCATION: 2601

whatsoever to his desire to train, but the problem is that not everybody can function according to his body clock. On some evenings while I was away, it would get to a stage where it was so late and Conor still hadn’t emerged from his bedroom that the guys would assume that he wasn’t going to train that night. As they settled in for the evening to watch a movie, prepare for bed or whatever else, a message would then come down from upstairs: ‘We’re leaving in ten minutes.’ That wasn’t ideal, and I think everyone was relived when, with just under four weeks to go until Conor’s fight against Aldo, I returned to Vegas and re-established the status quo.

LOCATION: 2628

When I got back, I also discovered that the guys hadn’t been sticking to the strict dietary rules we had put in place. We used a minivan to transport us to and from the gym, and there was an outlet of In-N-Out Burger on the route. I hopped into the van one day and found a burger wrapper on the floor underneath one of the seats. I couldn’t believe it. I asked for an explanation and Tom Egan admitted that they had slipped up, but it was ‘a one-off’. But James Gallagher was a little more honest: ‘Ah, we’ve been going all the time. Sorry, coach.’ I pulled Conor up on it later. ‘What’s going on with the burgers?’ I asked. ‘We only went once, I swear,’ he claimed. ‘James said you’ve been going there most nights.’ ‘All right, fuck it, we have, but that’s the end of it now. Honestly. No more.’

LOCATION: 2633

Conor vs. Chad Mendes

As Dana and Lorenzo began to explore replacement opponents, I knew who I wanted to avoid. Conor had virtually no wrestling drills in the bank during this training camp, so the worst-case scenario here was a fight with Chad Mendes. An NCAA Division 1 All-American wrestler, Mendes was as good as they came in that department. Without any injury problems, I’d have no issue with Conor facing Mendes. But this was one time when he could be a bit of a banana skin. Mendes was ranked as the top contender in the division, so his name was obviously in the mix. Another possibility was Frankie Edgar. Nate Diaz’s name was also mentioned, but Diaz seemed unlikely because he was a lightweight and the UFC were keen to keep this as a featherweight bout. Their plan was to put an interim title on the line in the event of a confirmed withdrawal from Aldo. The final say on a new opponent ultimately rested on their shoulders, but Conor let them know that he was ready for anyone they

LOCATION: 2680

If you don’t like Urijah Faber, there’s probably something wrong with you. I think he’s one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet and I know Conor feels the same.

LOCATION: 2730

That’s when Conor’s influence came into play. In spite of the loss, he was able to arrange for Artem to receive a wildcard spot in the competition. It was a second bite at the cherry for Artem and no one was more deserving of that break. He certainly grabbed that opportunity with both hands, picking up three consecutive wins, all by knockout, making him the first fighter to do so in the history of The Ultimate Fighter. Artem eventually lost a decision in a frustrating final fight against Ryan Hall, but it was a case of ‘mission accomplished’ as he had done enough to convince the UFC to offer him a contract.

LOCATION: 2912

When Cathal told me a few weeks later that he had decided to retire from MMA, it didn’t come as any great surprise. He had been going non-stop for a long time and I knew the hunger was starting to fade, as it eventually does for everyone. Other interests away from the gym were starting to enter his life, which is a healthy thing. I always encourage my fighters to make sure that they’re working on an exit strategy for when that time comes. Cathal had a few things on the go, including potential movie roles, media work and opening a restaurant. As a result, he was starting to miss training sessions, which was extremely out of character for him. When you start seeing stuff like that, you know the fighter has one foot out the door already.

LOCATION: 3010

Conor vs. Nate Diaz

The first round played out pretty much as I expected. At the end of it I was relatively satisfied, but not completely happy. While Conor landed plenty of good shots, I noticed early on that he was winding up a lot on his left hand. He was sort of falling into shots, which is something he usually would never do. He connected well a couple of times and sensed that Diaz might be about to fade, which is what usually happens when he lands those punches. He felt that a finish was imminent, which only served to convince him to wind up that left hand more and more in order to pursue it. He was investing a lot of energy in those punches, instead of using the clean technique that he has become renowned for.

LOCATION: 3192

I made my way into the octagon at the end of the round. When Conor sat down on the stool, I was taken aback. His mouth was wide open and he was breathing heavily. Okay, I thought. I haven’t seen that before. That was a concern. He had put a lot of energy into searching for a knockout punch and it was evidently taking a toll on his gas tank. Nate Diaz is not easy to put away. He had already proven that over the course of his nine years in the UFC, during which he had been stopped just once in twenty-one fights. I encouraged Conor to slow

LOCATION: 3200

When I entered the octagon in the aftermath of the fight, I was relieved that he seemed okay physically, but the emotional pain he was enduring was written all over his face. I hugged him and delivered a message. ‘Who else is doing what you’re doing? Who else would move up two weight classes and fight a top guy on less than two weeks’ notice? You could have backed out of this when dos Anjos pulled out and nobody would have said a negative word, but unlike what everybody else would have done, you didn’t even give it a thought. You hold your head up high and speak positively when you’re on that microphone. Be proud of what you’re doing because I know I am. Remember what Fedor Emelianenko said: “Only those who never stand up, never fall down.”

LOCATION: 3229

Next, Conor spoke to Joe Rogan. For the first time, he was doing so as the defeated fighter. It was a bitter pill for him to swallow but he handled it with grace and humility. People appeared to be surprised by that afterwards, but I expected nothing less. He had experienced losses earlier in his career. He had been here before. This time, the difference was that the entire world was watching. ‘I took the chance going in at 170lb but Nate came in and I felt I took him in the first round, but I was inefficient with my energy. But I’m humble in victory or defeat. I respect Nate. He came in, he took the fight at short notice and he done the job. He was efficient, I wasn’t efficient. That was it, I feel. It is what it is. I’ll face it like a man, like a champion, and I’ll come back and do it again.’

LOCATION: 3235

What people seem to forget about this whole thing is that Conor just loves to fight. Everything else – money, belts or fame – is just a bonus. It’s important that people understand that. He puts himself in dangerous, risky situations by accepting late changes of opponent and exploring different weight classes. Who else would do that in the same way he does? He keeps doing it because it’s all just so much fun to him. He takes those chances because he knows he’ll end up regretting it if he doesn’t, irrespective of the consequences. A strategy error in round two was the difference between victory and defeat on this occasion. Nevertheless, the sun still rose the following morning, just as it would have done if he had won.

LOCATION: 3243

enthusiastic about them all. Regardless of the outcome of any contest, the real winners are those who learn the most.

LOCATION: 340