IT’S NO SURPRISE that one of Conor McGregor’s team-mates is backing him to get the better of Eddie Alvarez.
However, James Gallagher admits that even he has been taken aback by how impressive McGregor has looked in preparation for Saturday night’s UFC 205 main event in New York.
Gallagher, who’s preparing to face Anthony Taylor at Bellator 169 on 16 December, has been training under the same roof as McGregor in recent weeks at Straight Blast Gym in Dublin.
Against Alvarez, McGregor will fight at lightweight for the first time since he defeated Ivan Buchinger with a stunning first-round knockout to win the Cage Warriors lightweight title on New Year’s Eve in 2012.
The 28-year-old currently holds the UFC featherweight [145lbs] title, but without having to endure an arduous weight-cut, Gallagher feels that he’ll be at his best when he returns to 155lbs this weekend at Madison Square Garden.
“This is perfect for him. You can see it,” Gallagher told The42. “He’s fit, he’s lean, he doesn’t have to go through a weight cut, he’s in great shape. I think this is going to be the best Conor McGregor we’ve ever seen. He’s got everything.
“He looks so sharp and he’s got the skillset to control the fight wherever it goes — on the ground or on the feet. He’s the best in the world.”
McGregor was the featherweight and lightweight champion with Cage Warriors before he was signed by the UFC in 2013. Having taken seven fights to win the UFC’s featherweight belt at the expense of Jose Aldo last December, his last two outings — against Nate Diaz in March and August — were contested in the unfamiliar environs of the welterweight [170lbs] division.
However, the Dubliner is now back in more recognisable surroundings as he aims to defeat Alvarez and become the first fighter in history to hold two UFC belts at the same time.
Gallagher said: “I’ve never seen him look this good. It’s unbelievable. I don’t even think he’s going to get hit — not once, not even close.
“It’s going to be a beautiful thing seeing history being made and Conor becoming a double-weight world champion once again. It feels like déjà vu, like back in the old days when we were training on the Long Mile Road. I can see it being the exact same outcome; coming out, slipping and banging a shot for a knockout.
“It’s going to be another good night for Irish MMA.”
