McGregor Knocks Opponent Down & Keeps Sparring

[@GabrielVargaOfficial]

Who spars trying to knock down their opponents?

[@theshapetv9203]

A lot of pros and amateurs do in my gym. Even the coaches who teach fundamentals, a lot of fighters have these ugly egos. Your videos help keep my defense good and my options varied, but man

[@antant06]

A few ppl that get a chance to spar with saenchai, according to yokkao's videos 😅😅😅

[@josuemanuelparejacontreras6004]

there was a french guy at the gym , yeah that guy lol

[@blakeyscribner4288]

I’m part Irish.! And I don’t like that fool .! What a big mouth and an overrated fighter ! He got the money because Dana is an Irish boy ! An he owed Floyd mayweather jr.!

[@Aidar77]

Tyson back in a day was tearing his sparring partners to shreds, but he was sparring huge dudes and not middleweights lol.

[@Hazy_Bubble]

Met a 17 year old kid at the gym i train at. He told me he gets knocked out cold regularly and wanted to get better..crazy thing was he could barely throw a cross and was still a newbie. Never happens at my gym tho, we mostly go pretty easy

[@GabrielVargaOfficial]

Oh boy. Someone needs to protect that kid

[@ahmedalhamadi1231]

Poor boy. ☹️ Help him man don’t let him! He may bullied out side the gym, so he’s bullied now in the gym too? Gym is a tool for the fighter to get better not to get knocked out. Genuinely I feel sad for the boy

[@rosemarietolentino3218]

I was told you fight like you train.

[@Idkchangethislater]

Same. I’m at a new gym and the beginners think it’s normal to get wrecked. They’ll say “don’t go easy on me, I need to learn” so I just ask them: “How are you going to learn with brain damage?”

[@oldschoolkarate-5o]

😳

[@DiminutiveScholar]

I've been training at a boxing gym for almost a year and sparring for over six months. If an opponent receives a bloody nose or is noticeably bothered by a clean shot, we're taught to ease up, take some heat off of our punches, and even to shell up and allow our partner to land offense as they recover. My nose was bloodied in my first spar against a more experienced student (no real damage was done; I just happen to bleed easily), and he asked me multiple times if I was okay in the middle of the round before punching back. The primary cause for knockdowns in our gym is body blows, and they're almost never severe enough for the spar to end. But those don't come from anyone trying to KO their partner with bad intentions; sometimes shots are simply well-placed. The opponent is asked if they can continue, and if they say they're able, then we're expected to tone down a bit and allow them to work until the end of the round. There are definitely days of hard sparring---especially if someone is prepping for a bout or if fighters from other gyms have been invited with the express purpose of sparring hard---but we also take care of each other. I caused a nosebleed against an opponent last month, and I helped him clean up at the sink, told him how well he performed and tactics we could work on together. This isn't because I'm some paragon; this is how our gym encourages us all to act. We're there to make each other better, not to hurt one another. Enter the ring as opponents; exit as bothers and sisters.

[@Warrior_of_kristus]

Sounds like a good gym, keep it up

[@DPham1]

You have an awesome gym. Definitely cherish the people there.

[@azerty97212]

That's so nice !

[@dima_saur]

Amen. Makes me happy to read this

[@eater_of_planets]

Looks like it landed when he was kicking. Might not have been as hard as it looked. He didn't seem rocked at all. Still a bit hard. Big fan. Love your videos. Hit me up if your ever in Dallas. Would love to have you do a seminar at my gym!

[@BigPoppaSufi]

Are we actually surprised Conor would treat his sparring partners like that?

[@Onlybadtakes2589]

I would be mad if he didnt try to go hard like any other mma fighter training with a new team

[@bce6936]

fax 💯

[@kalkithekilla2290]

I was tbh😢

[@wubspeedruns]

no

[@dagreatstoney.5869]

Sadly no

[@dreal500]

Also its not fair for the sparring partner. No one wants to be known as the sparring partner that hurt a famous fighter before their match preventing them from fighting. This will make the sparring partners "gun shy". Likely taking in more than they give out.

[@antant06]

You can see that a lot of his sparring partners are already gunshy. The way to beat connor is to not give him space, but that’s exactly what 2 out of 3 of them were doing. Crowd him, wrestle him, wear him out, make it dirty with clinch fighting, or wear him down in the same way that Dustin and Nate did. None of these sparring partners did that. None of them are moving fast and explosively into him causing collisions, like Michael Chandler. It’s just another gym full of yes men.

[@dreal500]

@@antant06 good analysis

[@J1283-s1k]

It's kind of crazy how McGregor 180'd on EVERYTHING. He used to petition people not to just pack on size and get slow, stiff and bulky. He used to laugh at people with flat footed styles. He used to advocate more gentle sparring sessions.

[@zzzzzz69]

Or he just likes to banter

[@SmokeyCronie666]

Can't agree more. In 2015 he was very inspirational and wise and that's WILD to think about now. Not like he doesn't drop a nugget of wisdom here or there but DAMN

[@shifazsikkander5289]

I think he was forced to b/c his opponents cut from 180 - 190 lb to 155 lb. He was too small for 155 lb and his opponents have gotten used to his wide stance. Forced to change

[@davidrocha3732]

man he is just blasting gh for recovering and living his life, he partys/eats and doesnt train that much now,besides when you get to your 30s your body is just heavier and bigger.@@shifazsikkander5289

[@himeshsinghshishodiya]

Roids change you man.

[@Kickboxingenthusiasts]

I’ve learned after a about two years training sometimes you just got to say hey slow it down. If they decide to keep going just say duck it. I won’t spar with this guy anymore. Whoever comes by hey you want to spar. Naw bro I’m good . You do you, imma do me

[@GabrielVargaOfficial]

Smart stuff.

[@Last_Chance.]

Conor isn't going to spar someone bigger. His ego won't allow it.

[@privateProtection]

In the words of Mike Tyson " he's a scared little man" 😂

[@predestinarianism]

Hey Gabriel, i really wish i watched this video before i began boxing. I had a concussion from getting knocked out and it was pretty bad. At the time, i didn’t know how serious these knockdowns were so i just kept on going. As a result, i had to take a year off to completely recover. Anyhow, i really appreciate your messages of caution for your subscribers. I don’t think it’s being discussed enough both online and offline.

[@mitkoyossifov7418]

Pretty much the same thing happenes to me but for some reason when I spar with my friend I am not even close to getting knocked down but still after the sparring sessions I have headaches and sometimes light concussion.

[@LowKickMT]

afaik boxing sparring is notoriously hard very often. its a big difference to muay thai in most gyms. the only thing harder i know of are dutch muay thai / kickboxing gyms. knockdowns are pretty common over there.

[@joostfloot5279]

​@@LowKickMTI go to a Dutch kickboxing gym and people spar quite gently here, I've never been knocked down. There's definitely gyms where people do spar very hard though.

[@BradYaeger]

In my day "hard sparring " meant moderate contact especially to the head , but high intensity because we were trying to push somebody into extreme fatigue so they could learn what that was like in advance. One guy would stay in while fresh guys rotated in. Hard body shots were ok , but not head shots and even then you kind of targeted the forehead or crown. Conor is also going hard against a guy without headgear and on a dense mat instead of a ring. Hitting your head on that is almost the same as a wood floor impact wise

[@richardmetzler7909]

​@K1Kamikaze well yeah, but from what I understand, they do that in the weeks leading up to a fight, with professional-level partners, not months ahead with some poor schmuck in the gym.

[@westphalianstallion4293]

@@richardmetzler7909 "Hardsparring" is usually something done in fight camp. Training is balancing risk and reward. You often see professionals hit each others cover very hard and fast, but pull their punches before hitting the head. Some go full crazy. The way most amateurs spar "hard" is a waste of time, especially with people on different skill levels. There is lightcontact and there is full contact. People think there is something in between, but there isnt. Once you start trying to hurt me, its a fight.

[@joeconti3599]

This is the way...focus on defense, safety, and VOLUME

[@bigtreecombatacademy2927]

@K1Kamikazenot every session !

[@MimicMethod]

As someone who is a beginner to sparring and still trying to figure out the etiquette, I appreciate these videos. Thank you

[@PetrilloCinema]

Thank you for posting this. I always spar very light and technical because I’m not interested in brain damage. The best part is that I’ve actually been getting much better now that I train this way compared to when I used to get cracked and get headaches the next day. F that

[@FlyAwayTooHighToday]

in my gym its alot of fun to spar versus the experienced tournament fighters, because they can adapt to your level and have no ego. the worst enemies are those guys who are somewhat new, they go hard for no reason at all during sparring. you start slow and suddenly they ramp up to a 120% just because you land some good shots. theres also one guy whos easily over 200 pounds who tries to knock me out every sparring. im 140.

[@huwhitecavebeast1972]

What a jerk, I weight 245 and once my instructor had me spar with a girl who weighed like 95 pounds. He was testing me and commended me on being so gentle with her, but letting her get good work in. My best buddy and longtime sparring partner only weighs 155-165, I can't imagine trying to legit knock out someone who weighs 140 in sparring. That guy is a bully who lacks empathy.

[@Orthuzz]

talk to him or dont spar him

[@FlyAwayTooHighToday]

actually im fine, im too quick for him and keep my distance, never go for long trades, just try to tag him with a few shots while moving in and out or cut the angles @@Orthuzz

[@KatonRyu]

Sparring is one of the few times where I have no problems putting my ego aside and saying, "Dude, take it easy." I do kickboxing and boxing for fun and a bit of self-defense, and I have no intention of ever stepping into the ring. Getting hit by punches that are being held back sucks badly enough without someone actually trying to remove my head. Clean hits feel like sledgehammers even though the video clearly shows no one is going too hard.

[@anguscaffrey4793]

As a smaller dude I've encountered a few gym bullies in my time at various gyms. Respect to Conner and his accomplishments but this footage reminds me a lot of those guys who will just ego spar and wail on the smaller or less experienced guys. A rarity but a reality for sure

[@drizzypuffs523]

You always advocate safe training. I carry that advice ever since you made so many points on it. So yes, it bugs me. I've heard that GSP always spars light, and tells his partner what technique he's working on ahead of time. Great example that training technicals, and light is very helpful

[@huwhitecavebeast1972]

GSP is a true gentleman and sportsman. I remember one fight he had he had this guy chicken winged and since the guy was a striker he didn't know how to defend the lock and just tried to resist. I saw GSP look down at the guys shoulder, his eyes got big and he knew instantly that he was going to blow the guys shoulder out so he let it go. GSP is one of my favorite fighters of all time because of stuff like that.

[@madthevillain]

The guy threw a dolly at a bus and sucker punched an old man at bar, this is on brand…

[@flaman1967]

Too many guys in MMA are bullies and sometimes I'm sure they get taken out when messing with the wrong people.

[@vitalizhukau]

Lots of people get concussions without knock downs, just hard sparring can give you a pretty good one, and sometimes you don't realize during sparring, and later you feeling sick, headache and so on. I had people coming back next day to the gym and saying they don't feel good and spar hard again...

[@OSTemli]

😂 the last words

[@bblvrable]

It's weird that McGregor is wearing head protection, but none of his sparring partners are. I wonder if he requires that of them, or if that's their personal choice? McGregor seems like the sort of person who would enjoy KO'ing his sparring partner, while I think most fighters (and decent people) would be mortified at the thought of KO'ing their sparring partner.

[@kelvinsanyaolu995]

It's probably a personal choice, some fighters don't wear head gear some do. Head gear doesn't really prevent anything but cuts

[@Fightconnoisseur96]

​@@kelvinsanyaolu995he's wearing it to prevent cuts mostly.

[@GN.89]

mcgregor is not known for his intelligence

[@thefonz76299]

He's a multi millionaire so he must know something the rest of us don't

[@QuickStrikes84]

talent =/= intelligence. Many boxers are the exact same way.

[@Masthuhnmeister]

@@thefonz76299he knows how to fight. Doesn’t mean he’s smart

[@thefonz76299]

@@Masthuhnmeister he was smart enough to get in and out of fighting, smart enough to make noise for the Mayweather fight and market his whiskey... most fighters are going from purse to purse

[@Masthuhnmeister]

@@thefonz76299 that needs no intelligence? He has anluvt of mangers who do that for him

[@richarde3378]

A lot of beginners think it's cool to spar hard and they barely even know how to throw a jab/cross! Some of them see it as a "badge of honor" to get knocked down and continue sparring. I've seen this at many gyms and the coaches don't do anything. In fact, some coaches even yell, "Get up and get him back!" It's crazy!

[@bobbob3458]

At the K-1 gym I go to, knockdowns that come from headshots are considered poor control, but knockdowns that come from well placed body shots (ie: hitting meat, not bone) or tapping the same spot on the thigh over and over are fair game. People aren't assholes about it, though. It's just seen as conditioning. Which you can't do for the head like you can a thigh or a midsection.

[@gamemak0r]

Call out the gym, they're always most responsible for allowing their fighters this hard sparring. If Conor is paying his sparring partners, then leave him alone, they signed up for what they're in for.

[@Bucephalus84]

Very logical conclusion.

[@maaaaaap]

eh i think mcgregor has more power than most gyms to make his own rules. also this video seems more like advice than a call out despite the title

[@hypnoticskull6342]

Even Sean Strickland treats his sparring partners better

[@maxzhao8331]

always a good video from Varga! Great to hear your thoughts and insights

[@gw1357]

Conor is taking a whole pharmacy's worth of drugs. I'm surprised he has any self control left at all.

[@ultimatecomeback9645]

the guy that I'm sparring now isn't very good at going light. he's a nice guy and doesn't want to hurt anyone but his coach keeps telling him the importance of speed and throwing faster hits and due to the guy's lack of experience, when he goes fast he ends up hitting harder. I haven't been injured by him as due to my decent defense I'm able to dodge 95% of his hits and control distance. it would be good to exchange more hits with him so he gets to experience being in range and landing combos but I feel like it's not safe to do that as he'll most likely knock me down if I don't constantly dodge all his hits and control distance so the sparring ends up being me just staying at a range and being defensive and tagging him with teeps and jabs to keep him away which I feel isn't really a proper spar it's just me preventing a spar from happening with defense and range control because it's not safe to exchange with him. what are your thoughts on this?

[@huwhitecavebeast1972]

Tell him to chill and have patience, speed will come with time and training. Tell him he is short changing himself by doing what he's doing.

[@joesmith5617]

plus in boxing gyms in the uk this is really not considered hard sparing and this guy was of balance when he got hit his foot was off the floor so he’s very fine to keep going he is not injured and he apologises early in the vid for hitting a shit too hard

[@18Hands]

I know there is a sparring etiquette, but I can honestly say that my training during 1996-2004 was super hard sparring sessions. Although we had control to pull punches and kicks, despite them being lightning fast. Now when I spar at gyms, they go super slow and too gentle. I definitely feel after that knockdown, they should have taken a break. Seems Conor is a man who is always trying to prove something. Sparring is an agreement between men that each person is going to work on their certain skills they agree to. Things can often quickly escalate and that is when people have to check themselves, their ego and what their purpose is to get out of the sparring session. I always remember than any schmoe on the street with no training has the power to knock someone out. That isnt the point of sparring.

[@johnnapoletano]

Thank you for your input! Very helpful.

[@MrDwaynecasey]

He got up so quickly, I doubt he even considered that he might be injured.

[@dysphunc]

I agree with how you feel Gabriel, but I don't doubt there's 1000's of people who would line up to spar McGregor just for the experience wanting to get the shit kicked out of them. With McGregor over there like Terry Silver in Karate Kid III waiting for another partner to knock out.

[@huwhitecavebeast1972]

Haha!

[@huwhitecavebeast1972]

Remember, it takes strength to pull your punches too, to interrupt the momentum you just generated. If you get totally exhausted, you might ironically wind up hitting harder than you expect because you don't have the energy to keep the force in.

[@teddyperkins3406]

oh please. it takes nothing to just let off the gas. you mcgregor apologists are ridiculous

[@johnanderson8284]

​@@teddyperkins3406McGregor was very respectful

[@adam8765smith]

A voice of reason! Thanks a lot, Gabriel!!!

[@matteovac]

It is connor trying to sell , trying to get attention . Best thing to do is ignore this wrong messagges . The sparring Partners are not young innocent new figther, they are part of the game .

[@rollinOnCode]

im not surprised. it is connor man. we should get gabriel to teach him how to spar properly

[@vlad_o_sh]

Ive been doing some research on CTE lately and from what I can tell I will definitely ease down on my sparing. And tell any of my future opponents from now on that, I want to go easy on the head. I am into Philosophy and I value my brain more than my ego.

[@justabill5780]

About 5 years ago I was helping a friend get ready for a fight and serving as a sparring partner. He clipped me with a very clean overhand left (he's a southpaw). Though I didn't drop, it did stun me, momentarily. His coach noticed and stopped the round immediately to give me time to recover. That was responsible coaching.

[@Goteiii]

I landed a back leg round kick in open stance after the other guy tried to slip my cross (kinda like a head shot-dead Leon Edwards thing) and even though I didn't put power into it the other guy was slipping towards my kick which made the impact a lot harder than normal. He didn't go down but he was visibly stunned and not only did we stop then and there, he didn't do any more sparring rounds for the day. Going hard like that in sparring and continuing after a big clean shot like that is beyond me.

[@luiscanas-diaz1220]

Thanks for this message Gabriel

[@alexsalapan6329]

Khabib broke him really BAD,, mentally.

[@Daniel_Clem]

My first sparring day when I started amateur boxing ''for real'' I went like 9 rounds (3x2 minutes three times) and in the last fight I got dropped by a massive liver shot. Shit hurt.

[@Nehauon]

Damn, that’s intense

[@danielorozco2297]

I've never been much into hard spraring, especially after getting knocked out a few times by a guy who was obviously much larger than me (I was 60kg, he was 90kg or so). Now that I have an autoimmune condition that kills my blood platelets (ITP), I definitely do NOT spar hard anymore, let alone fighting. I still practice and train, but fighting just isn't in my sights anymore. Hard sparring? Sadly, I have to let that go.

[@instantdislikechannel5699]

Conor reminds me of Charlie Zelenoff A guy you wanna knock down each fuggin second and smile and spit in his face!

[@AlexanderFarley]

I'm glad to see this video. It's interesting to me how some people will react so badly to any safety advice about sparring. I myself have been concussed when I was sparring unsafely at an age where I really didn't understand the consequences, around a bunch of adults who should have known better. I made a video on how to avoid instructors who are leading you down this path, but it was not too well recieved.

[@Fightconnoisseur96]

I can say that I had about 25 amateur boxing matches from 2013-2017 (competed in Golden Gloves, South Texas Championships, National Brown Gloves, Texas Games, etc.) And in my experience, at the gym I trained at in San Antonio, we always sparred hard. I often sparred with Bam Rodriguez and Joshua Franco (we came up together as amateurs) and the sparring was always hard. It was basically a fight without judges, but I always considered San Fernando to be an amazing gym with great coaches. I never saw it as being unfair or too harsh, but to each their own I guess.

[@Fightconnoisseur96]

Bam in particular wouldn't do any sparring but hard sparring, and at his weight was always a tremendously hard puncher (especially to the body). At that time I was a flyweight but I was one of the only ones who could trade with him, and one of the only southpaws for him to spar.

[@bigtreecombatacademy2927]

It’s a little different at the lighter weights I’m a smallish heavy and u don’t see heavies sparring hell hard that much

[@DrJonesPHD62]

The guy he's training with in one of these clips is Brendan Loughnane, PFL featherweight champion. I can't tell if that's who he dropped. Seems to have been that same day though.

[@adamshahirkayoom]

Thank you !!!!

[@IceCubE4425]

Dont know if you have already but would like for you to react to Yuki Yoza sparring aswell. There is some very High Paced/intensity sparring, but it looks like an "agreed" pace with maximum safety, knee-pads and Headgear included. Interested to get your perspective on sparring with Knee Pads and head-gear and maximum intensity

[@JackTenrec-qk4zp]

Connie has to repair his shattered fragile ego somehow........letting it out on sparring partners is the best he can do before another ass whooping in the UFC, that is if he ever fights again.......

[@cage7777]

I didn't really see anything wrong with the knockdown. It was a well timed shot as his opponent was coming in and may have been more of a balance down than power. And taking into consideration what you were saying about elite levels of fighters needing harder sessions at times makes this whole session seem like it was just one of those days. Now if he was CONSTANTLY doing this, always and with most sparring partners, that's an issue, but at least he checked on him before they continued.

[@FreshPrinceJG]

Connor is a typical bully. He goes hard on smaller guys, but goes technical with guys like Ian Garry who is bigger than him and could easily hit Connor hard in retaliation

[@imunchienandalusia]

Exactly - the first guy i sparred with in Muay Thai was wailing on me so i figured that's how it was. So when i sparred with other guys I think i was pissing people off. Took me awhile to figure out that the first guy i went up against was a douche and was just trying to pick on the new guy.

[@DJ-1Q84]

For me sparring is always light to the head, hard to the body. I do like to throw my front kicks hard to the body though becuase if I throw them light people just walk through it and attack.

[@messiertwenty4564]

Great advice!

[@StephenSeiter]

Great breakdown and video, 40-50% power when sparring depending on your partner and what you agree on. Gotta be careful w headshots even w head gear. For high level pros it’s likely they need the occasional super hard sparring when in a fight camp but still shouldn’t be trying to KO their partner. That can end careers.

[@mtmatt6111]

McGregor KO'd the mascot for the Miami Heat and sent him to the ER in what was supposed to be a half time skit for McGregor's pain relief gel. So not surprising he's knocking down what looks like hobbyists just trying to get better.

[@Better_MMA]

What are y’all talking about these fighters he’s sparring are his size and they’re high level. Fighters spar all the time fight or not. Do you think they only train when they have fight?

[@josesantos2084]

Tottally agree with trying to preserve the brain. Once I got with concussion symptoms for over a year. It's not funny.

[@hifta7]

We need to spar technical and light and protecting our partners when we notice when something bad happen.

[@elserpientethechamp2122]

So, in my gym, when we spar, our coach always tells us to not go crazy hard, to knock each other down, and yeah, we occasionally do some hard sparring too, but not, to the same extent, as shown in McGregor's sparring, and when someone, does reach that limit, goes hard, the coach tells him to ease off, and he does so, so yeah, I definetly 100% Agree with you Gabriel! 🎉

[@MarceloTubon-o9f]

Very good advice ❤

[@thomasrweir]

This sparring is pretty chilled looking to me...

[@danielgray5756]

Yep! I was thinking the same thing when I saw it

[@Rogan35]

Thanks Gabriel Vargas for talking about these things recently i got hit in sparring behind the head and i couldnt train for some months after that.

[@Cw-xu3gz]

I've been knocked down several times in sparring, as well as gotten a broken nose. It sucks and feels shitty, especially when in my gym I'm known as the most polite sparring partner there because I'm very careful with the level of intensity I use in sparring. It'd be nice if I got the same level of courtesy back.

[@Fluoride_Jones]

Maybe you just need to check your sparring partners more often. At the very least, verbally request they ease up, and if they don't, "make" them ease up. 😉

[@Cw-xu3gz]

@@Fluoride_Jones I have, and now I know who I can't spar with because they'll just turn it up out of nowhere when I'm expecting to be going light. I'm out of heavyweights to spar at this point so it's either deal with it and keep getting injured or find a new gym, which there aren't really any around other than BJJ.

[@Fluoride_Jones]

@@Cw-xu3gz Have you ever trained in BJJ? It's great, and there's less likelihood of getting injured. Still, with anything else in life, there are usually a couple jerks that let their egos control their actions. Thoughtful students will help you get better, especially if that's what the instructors instill in their students.

[@Cw-xu3gz]

@@Fluoride_Jones I have, and I had more long term lingering injuries from BJJ than I ever got from boxing. I also just don't like it, it's not my cup of tea.

[@williamsmith8790]

When I was coming up we did hard, knockout, sparring all the time. Our ability to do math well suffered for it, but it was how you did it. I saw guys knocked out in the PALs gym all the time. If they agreed to this level of intensity I don’t see the problem. That looked like the guy was more off balance and slipped a little than wobbled.

[@tfjzz]

by now it should be clear that conor is not worth anyone's time..his ego got the best of him..sad to see..good points Gabriel as always

[@river4837]

Very good advise from a pro.

[@nwbdirge1198]

My gym makes it very clear when it's light sparring and occasionally hard sparring with just the people who ate doing fights

[@lazybeachbum9394]

I was just thinking this a few minutes ago. I also thought sparring was light tapa. No power. I've seen so much people getting ko'd with headgear in sparring.

[@tonya1425]

I used to think hard sparring was a big no for me, but after losing my first amateur fight, I wish I did more of it. You can’t really learn unless you’re going 100% because that’s how the fights gonna be.

[@connorperrett9559]

This is extremely common from younger guys, and I think it does help up to a point with hardening the mind and getting new people used to hitting and getting hit. From older and much more experienced guys it just seems unprofessional, though.

[@Barsymatik]

I spar boxing light but had a hard one only once. Dont u get more out of a hard spar than a light spar? Light spar also lets u last longer two practice some moves like tryiing to walk down someone or sitting on the ropes

[@familys6076]

He MUST fight Mike Perry bare knuckle in BKFC! 🍿

[@LA-dh1bq]

Yeah I think once you get to a certain level hard sparring does more damage than good imo.

[@FRESHL1887]

WTF? I haven't been watching McGregor recently. He grew huge😲

[@GabrielVargaOfficial]

Yeah. Looks like he's walking with an extra 25lbs easy.

[@FRESHL1887]

@@GabrielVargaOfficial Well, as a man of his genetic size. Do you think he can achieve that without any "boosters"?

[@Des420]

Cocaine is a hell of a drug. So is testosterone.

[@johncarroll772]

The clip of sugar Ray Leonard sparring pretending to be Bruce Lee is fantastic

[@zsoltbartha900]

Gold! True!

[@lomuz0]

I've been telling my guys even preparing for fight go at fight speed and intensity ,control the follow through, and if you really do land something clean and your opponent clearly affected, don't follow up, there is nothing to prove after. stop and reset.

[@ozmosyd]

100% - I admire McGregor, but yeh he should called it then I reckon. I agree with your take on this completely

[@mmaforwoman6383]

In his first day on SBGi Connor knocked out a girl. His coach John Kavanagh described this episode in the book " Win or learn"

[@fabriceclavien5460]

Wise words! Thanks Gabriel for helping the martial arts community train, not only in a more civilised fashion, but simply smarter

[@yomly]

what are your thoughts about the aspect of training "heart"?

[@mementomori5374]

I hope conor is giving those sparring PARTNERS some good money

[@sexygrandpa169]

hes training his ego 😂🤣

[@robertosodini4789]

can you make a video of what make tawanchai dangerous?

[@wolfhawk1999]

If you're knocking your partner down you either aren't ready to spar or you are an asshole. Rarely it may just be a mistake, but most of the time it's one of those two

[@rosemarietolentino3218]

One Champagneship you have to be humble it’s the culture. UFC You have Narcissistic bullies it’s the culture.

[@Bucephalus84]

And which is thriving vs in debt?. Ufc knows how to build fights and fighters. They are narc bc they are huge stars thanks to the platform and $.

[@markkelly4407]

You need to show the full clip of him sparring he spars multiple partners of all different weights and how do you know if his sparring partners don’t want to go 💯

[@silverwolf6194]

He also threw a sidekick to his partners knee.

[@eddard9442]

At 1:20? you cal that a side it, that is an oblique kick, it checks your oppoents advance, its is not a power strike, 2. As all fighters should know to keep your knees bent this would do nothing. I spar with a guy that does it all the time, i was a bit off put at first but i realised it has no power and my knees being bent makes it 100% safe, it just stops me getting close enough to punch. Now if i charged at someone and had straightened my knee, locked out and i took an oblique yes i can get a mild hyperextension but that it largely my fault.

[@huwhitecavebeast1972]

Yes, but he totally pulled it. It was the one good thing I saw him do. He was training his Jon jones technique.

[@huwhitecavebeast1972]

@@eddard9442 You can make oblique kicks power kicks. And even if your knee is bent if the kick comes from the side it can still blow your knee out. It's a common technique to destroy knees in martial arts like Silat. I've seen it done, multiple times.

[@silverwolf6194]

@eddard9442 For the oblique kick, you use your back leg to kick. The kick has an oblique trajectory, hence the name.

[@richardpanini971]

Chandler: sparring with top teir ufc fighters Mcgregor: sparring amateurs

[@shino8854]

The Champ does what the fook he wants.

[@unknownentity8256]

1:05 What you want to say here is "Conor has been juicing"

[@Man-iy9jk]

I noticed that when mcgregor gets close and then pushes his opponents to get them back at long range. Would you be an advocate of that technique or do you think it is too risky (i.e. exposing ones chin etc.)? He gets away with it, but it is against other mma fighters.

[@Prokaryotes642]

I have a genuine question about that, I do feel though that by sparring harder/stronger I have to force myself to be faster and more technical because I don’t want to get hurt, which makes me improve faster. Does that make sense? We don’t try to knock each other out but I do leave with a few concussions sometimes and that’s kind how I learned my lessons keeping guard up, duck in time, ect. Not sure if you guys have had the same feeling/experience, basically learning by paying for my mistakes kind of..

[@ericmcmurray7449]

Y’all sound like a bunch of kindergarten teachers. I’m pretty sure that fella knew what he was getting himself into.

[@bigoldawg2791]

You also dont put your sparring partners on blast like that