You don’t have to be Einstein to figure out that Conor McGregor is a seriously impressive athlete, but he has the numbers to back it up.
McGregor will take on Diego Brandao in the headline event at UFC Dublin this weekend and although it is first UFC fight since suffering a serious knee injury against Max Jones in Boston last October, he’s going into the event in serious shape.
The man known as The Notorious was put through his paces by sports scientist Professor Greg Whyte recently and as has been the case with pretty much every test he’s faced in his career to date, he aced it, with Whyte saying afterwards that McGregor had the aerobic capacity of a Premier League footballer and the strength endurance of an elite rugby player.
McGregor was tested in a number of different areas including cardiovascular endurance, anaerobic capacity, strength endurance and maximum power, and Whyte, who has worked with a number of elite athletes, was very impressed.
Whyte was speaking at an EA Sports UFC testing event and you can read more of his analysis of McGregor on Sky Sports
here, but we’ve included some of his most interesting quotes about McGregor’s athletic capacity below.
On the condition of MMA fighters...
“I’d describe MMA fighters as the complete package. Scientifically speaking, they demonstrate excellence in all areas. For example, a marathon runner may outrun Conor but would have nowhere near his strength. They are the jack of all trades and the master of one – that one is fighting.”
On McGregor's endurance capacity...
“His VO2 max is similar to a Premier League midfielder. They run 10-12km a game with short breaks whereas Conor competes for up to 25 minutes. That is all-out effort and his endurance capacity is right up there with the best midfielders. It is his ability to recover before returning to his peak which is impressive and those values are similar to those of footballers.
Try this at home... or maybe don't...
“In 30 seconds, he did 23 full extension pull-ups and burpees. Try doing that at home!"
On the attitude to MMA...
“MMA is a new area for sports science that needs testing. Attitudes have changed; it is a credible sport and will become a mainstream sport. People understand athletes and putting a number on their abilities helps to appreciate them. These guys are elite and up there with any sportsman that I have worked with. Their diet and training ranks alongside anything.
On the future of MMA training...
“MMA is comprised of sports that have great understanding, discipline and structure so I am not surprised to see Conor perform to this level. I see a modernisation in the way they train which is a natural progression due to the input of science. Other sports have benefitted from it for decades so I expect MMA will learn from that and I expect to see its athletes’ training accelerate in a short space of time.”
