Article by Thesun.co.uk written by Jack Figgs
PUNCHER'S CHANCE
CONOR McGREGOR has released intense training pictures - after his boxing coach claimed he already knows which punch will knock out Donald Cerrone.
McGregor is just a week away from his return to the cage and will face American veteran Cerrone, 36, in a welterweight clash.
The Irish star has been ramping up his preparation after touching down in Las Vegas and gave fans a glimpse of his training with photos of him on the pads.
It comes days after McGregor released footage of him hitting the pads with long-time striking coach Owen Roddy and Irish amateur boxing legend Phil Sutcliffe Sr.
Two-time Olympian Sutcliffe - who once frowned upon MMA - revealed he has watched all of Cerrone’s fights and reckons he has identified the shot that will close the show for McGregor.
Sutcliffe told TheMacLife: “I was never really fond of the game, MMA, I see a different outlook on it now because I’ve been over at John’s (Kavanagh) gym looking at the boys.
“I’ve watched it on TV and I know the skillsets first hand now and what kind of training they go through and the body and mindset it takes to get in there.
"(I’ve watched) Every one of (Cerrone’s) fights, everyone that's on YouTube. I watched them today, we've watched them over and over, about 50 times.
"We all see the same shot that would work, and Conor will see them as well.”
When McGregor was 12-years-old he walked into his first gym - the Crumlin Amateur Boxing Club headed up by Sutcliffe.
But he dropped the boxing gloves at 16 to take up MMA, despite winning youth amateur championships.
McGregor returned to Sutcliffe ahead of his UFC come back to work on his boxing, as he looks to bounce back from defeat to Khabib Nurmagomedov in October 2018.
The Notorious admitted he was “disrespectful” to his training and “lacked commitment” before his loss to bitter rival Nurmagomedov.
But Sutcliffe claimed since his arrival in McGregor's camp, the former two-weight champion looks revived and focused in his work in the gym.
He explained: "I've never seen him before any fight, I've seen him on the TV, but speaking to him on a regular basis now his persona, his attitude has gone through the roof.
"He's so confident, he's so happy, the camp has been great. One of the lads said it's the best camp they've been on.
"So the little bit of boxing that's been brought in hopefully it's given it that little bit of culture, a little bit of razzmatazz, showbusiness - which it is, right?
"We can go into the show business, I'm used to it when it's boxing but there's very little difference in the build-up to a big boxing fight and this fight.
"Everyone is calm, it's cool, everything is going great for Conor, he has a great bunch of guys there, two fantastic coaches, his coaching team between all the boys that's where we're all gelling together."