Coach Mike Winklejohn just witnessed his star pupil in former UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Holly Holm knockout Bethe Correia in the main event of UFC Fight Night: Singapore.
When it comes to the boxing super fight between UFC Lightweight Champion Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather, the famed coach is of the belief that McGregor can catch Mayweather early in the fight.
“Oh, I think if I was to put money on it I’d put Mayweather,” Winkeljohn said on The MMA Hour. “But I think Conor has a chance early on. I think if Conor can come in with some different things that Floyd hasn’t seen, off-angle things that he can attack so Floyd can’t hide behind his shoulder as such, he could pull off a surprise. But that would play out real quickly if Conor’s thinking those thoughts.”
Winklejohn has coached in the boxing realm as way, most notably with the aforementioned Holly Holm. The coach also predicts that McGregor is going to have to show Mayweather something new if he is going to beat him.
“He’s got to come to the table with something that Floyd hasn’t seen much before,” he said. “And those are the things Conor can do. Conor’s very athletic. Conor’s got a great understanding of angles and footwork. But to do those things, that takes a lot of energy. And in a world title fight do you hold back because you’re worried about running out of gas, or do you just let it go? And that’s tough. That’s a hard call to make on the outside, trying to figure out what’s going on in a fighter’s mind.”
Conor McGregor versus Floyd Mayweather takes place on Saturday, August 26 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
