Conor McGregor’s heated sparring sessions with Paulie Malignaggi have been one of the top talking points in the lead-up to McGregor’s Aug. 26 fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr., and UFC president Dana White just poured a bucket of fuel on that fire.
Malignaggi made headlines earlier this month after he quit McGregor’s camp when several photos of their sparring sessions were leaked online. The former multiple weight class world champion, who officially retired from boxing in March, was brought into McGregor’s camp to be a sparring partner. Malignaggi believed the photos posted were misleading and disrespectful in nature since they showed him on the canvas and McGregor landing flush.
If Malignaggi didn’t like the photos, he certainly won’t like the video White posted online early Saturday morning.
White attended a sparring session that took place Aug. 1 at the UFC’s Performance Institute in Las Vegas where McGregor has been preparing for Mayweather. Recording devices were not permitted during the sparring sessions, however White appears to have broken the rules.
In the 14-second clip McGregor can be seen landing several crisp straight lefts, one of which snaps Malignaggi’s head back, plus some small shots and rabbit punches.
It’s a small sample size and not necessarily indicative of how the entire sparring session unfolded, but for what it’s worth McGregor does look impressive.
It’s unclear exactly which round of the 12-round sparring session this sequence occurs. Malignaggi went into great detail telling his side of the story earlier this week, at one point saying he ran out of gas after round 10 of their second session and that McGregor “came on strong and landed some really good shots in [rounds] 11 and 12.”
White also posted footage of the alleged knockdown that was captured in a photo.
Malignaggi is one of the most respected analysts in boxing today and will be providing commentary for Mayweather-McGregor on fight night for Showtime Sports.
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