Henry Cejudo is rekindling his beef with Conor McGregor.
Earlier this year, Cejudo and McGregor began feuding over social media, with Cejudo offering the former two-division champion advice that McGregor took none too kindly. That led to Cejudo teasing a potential fight between the two at 155 pounds, but ultimately the feud died down. Cejudo now wants to revive it.
In a video posted to his YouTube channel on Wednesday, Cejudo again critiqued some recent training footage McGregor put up on his social media, including hitting pads and some mobility exercises.
“Conor McGregor might be the real King of Cringe if you look at it,” Cejudo said. Talk about the return of macarena. Look at Conor McGregor out there twerking. He’s just trying to be elusive [circles the hip].. I think I get what he’s trying to do but in reality it’s not his mobility that he needs help on. He needs more help on understanding leverage and how to distribute his weight when being taken down… You should place more emphasis on tactical training than movements…
” No setup, no twitch or inching in. The entry is not disguised. These are important things. It could be a powerful kick, the only problem is, everyone is going to know it’s coming because it’s done naked. This is why you want to train as you would practice. Many people think, “Oh you hit pads!” It does not matter. No matter what you do, it doesn’t really matter. You just have to ensure you are doing all of it correctly. It’s not enough to throw naked. He throws one punch and then he bounces out, and then he comes out of position again. Fighting is all about discipline. Do I have to stay there? Do I have to dance while I get ready for the hit pad? This stuff is important. Out of position again. Are you able to stay in one place for the entire time? That little bouncy stuff, back and forth, when you do that to recover — you’ve got to get accustomed to just being [in range] the whole time, and if you’re really going to get out, get the hell out. When you are in the presence of your coach, don’t bounce around. That stuff’s not going to help you.
” Can Conor crack? Yes, he is capable of cracking. But he also has the potential to be a good athlete. Pads don’t hit back. It is possible to have your knees come in and you can be taken down. This is Conor’s biggest problem. Conor needs to improve on many things. All these movements back and forth and then, boom, he goes. That’s stuff is not going to help him. That stuff is going to get him tired. It’s better for Conor to use his energy more efficiently.”
Much of Cejudo’s criticism echoes his same remarks on previous McGregor training videos. Cejudo even admits he might be singling McGregor out, but maintains that his critiques are valid.
” It almost seems like I pick on Conor a lot. That’s the same reason I became the best in the world. That’s the same reason I became the Triple C…
“Conor McGregor, I’m going to give you some tips here. You must be very focused on the details of your entries if you are serious about your training. You don’t want to be able to hide what you are doing. Power’s not the key, man. You’re precise. It doesn’t take that much power to knock somebody out, but you tend to like the physique style of look. But get away from that, man. Study your positions, study fakes, study feints, study the real distance game, adjust your stance, because if you’re able to do that, Conor, maybe, just maybe you’ll be able to be a top contender.”
Unsurprisingly, McGregor didn’t take long to respond to Cejudo, firing back at his fellow champ-champ on Twitter.
Haha show me your head kick on the power pad, my bro
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) August 31, 2022
McGregor has been out of action since shattering his leg in his trilogy fight with Dustin Poirier at UFC 264, but is targeting a return to the cage early next year. Meanwhile, Cejudo retired from MMA in 2020 but re-entered the USADA testing pool earlier this year, with the intent of chasing a fight against UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski.
