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Owen Roddy Excited At The Prospect Of McGregor vs. Cowboy In January

(From left to right) Kavanagh, McGregor, and Roddy in preperation for Floyd Mayweather Jr. boxing match.

Former Straight Blast Gym Ireland striking coach, Owen Roddy, has spoke of his excitement at the possibility of a lightweight meeting between his long term pupil, Conor McGregor, and fan-favorite, Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone.

Roddy, who has partnered John Kavanagh in the McGregor corner for every bout in the Dubliner's Octagon career, played a huge role in the counter-striker's preparation for his 2017 boxing match opposite, Floyd Mayweather Jr. Despite the recent rumblings of a fallout between the trio, Roddy has reassured us that he will feature in McGregor's corner when he makes his expected January 18th. return against Cerrone. In a recent interview with Farah Hannoun from MMA Junkie, Roddy confirmed his appearance in the corner, and gave his thoughts on the potential pairing.

"Yup, yup, yup - yeah definitely, yeah," Roddy said. "If it is 'Cowboy' (Cerrone) it would be an exciting fight, yeah. I said this a couple of months ago: 'Cowboy' and Conor (McGregor) is a great fight for the fans. Two guys that are exciting strikers - although 'Cowboy' is phenomenal on the ground, as well, but I think if it was a fight between them, It would be a striking battle, and I think it would be one for the fans, so if it is that, it'll be an exciting one."

McGregor, who turns thirty-two next year, has yet to step foot inside the Octagon since his UFC 229 defeat to bitter-foe, Khabib Nurmagomedov in October of last year, revealed a blueprint of three bouts over the course of the next twelve months. McGregor spoke of his January return while carrying out a press tour for Parimatch in Russia and Ukraine recently, and told how he would also look to be paired with the winner of Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz who met for the BMF title two weeks ago. With Masvidal leaving Madison Square Garden victorious, McGregor must overcome 'Gamebred' before a meeting with either the aforementioned Nurmagomedov or Tony Ferguson for lightweight gold. Roddy further told of McGregor's training regime, which one could speculate is about to ramp up with SBG Ireland head coach Kavanagh telling how the Dublin facility will be closed to "non-members" between 10a.m. and 4p.m.

"I know he's working very hard. There's no official date set yet, but Conor's been training very hard, as you can see. He's in good nick. If you're looking at any of the pictures, he's in phenomenal shape, he's ready to go. I'm sure everybody's excited to see him back. I just want to see Conor back in. I think everybody just wants to see Conor back in the UFC, bring back that spectacle that is his fights. Nobody does it like Conor, and for me, I just want to see him back in there. Whatever happens after that, who knows?"

As for Colorado native Cerrone, a matchup with McGregor has been a considerable time in the making. The two were primed to meet until Cerrone's welterweight excursion, and an injury to Rafael dos Anjos before UFC 196 almost sealed the pairing, until Nate Diaz stepped in on short-notice. 'Cowboy' has featured at lightweight in his last four Octagon walks, besting both Alexander Hernandez and Al Iaquinta, before double-stoppage losses to former interim title holder Tony Ferguson, and top contender, Justin Gaethje.

➜Twitter: ://twitter.com/Ross_Markey



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