Eddie Alvarez’ striking coach predicts Conor McGregor can beat Floyd Mayweather

This past weekend, UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor stepped into the Octagon to square off against UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez in a highly anticipated matchup, headlining the UFC’s historic inaugural event at the Madison Square Garden. McGregor of course cemented his place in the UFC history books as he dominated Alvarez from bell to bell, dropping the gritty MMA veteran just moments into the fight, before ultimately finishing him in the 2nd round with a beautiful 4-punch combination.

Following the fight, McGregor was compared to undefeated boxing icon Floyd Mayweather, which didn’t go over too well with ‘Money’, McGregor fired back, and threw fuel on the flames of a rumor of a fight between the two.

Now, Eddie Alvarez’ striking coach, Mark Henry, spoke on The Luke Thomas Show to explain why he believes McGregor could actually beat Floyd Mayweather in a boxing match:

“You cannot teach somebody how to swing like that. It takes hips, it takes a certain shoulder, it takes a flick of the wrist, there are so many tiny mechanics. What it takes to make an eyeball work is what it takes to make the perfect swing. Like Babe Ruth. I just compare Conor – his swing – to Babe Ruth. I always watch tape of it but to be that close and watch it was a whole other thing.

“It comes along once in a lifetime or once every hundred years or what not. I dhink God has just blessed him with a swing that I’ll probably never see again. Before this fight, I would highly doubt him fighting Mayweather, but I think this dude can take out Mayweather. I’m not even joking.”

Despite the fact that boxing is obviously Floyd Mayweather’s specialty, whereas McGregor would be less familiar and comfortable in the Boxing ring, Henry still believes McGregor could win the fight.

“I don’t know if it went [long] but I could easily see him knocking anybody out. Like I said, it’s like a Babe Ruth swing. There’s so many little things that you need to make it work, like even if you lean a little forward too much or you don’t turn your hips at the exact time. Also too, his range. He knows his range so well. A punch could be an inch – less than that – seven centimeters from his face and he won’t pull his head back at times because he knows it’s not gonna hit. So a lot of times he’ll slide back his head and counter, but if you don’t slide back your head, the punch comes even faster and there’s time he won’t even slip back his head because he knows it’s not gonna hit him.

“And not even that, to go farther. Like that last four-punch combination he threw on Eddie, to know where his head is gonna be on all four moves. He just knows way ahead of time where you’re gonna be. So many different things go into what he’s doing. His eyes are so focused to just know where somebody’s head is gonna be or tricking somebody where their head is gonna be, setting it up with your feet. What he does is just incredible.”