"Do what the f**king gym tells" - When Kevin Holland stressed upon why Conor McGregor should not take "a rich person's approach"

Conor McGregor's success in MMA has been a function of his fighting skills and promotional abilities. A series of lackluster performances over the last five years have severely affected the perception of his relevance in the competitive sphere of the UFC.

McGregor's comeback fight against Dustin Poirier at UFC 257 raised a lot of questions about his future and people within the MMA community presented their own ideas about the Irishman's decline. UFC fighter Kevin Holland and his coach Travis Lutter made an appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast back in February 2021 and gave their two cents on the matter.

The duo discussed McGregor's future after the devastating knockout loss. While Lutter firmly believed that McGregor's days at the top were over, Kevin Holland felt there was still hope for 'The Notorious' to reclaim the top spot.

Holland admitted that he was a Conor McGregor fan and had a bias towards him. He said:

“I think, it’s more so that time, that time going to boxing and then coming over, first fight back fighting Khabib Nurmagomedov and then you take time off, and then you come back and then you fight Cowboy and then pandemic comes. You take a whole another year off. Then you come back and fight Dustin Poirier.”

He added:

“I don’t necessarily think it's over for the guy. I just think the guy has to not take a rich person's approach. I think he has to take more of an approach he took back in the day when he was on welfare. Go out there and get it. Stop telling everybody what your training schedule is going to be. Just do what the f***ing gym tells. "

Watch the full podcast episode here.

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Conor McGregor has a three-fight roadmap for his comeback

Conor McGregor has been on a long layoff since suffering a nasty leg break in his UFC 264 trilogy fight against Dustin Poirier. While he was expected to fight Michael Chandler later in 2023, he failed to enroll in the USADA testing pool in time to bring the fight to fruition.

Additionally, the Irishman has been calling out the BMF champion Justin Gaethje since his impressive head-kick knockout win over Dustin Poirier at UFC 291. While speaking to TalkSPORT in August, Conor McGregor listed the names of opponents he wants next and said:

“Chandler, I have to do it. I’ve just got to do that. I’m gonna grab him by the chest and smack him. That’s what I’ve got to do. Chandler next in December and then Gaethje, BMF, and then we’ll do the Nate trilogy.”

‘The Notorious’ was eyeing a December return but his fight may not get booked before early 2024.