Dylan Moran Exclusive: Conor McGregor is back in sparring for UFC return

Speaking exclusively to Sporting Post, Conor McGregor’s former sparring partner confirmed ‘The Notorious’ is back sparring ahead of a UFC return. Moran, who had a public spat with Jake Paul and vowed to ‘rip his head off’ has also quashed the beef with the American before his bout with Nate Diaz.

The Irish welterweight contender vowed to ‘stand Florian Marku on his head’ and admitted he would be keen to face Conor Benn in the near future.

Conor McGregor is sparring and training again - we WILL see him back in the Octagon

"I’d love to see him back in the Octagon, I know for a fact he is seriously training away. He’s also seriously sparring away as well as we speak, I don’t know specifically when he is going to be back in the ring."

“However, I know that he is grafting away really seriously outside of fighting as well. He is absolutely smashing it in business. The Forged Irish Stout has dropped in Irish Shell garages and it is a really big deal back here. He has got other things on his plate at the moment, but I can confidently predict we will see him back in the Octagon."

“When that will be, I can’t exactly predict, but I know we most certainly will. Me and Conor get on really well, I leave him be and don’t blow up his phone because he certainly has a lot to be getting on with! If we bump into each other at a show, it’s great to see him always. Me and his coach, Phil Sutcliffe, the whole team is like family as well.”

I wanted to rip Jake Paul’s head off - but I now respect him and looking forward to Nate Diaz fight

“If I am going to be honest, it actually has! That was a very weird time in my life; I had COVID-19 and I was locked up in a room in Dubai, but there I was having a spat on Twitter with Jake Paul - definitely one to tell the grandchildren."

“At the time I didn’t like the guy, but when he took the Tommy Fury fight I did get a little bit of respect for him because he went in there to shoot his shot and now he’s fighting Nate Diaz."

“So hats off to the guy, he’s left me alone and not had a go at me since so he’s not that bad. Diaz is absolutely no pushover and he is as tough as they come. So if Jake Paul was to somehow beat him, my respect for him would go up just that little bit more as well. Oddly enough, I am actually looking forward to it as well!”

I would ‘100% fight Conor Benn’ if I beat Florian Marku

“I would 100% like to fight Conor Benn if I get a statement performance against Marku, I know Florian is my golden ticket. He is the man standing in the way of me achieving my dreams, I have given my life to this game."

“I’m not looking past him to be fair, but he is someone I would love to face next to welcome him back to the ring.”

Florian Mark is ‘made for me’

“I think he is made for me, this is the style I box best again. Florian is coming off a 12-month lay-off and I think it is horrible matchmaking for him if I am honest. I’ve had to come up a different road; selling tickets, doing what I have had to do and I haven’t fought guys at the level of Florian yet - that’s clear to see. But, in saying that, this fight is going to bring out a Dylan Moran you haven’t seen yet. I’ve pushed through all those bad days, the struggles and the challenges."

“I knew that when the opportunity comes, I am good enough to beat these guys and, if I didn’t believe that, I would have just packed it in.”

I’m going to ‘stand Florian Marku on his head and then sign for Boxxer’

“I think it is a real thing, but to be fair to Florian, he lives the life. But I am the same, every day I am in the gym and training, even without a fight date booked. Most guys don’t do that, but to be fair to Florian he is committed. I just think 12 months out of the ring is going to have an effect in terms of ring rust."

“We plan on pushing the pace, if you watch Florian he tends to take the first minute of the round off. He likes to walk around, talk to the referee, there are three minutes in the round and he probably works for a minute of it."

“Our plan is to push the pace while he spends those remaining two minutes trying to get his breath back. When we do that, we will plan to take him into deep waters. I’m going to stand Florian Marku on his head and then I’m going to sign for Boxxer.”

Liam Smith will beat Chris Eubank again if he tries to fight like Roy Jones Jr

“I think it will end up exactly the same unless Eubank changes something, and by ‘changes something’ I mean go back to the Eubank of old - the ferocious warrior who throws punches in bunches. He can’t go on and try to be that Roy Jones style because I don’t think it suited him at all."

“If Eubank is to come out and be Eubank, then maybe we can see something different. But if I had to pick again, I would be putting my money on Smith.”

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