We finally have actual video of UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor’s sparring session with former 140 and 147-pound boxing champ Paulie Malignaggi, and it was released by none other than UFC president Dana White.
If you wanted to determine once and for all whether Malignaggi, who retired from competition earlier this year after a knockout loss to Sam Eggington, was knocked down or pushed down (or both?!) by McGregor, you can see for yourself.
Malignaggi said that he was pushed and not dropped, after a photo of him down on the canvas surfaced online. The 36-year-old has disparaged McGregor and his team for the way he says they treated him throughout his time at Conor’s camp.
The second clip doesn’t feature a knockdown, but does show McGregor cracking Paulie with a straight left, and it also looks as if McGregor punched him on the back/neck area and the back of the head at the end of the video.
At Friday’s media workout, McGregor said Malignaggi was “badly concussed,” the sparring “did not go well for him” and that he was “busted up bad.”
Conor McGregor fights Floyd Mayweather Jr. (49-0, 26 KOs) on Saturday, August 26th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Malignaggi is set to work as an analyst for Showtime on this lucrative pay-per-view fight.
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