Conor McGregor breaks down the now infamous Conor McGregor shadow boxing routine that became the topic of the internet recently.

‘Spaghetti arms’ and other terms were given to the flowing arms of Conor McGregor in recent weeks after a video went viral, giving birth to the McGregor challenge in many boxing gyms.

It turns out however that it’s not just a shadow boxing style – it also acts as a warm up for the Irishman and is a technique that evolved from looking at Brazilian Jiu Jitsu great Hickson Gracie.

McGregor coach John Kavanagh initially modelled it for McGregor and his students from watching Gracie but then adapted things over time.

Speaking on the subject to the Mac Life, Kavanagh said:

“I guess when I saw Hickson (Gracie) do it I used to just mimic it but I didn’t really know why. Then when Ido (Portal) came in he spoke about the separation of the shoulder and how to develop power with this sort of whip technique. If you watch old Bruce Lee interviews he talks about this kind of a ball on the end of a chain. If you look at a lot of guys, especially boxers – the kind of rounded shoulders and MMA fighters like the classic Wanderlei Silva pose – all the shoulders round. It’s all solid. They’re kind of blocking themselves from getting the free whip in the shot. I put up a tweet initially that saying they’re confused, then they ridicule is, then they watch us then they mimic us.”

He added:

“I’ve no doubt when the boxing community sees some of those shots land that they might re-watch that and take it a bit more serious.”

Kavanagh comes across as a very calculating, precise coach, totally convinced that his student will not just beat Floyd Mayweather this weekend – but flat out dominate him.

Someone is going to be very, very wrong between him and Floyd Mayweather’s camp on Saturday. For the full interview above check it out here via Mac Life YouTube (hat tip):