Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov Working With Former SBG Fighter Myles Price In Preparation For UFC 229
A former Straight Blast Gym fighter, Myles Price, who spent a lot of his time sparring and training alongside Conor McGregor in the early phases of career before the Irishman rose to fame, now works out at American Kickboxing Academy. Price who said he’s helping undefeated 155-pound champ Khabib Nurmagomedov train ahead of UFC 229 title fight against “The Notorious.”
Price detailed why he had to depart the SBG a few years ago as he had a fractured relationship with his now former sparring partner Conor Mcgregor during that time.
“I’ll be honest with you, I never really got on well with Conor within the gym because me and Conor sparred a lot. At the time, Conor was taking fights at lightweight,” Price said on the latest episode of Eurobash (transcript via MMA Fighting).
“I understand the hierarchy within gyms. Even here at AKA you have heated spars, but afterwards we shake each other’s hands, we talk about what we can work on and develop as training partners or as a team.
“Basically, with Conor, he’s quite narcissistic. He’ll see you as competition. He’s not very nice to be around in the gym. If you’re giving him hard spars, he won’t see you as a friend after a while.”
Price also went on to explain that he was impressed with Khabib’s bodywork during sparring.
“It’s like having a wet blanket on you in every single session,” he said. “When I jump in and do my session with Khabib, it just feels like there is no stopping him, he just keeps coming at you. When people commentate on his fights, it’s [very accurate] when they say it’s a shock when you feel what he feels like at first. I imagined what it was going to be like, but that was a whole other level of pressure. It’s calculated, it’s smart, it’s vigorous — it just keeps on coming at you over and over again.”
Price also praised Russian’s striking game, which he believes can pose some threat to Mcgregor at UFC 229.
“His stand up has gone through the roof,” Price said of Nurmagomedov. “He’s going to have some tricks up his sleeve on Oct. 6th, that’s all I’m going to say.”
After sparring with Khabib, as well compare that to Mcgregor’s previous sparring sessions, Price anticipates ‘Eagle’ a victor on October 6.
“I don’t want to seem biased because I’m over here training with Khabib, because I have a lot of respect for Conor as an athlete. He’s an amazing athlete, there’s no doubt in the world about that. Anyone that questions that is very foolish because I’ve felt him in spars, he’s extraordinary, he’s a hard worker and when he’s mentally on point he performs extremely well,” he explained.
“My feelings have completely changed since I came over here because I’ve added training sessions and feeling what Khabib is like to my opinion. Khabib is a very good athlete, he’s a dangerous athlete and he can take a shot too. Everybody takes shots in the gym, but in my opinion, Khabib is very hard to hit at the moment. He’s a grinding, hard wrestler and his conditioning is on a completely different level now. Most importantly, his psyche is very strong. He’s very strong mentally and that’s what the deciding factor is going to be in this fight. Anyone that hasn’t taken Conor personally, emotionally or that hasn’t attached themselves to Conor has done well or beaten Conor. That’s what Khabib is doing now. Forget where he’s at physically, because psychologically is where he’s going to win the battle.
“If I had to make a quick [prediction] now, I’d probably say round three or round four, Khabib TKOs him. Just ground pound, taking him down, beating on him and the referee stops it.”
Do you think sparring with Mcgregor’s former training partner will serve a key advantage to Khabib?
