VIDEO | Watch Conor McGregor train shoulder strikes years before ‘Cowboy’ fight

Footage has been released of UFC superstar Conor McGregor training shoulder strikes with former UFC fighter Cathal Pendred years ago.

McGregor used shoulder strikes in his main event fight at UFC 246 against Donald Cerrone in the bout’s opening seconds and badly hurt “Cowboy” with them. After kicking Cerrone right in the chin with a high kick, McGregor was able to pummel Cerrone with punches on the mat and finish him for a 40-second TKO win in his long-awaited return to the Octagon.

While the head kick was what knocked Cerrone down, the shoulder strikes really set them up. In new footage that has been released, you can see that McGregor trained the same strikes years ago with Pendred, the former UFC welterweight.

Take a look at the video of McGregor training his shoulder strikes at SBG courtesy of Sean Sheehan.

https://twitter.com/SeanSheehanBA/status/1220012907683074049

“The @NotoriousMMA shoulder strikes caught on camera years ago sparring with @Pendred. @SevereMMA”

The finish by McGregor over Cerrone will set him up with a huge fight his next time out. Already the superstar has been linked to potential fights against Khabib Nurmagomdov, Jorge Masvidal, Kamaru Usman, Nate Diaz, and Justin Gaethje, but his next opponent has not been settled on just yet.

UFC president Dana White would like to see McGregor fight Nurmagomedov, but if McGregor believes a fight against someone like Masvidal is bigger, then he will likely be able to secure the matchup he wants. Ultimately the UFC will do whatever makes McGregor happy as he brings more to the table financially than any other fighter in the game.

Whenever he does get his next opponent set, they better be ready to eat a shoulder strike or two from McGregor in any potential fight.

Do you hope more fighters see the damage Conor McGregor caused by his shoulder strikes and use them more often in the future?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 1/23/2020.