Conor McGregor looked "sharp" in his return to MMA training according to teammate Darragh Kelly - despite concerns over his broken leg.
The legendary former two-division UFC champion snapped his leg during his trilogy bout with Dustin Poirier last summer, and was unable to train in his main MMA gym for almost a year due to the severity of the injury. But earlier this summer, just days shy of the anniversary of the break, he returned to SBG Ireland's South Dublin HQ for a number of sessions.
Kelly, a Bellator prospect with a 1-0 professional record, was on the mats as McGregor rolled with teammates in his home gym, before posing for photos with members and meeting fellow fighters. The Dubliner had been in attendance at Kelly's professional debut, and they reunited at the gym for a brief chat and a set of pictures, which McGregor himself posted to social media.
There have since been concerns about McGregor's injury, with some fearing that he won't return as he continues to enjoy life away from the octagon. But Kelly believes that he looked as good as ever on the mats, and will come back at welterweight as he promised.
"When Conor comes back the energy in the place is unreal," Kelly told Mirror Fighting ahead of his sophomore outing against Kye Stevens tomorrow night at the 3Arena. "All the grown men turn into kids f***ing staring and looking for photos, so it's great because obviously that's why half the people are in SBG probably because of Conor so it's great seeing him about.
"I watched him roll and he looked sharp. He looks really good, he looks fairly big so I'm not too sure and I wouldn't know but he looks like a welterweight anyway."
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Kelly faces Kye Stevens on the prelims of tomorrow night's Bellator 285 show in Dublin, and is excited to add to his highlight reel of wins after winning his debut at the same arena within two minutes. He has made the lightweight limit despite his larger frame, and is excited at the prospect of putting on a show in the famous Irish venue.
"At this point a few days out I'm just excited," he added. "My weight's good, I didn't have to focus too much on the cut and I could just focus on the fight. I'm just really excited to get in there and I feel like I'm 100 per cent ready. I get down really easy, I made featherweight eight times so once you've been through that lightweight is a f***ing walk in the park.
"We've eight fighters from SBG on this card and everyone is flying off the energy on fight week. I see it as a really exciting, positive time and everyone knows SBG is a very positive place to be a few days out from these Bellator cards."
