Conor McGregor is taking his coaching role on The Ultimate Fighter reality TV series very seriously.
‘Notorious’ has been out of action since July 2021 having broken his leg in his trilogy bout defeat against Dustin Poirier.
But he is back fit and filming the long-running MMA show alongside Michael Chandler, which will culminate in a fight between each other.
The series, that sees fighters compete for a UFC contract, is set to air between May and August, but filming is under way and brief snippets of action from season 31 of The Ultimate Fighter are sporadically popping up on social media.
On Friday, Twitter user @FullCombat_ uploaded a clip that showed the former dual-weight champion wearing a three-piece suit while barking instructions at one of his fighters who was competing for a place in the next round.
He said: “Beautiful shot! From the wrist to the shot. Beautiful knee to the body. Back up again, back up. Back up, face the fence. Get into a pad on the fence."
As the fight seemingly moves from grappling to striking, McGregor implored his fighter to unleash big shots and praised him for listening to his advice.
He added: “Let me see another elbow. Another elbow to the mush. That’s what it’s about, put leather on him! Keep putting that leather on him.”
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The video also shows Chandler giving his fighter instructions, but in the majority of the footage he is being drowned out by McGregor’s famous Irish accent.
This is not the first time ‘Mystic Mac’ has coached on TUF and anyone who watched his previous stint will already know he gets seriously passionate about his fighters.
While filming the show alongside MMA legend Urijah Faber in 2015, McGregor lost his cool when a fighter repeatedly ignored the cageside advice he was giving.
The 34-year-old threw his glasses and smacked the Octagon canvas while branding his fighter, Sascha Sharma, a ‘b****’ and ‘f****** pussy’ for repeatedly pulling guard during his fight with Chris Gruetzemacher.
Gruetzemacher ultimately walked away with a decision victory following a tiebreaker third round and McGregor was forced to talk to the UFC cameras about the fight where he was furious.
Sharma later explained his tactics were due to a shoulder injury he was dealing with and accepted that the UFC superstar had every right to be angry about his performance.
Eight years later, it appears McGregor is bringing the same passion to the latest TUF series ahead of his eagerly anticipated comeback bout later this year.
It’s currently unclear when or where he will fight Chandler, but UFC president Dana White has suggested they will compete at lightweight despite McGregor undergoing a bulky body transformation during his time away from fighting.
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