Former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion Conor McGregor got some training in this past weekend in Atlanta. “The Notorious” was in town for the Super Bowl and stopped by American Top Team’s Atlanta, Georgia facility. While there, McGregor got to work on his jiu-jitsu skills with black belt Roan ‘Jucao’ Carneiro. Carneiro is a former UFC middleweight and welterweight competitor.
McGregor shared a photo of himself and Carneiro after their work. Of course, the speculation began to run wild. Some suggested that the Irishman was preparing to leave his longtime SBG Ireland team. However, speaking to The Body Lock, Carneiro confirmed that isn’t the case.
The black belt detailed he and McGregor’s training session, explaining that he showed the former “Champ Champ” a few of his tricks (via BJPenn.com):
“[Conor] was like ‘hey man, you want to roll?’ I said, ‘of course man, why not?’” Carneiro said. “Then we do one roll, five minutes and then the second roll, another five. And then the third, I have to be honest, it was my first training [session] after my [last] fight so I gassed a little bit.
“He’s like, ‘come on man, let’s go, one more, one more.’ Then he wanted championship rounds, so then we rolled for five five-minute rounds. He liked it a lot. We exchanged experience, I showed him some tricks. [I] just left my door open for him, whenever he wants to come, he is going to be welcomed.
“He changed what I thought about him — super nice guy, so respectful, I only have good things to tell about him.”
Given McGregor’s star power and great following, Carneiro’s social media blew up after he was shown on McGregor’s Instagram. He addressed the rumors that McGregor is now training with American Top Team, shutting them down:
“I saw he posted a picture on his social media,” Carneiro said. “I’m like, ‘wow,’ My Instagram, all social media, Twitter… Everything went crazy. [We’re] talking about calls, people were calling me. Then the rumors. ‘Oh, he’s going to be the next head coach,’ This is fake news. He might like the training, I’m sure he liked it, but we didn’t have any conversations about me being his trainer.
“He might [return] in the future, I leave the door open. If he wants my help, I definitely want to help him. To be honest, it will be an accomplishment if I’m able to make him beat the guy who beat him. That makes me go, ‘wow.’ I don’t care about his money,” Carneiro said.
“I don’t care about him being Conor McGregor. I don’t give a damn about it. My final goal is the victory. Bringing some guys from their adversity to conquer the results. That’s my philosophy.”
What do you think about Carneiro and McGregor training together?
