Movement Specialist Ido Portal responds to critics after Conor McGregor’s UFC 194 win

We told you about Conor Mcgregor‘s secret weapon Ido Portal before UFC 194, and if you didn’t pick up on that, that’s on you. Now look, the UFC has a new featherweight champion for the first time in years after McGregor ended Jose Aldo’s night in just 13-seconds this past Saturday in Las Vegas.

There have been critics of Ido Portal’s importance in Conor’s game, including former UFC heavyweight fighter Brendan Schaub during a UFC 194 recap on JRE.

How much exactly Portal’s movement training played into Conor’s win is hard to say at this point. But here’s what it didn’t do, it didn’t hurt Conor’s performance. And aside from that, Portal points out in a new post on his Facebook page that good movement is only one layer of the game and Conor had been into movement training for a long time before they met.

Portal also touched on what would have happened if Conor lost, his thoughts on Conor’s coach John Kavanagh, Gunnar Nelson’s loss and more.

Click “See More” above to view the full text from Ido’s Facebook post. Or read the copy/paste version below.

A LOT of attention we are getting in the last few days.
Thousands of messages a day, offers, etc so please bare with us.

All of this thanks to Conor McGregor crushing win.

Also a lot of hype, bullshit and keyboard experts who never did anything of magnitude in the field giving their feedback. Fair enough – anyone is entitled to have an opinion but lets put it into perspective:

1. Conor is an amazing fighter who wins because of chains of smart decisions – in the past, present and hopefully in the future. CHAINS of them. Not one.

2. One of those decisions was to start a more diverse movement approach – a long time ago by himself and recently with my help.

3. His knockout is a great boxing counter he has practiced a lot since his boxing days.

4. Being able to put that knockout left hand in the right rhythm, timing and position is something I’ve worked with him in the two weeks leading up to the fight via footwork pattern and drills but without heavy contact sparring as the time for sparring was long gone. I hope it helped but I know he had great timing and rhythm before he ever heard of me.

5. Conor’s coach Coach John Kavanagh is a unique individual – a great mind and a major reason this whole team is so amazing. He is also a person who invited me into his home gym and with all the media attention on the movement thing (since it is new and sexy) was continuing to promote me without being threatened or defensive. This has shown me what kind of a man he is. I am impressed and I am not impressed easily.

6. Gunnar Nelson lost his fight by decision but went to distance. Things did not align for Gunnar that night – he did NOT show what he is capable of doing but once the shit hit the fan, he did show fucking VIKING warrior spirit and went to the end without being submitted or taken out by a very experienced opponent.
Gunnar is a different individual. He will show the world what he is made of in the future. I have nothing but full faith in him. Keyboard experts who criticize him – you bunch of wussies wouldnt even survive the first contact he took, not to talk about three rounds of it.

7. Good movement is one more layer to the game. The mental side, the technical side, etc all come together to form an complex end result.

8. A Movement approach as I teach it is not what you think it is, unless you studied with me in person before. Its a complex approach that took me 20 years to develop and implement, it contains more hidden gems than visible pieces we’ve made available to the public’s eye. My close students know this. There is a reason why fighters of Conor Mcgregor and Gunnar Nelson’s caliber are choosing that approach and things are changing in MMA and in other sports. I’ve been working with NFL players, NBA players, NHL players, professional tennis, swimmers, track and field athletes and more and will continue to show the superiority of this approach to the traditional division between technical work and strength and conditioning that in my eyes leaves SO MUCH out.

9. If Conor lost – I would be the man to take the blame as I am the new factor in the equation and doing things differently. I can take that and as they say – ‘if you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen’ but… He won.

I don’t want to take the credit for that. Conor is his own man.

I will continue to practice what I preach and to talk the good talk of movement, regardless of result. It is the RIGHT thing to do but its just one factor among many and jumping to conclusions because of a win or a loss is a mistake in any way.

Most importantly black and white glasses are for simpletons.

Conor won because of many factors.

You might see one punch finish but miss out on what allowed that person to deliver that punch under so much pressure, in perfect timing, position, after a hard weight cut and in the public’s pressure cooker.

I am proud to have taken a SMALL part in this great victory that brings….
CHANGE.

Thanks for reading,

Ido.

In case you’re still questioning why Conor would use a movement specialist, know that former bantamweight champ and top 135-pound contender Dominick Cruz, who is known for his footwork by the way, approves.

https://youtu.be/RVLiU1czTJA

Check out the movement training called MovNat that former WEC champ and top UFC middleweight contender Carlos Condit is doing.