Ido Portal is a name we heard plenty of in the build-up to Conor McGregor's brief battle with Jose Aldo.
McGregor, in episode five of UFC Embedded, as he prepared for Friday's weigh-in, announced that he was feeling 'absolutely amazing'. That was in part down to Portal, his 'movement coach'.
It seems that another factor in McGregor's vigor at the time was another new individual in his camp - George Lockhart.
Lockhart, a weight-cut specialist, was brought in to help McGregor with the process of dropping to 145lbs.
Talking to Ariel Helwani on the MMA Hour, the Dubliner's coach, John Kavanagh, spoke glowingly of Lockhart's input.
I started kind of twisting Conor's arm to bring him in. We started talking to him from three weeks out.
The plan he sets out is beautiful in that it's by the minute. There's no 'cut out carbs and stick with protein and vegetables' and off you go.
It was like '11.15am, you eat four almonds'.
Like Kavanagh says, McGregor is a big featherweight.
Normally, he would tip the scales at around 175 pounds. That's a cut of 30 pounds, an ordeal which Lockhart ensured was easier than ever.
It was amazing the amount that Conor could eat and the frequency that he was eating. A lot of carbs and a lot of nice food.
The training was a lot better because of this. He had a lot more energy.
The cut is never easy, he's a big, big featherweight. It takes incredible discipline. But this was as easy as you could make it.
I know in the build-up I said 'I never want to see him at 145 again'. With about four or five hours to go he was underweight, he was 144.8lbs, which I've never seen.
I said to him 'What about bantamweight? Can we do three weight classes?' I won't say what he told me to do.
It was easy as it could possibly be and it wasn't as scary as normal.
I learnt a huge amount from George in the lead up to this fight and in future, we want him in camp for six or eight weeks.
Kavanagh also stated his preference for McGregor's next bout to be at lightweight, allowing his fighter to take a break from making the cut to 145.
Picture credit: Ramsey Cardy / SPORTSFILE
