No one’s quite sure what to make of movement coaches in combat sports, and perhaps the most high-profile example is the incomparable Ido Portal.
When the pony-tailed Israeli first burst onto the scene as part of Conor McGregor’s entourage, he was a bit of a laughing stock.
However, once that patented Celtic Cross landed flush to render the greatest featherweight of all time unconscious in just 13 seconds, the laughter stopped. At that moment we had flashbacks of Marty McFly telling a room full of horrified teens to trust him because ‘your kids are going to love’ the art of shredding he performed on his axe.
Portal’s red body warmer is a form-fitting vest… His guitar, a pool noodle. It wasn’t until Nate Diaz’s outstanding put-down that we found ourselves broken free from the spell.
“You’re playing touch-butt with that dork in the park with the pony tail.”
Just like that, we all snapped out of it and Portal’s techniques became a great source of amusement for the MMA community.
https://twitter.com/ZPGIFs/status/730758159585841152?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sportsjoe.ie%2Fmma%2Fwatch-conor-mcgregor-back-working-with-ido-portal-ahead-of-nate-diaz-rematch-84456
It is easy to see the funny side when he does stuff like this.
Ok, it’s remarkably easy.
https://twitter.com/TheJivemaster/status/877261593670799361
McGregor has called upon his secret weapon yet again for the Daddy of them all, the diamond-encrusted panty night against Floyd Mayweather on August 26.
The UFC superstar uploaded a photo of himself and Portal playing with a tennis ball inside a boxing ring with the caption: “Hand-eye co-ordination work with Ido Portal today. Great work.”
Fantastic, because he probably doesn’t need to work on his double-handed backhanded, or indeed, any tennis skills before taking on arguably the greatest defensive boxer to ever grace a ring.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BVkut7vgp8E/?taken-by=thenotoriousmma&hl=en
Portal also posted one of those obligatory team photos from the training session, with that famous mural perfectly framed in the background.
Floyd must be shaking uncontrollably in his gold-plated boots.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BVkpUw0BvHR/?taken-by=portal.ido
