Conor McGregor is widely regarded as one of the best strikers in the UFC. ‘The Notorious’ famously once proclaimed, ‘precision beats power and timing beats speed’. The Irish superstar’s striking has inspired many in the UFC. Dan Ige happens to be one such fighter who took inspiration from the former UFC champion to produce a jaw-dropping 22-second knockout at UFC Vegas 21.
‘50K’ is not the most powerful knockout artist and has claimed just four of his 15 wins via T/KO. However, his most recent win against Gavin Tucker might be his best to-date. With the win, he bounced back impressively after his loss to Calvin Kattar and put himself back right in the mix amongst the elite at 145-pounds.
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Dan Ige details his stunning knockout against Gavin Tucker
In a recent interview with Marc Raimondi, Ige spoke about how Conor McGregor inspired him to improve his striking.
He said, “So when you’re hitting mitts and the pad holder is holding the mitts, there is that little circle in the middle… I never knew that was the target…. It’s funny cause we were having dinner with one of my coaches, Jimmy Gifford. He was talking about holding pads for Conor McGregor and he was like yeah man, Conor McGregor is one of the most accurate punchers I have held the mitts for. He hit the circle 20 out of 20 times.”‘50K’ continued, “So I’m thinking in my head, wait a minute, that circle is the target? I didn’t say anything, but the next day I went in with a goal. I was like I’m hitting the circle every time….. That’s the best way of explaining it. I hit him right there on the button. I hit that little circle right on his chin and put the lights out.”
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Despite the fight lasting only 22-seconds, it was clear that Ige has been working considerably on his boxing. He looked extremely sharp as he bounced in and out of range whilst landing punches.
After succumbing to a loss against one of the best strikers in the division in ‘The Boston Finisher’ Calvin Kattar, Ige has made the necessary changes in his game. If ‘50K’ can maintain this level of performance, he can be a real threat at 145-pounds.
