Chris Van Heerden was once a sparring partner for UFC Lightweight Champion Conor McGregor in the lead up to “The Money Fight,” but left the camp after issues arose between himself and McGregor’s people.
The former sparring partner checked out the super fight between McGregor and Floyd Mayweather, where McGregor far exceeded his expectations for the fight.
“Honestly, I enjoyed the fight,” Van Heerden said to Fight Hub TV. “Like I said, I would be a man. When McGregor proves me wrong I’m going to be a man and I’m going to say it and I’m going to do that because, you know what, I never expected Conor to be there, honestly didn’t expect him to be there for 10 rounds and I didn’t expect him to do as good as he did. So I want to go ahead and say congratulations to Conor McGregor. You proved me wrong and I’m man enough to say, well done brother. Respect to you.”
Van Heerden was willing to return to the McGregor camp for more sparring sessions, but demanded he get paid the second time around.
Despite his lack of experience as a pro boxer, the UFC Lightweight Champion even managed to show his former sparring partner some pretty cool things.
“Conor showed some stuff in there that was pretty cool,” Van Heerden said. “I think it was round one or two, the slip, uppercut. That doesn’t just happen, you know? He trained it and he landed it. It was planned out and he landed it. So well done on that.”
McGregor’s next move as a professional boxer is unknown at this time and Van Heerden hasn’t fought since defeating Sacky Shikukutu in October of 2016.
