Sky Sports have delved beyond the gorilla tattoos and catchphrases to ask whether Conor McGregor is really worth it. David Backes Jersey . I am not retired McGregors statement in full The brash Irishman feigned retirement and was officially removed from his UFC 200 rematch against Nate Diaz before boldly declaring I am not retired to return to the pinnacle of his sport.Is it all an act? We spoke to people who know McGregor best. The previous victims Conor McGregor (left) knocked out Dustin Poirier in Las Vegas Dustin Poirier was seen as the opponent who could stop McGregors hype in the Irishmans Vegas debut. Poirier lasted less than two minutes.Poirier said: Conor is definitely the real deal. Ive had 22 fights and Ive never been put out like that. I was very emotional, just because of everything that had gone on between me and Conor. The build-up to the fight between us made me fight emotionally, rather than relaxed, which is how I like to fight.He hit me with a good shot and I went down. Id love to do it again. I wouldnt get hit with that shot again, and I wouldnt let myself get so emotional. McGregor knocked me out! Dustin Poirier shares memories of his darkest day Dave Hill lost to McGregor four years ago on the regional circuit. He remembers a cocky Irish kid with remarkable self-assurance.Hill said: I thought it was all an act, all for show. He was kicking off at the weigh-ins. But when he got in my face, because of his intensity, I thought: He really believes in himself. That flustered me.Hes overwhelming in a fight because hes always in your face, hes so confident. He was talking to me during the fight, saying I look soft, and it made my mind go elsewhere. I was thinking should I say something? He has a presence that doesnt give you a rest and puts you on the back-foot.I dont think its an act any more. But when I started fighting him I realised that he believes everything he says - thats the way he is.The coaches I knew Conor would be a great fighter but I didn’t know he would become so popular. He was always a charismatic guy but I couldn’t have predicted how big he would get. He never has moments where that gets on top of him. Pressure is for tyres. Head coach John Kavanagh Phil Sutcliffe was the first man to teach a 12-year-old McGregor to punch at Crumlin Boxing Club, but doesnt remember an outstanding talent.Sutcliffe said: He was like any other novice who we taught the basics to. Hes ambidextrous, we teach that to all our kids, he can box orthodox or southpaw. His straight left changes fights. Its an opportunists punch - hes always had the ability to turn on his back leg to throw his back hand. If he didnt have the right attitude, he would have never made it to the top. I remember the first day meeting him. I remember the confidence Conor had. He was immediately the best boxer we had. You could take him down and submit him but he was never fazed. He knew he could knock you out Striking coach Owen Roddy The fellow UFC champion UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold said he is intrigued by Conor McGregor’s rise The team-mates Aisling Daly, McGregor, Paddy Holohan & Cathal Pendred are SBG gym products Aisling Daly, a UFC womens straw-weight contender, has risen through the ranks alongside McGregor at Dublins SBG gym.Daly said: Hes still the same guy that I knew when we were teenagers but he has fancier shoes and nicer cars. Everything else about him is the same. He makes everyone realise that, with hard work, they can have the mansions and the fancy cars too.Because were a family theres no begrudging him, were all sending positive vibes to him. When one of us makes it, we all make it. Were all in the gutter looking up at the stars. Sometimes Conor will turn up for training in a five-piece suit but, on a normal day, hes rolled out of bed and arrived in a beanie hat and a tracksuit. Hes like the rest of us. Conor is a phenomenal striker and I’ve been learning from him for years. He’s definitely one of the best strikers in the UFC. Gunnar Nelson The promoter McGregor was spotted by the UFC after a successful stint with Cage Warriors Graham Boylan runs Cage Warriors, a domestic promotion that gave McGregor his big break.Boylan said: Without doubt, hes our biggest export, nobody can deny his prestige. I remember the phone call when I offered him a title shot and he said Ill fight tomorrow.When we had Conor for his fifth and sixth fights, we knew hed go on to special things. He just acted differently to everybody. He stood out from a crowd of 30-odd fighters, everybody was looking at him. People with long teeth behind the scenes realised that if he could back up the things he was saying then hed be a star. Conor won all his fights in Cage Warriors because he got into his opponents heads.The future foes We know that Conor has lost twice by submission. He was willing to give up twice, we know that. He tapped out to a choke and a knee hold, which is a move where you give up before it becomes a problem because you’re anticipating pain. I’ve seen that he is capable of giving up. Urijah Faber Frankie Edgar, ranked No 2 at featherweight, isnt impressed by McGregors talk.Edgar said: Maybe he is the second coming like hes been telling everyone! I dont get caught up in the attention around McGregor. Is he skilful? Yes. Does he bring attention to the rest of us? Yes. But hes not always respectful.Donald Cerrone also resides in the lightweight and welterweight divisions, but respected McGregors KO of Jose Aldo.Cerrone said: Unbelievable, man. The dude went out there and did everything that he said hed do. He shocked the world in 13 seconds. How awesome is that?The boxer Hes a character with no regard for anyone or anything which you admire as a fighter. I know people who have boxed with him in Ireland - hes from a boxing background. Hes certainly a better boxer than the others. George Groves The sports scientistProfessor Greg Whyte puts McGregor through a series of tests to compare him against other sportsmen.Whyte said: His VO2 max is similar to a Premier League midfielder. They run 10-12km a game with short breaks whereas Conor competes for up to 25 minutes. That is all-out effort and his endurance capacity is right up there with the best midfielders. It is his ability to recover before returning to his peak which is impressive and those values are similar to those of footballers. McGregor the compete package Read about his remarkable fitness His power output on a bike is not like an Olympic cyclist but what separates Conor is that he can do it all. He outperforms a cyclist in other areas. Also See: I am not retired Why did he retire? Who is UFCs real No1? McGregor pulled from UFC 200 Paul Postma Jersey . - Kevin Labanc and Joseph Blandisi were a potent combination for the Barrie Colts on Friday night. Ray Bourque Jersey .com) - Klay Thompson is quickly proving he is worth every penny of his recently signed four-year contract extension. http://www.thebostonbruinshockey.com/ . The 20-year-old Inoue landed a series of combinations and the bout was stopped 2 minutes, 54 seconds into the sixth round. Inoue, the first Japanese boxer to claim a world title in just his sixth professional fight, improved to 6-0 with five knockouts.TORONTO - Theo Fleury has come a long way.The former NHL star has seemingly escaped the chokehold of addiction and now wears a smile on his face. His mission today is to help others escape their emotional pain.Fleury chronicles his spiritual journey in a new book called Conversations With a Rattlesnake, co-written with therapist Kim Barthel.Helping is healing is a key theme.Its my purpose, Fleury writes. I honestly believe its more important than my hockey career. I was put on this earth to help. Fleury calls Barthel the Wayne Gretzky of therapy. She says Fleurys intellectual capacity is pretty extraordinary, shown by his ability to take in information, assimilate it and act on it.Now 46, Fleury still sees himself as a work in progress. But his life journey is no longer two steps forward, one step back.Its only a half-a-step back now or a quarter step back, Fleury said in a recent interview. Because I have tools.Nice, interjected Barthel.Whereas before I didnt have any tools, Fleury continued. I reached in my toolbox and I couldnt even build a square box ... because I didnt have anything. Now I have a few screws, a screwdriver. So I can build some stuff.The exchange, in the restaurant of a downtown hotel, reads like an excerpt from Conversations With a Rattlesnake.The book is written in the form of an extended conversation between Fleury and his therapist. Its the product of two and a half years of constant conversation, according to Barthel.The difficulty was I couldnt keep up with Theo, she said. He would change so fast, that all of the transcripts from the recordings, they were way out of date by the time I would get to them.In essence everything got written in about four months. But the transformational process was over a two-and-a-half year conversation — daily conversation.Barthel, who now teaches therapists, says it is not traditional therapy — if for no other reason that no one would have as much access to a therapist as Fleury did. It was also a collaborative, rather than a patient-therapist, relationship.Fleury evolved over the months, with the first 18 months leading up to the real meat of the discussion.The book comes in a challenging format. But the give-and-take between the two does show movement and how they reached their conclusions. Its like being a silent partner in a marathon self-help session.Chapter titles include Its Not My Fault, What We Say is More Than Words, Relentless Positivity, Shame Revisits and Walk With Thousands.Its the kind of book that will be well-worn, with more than a few highlighted passages, for some readers.We can all be a conduit for healing, said Fleury.He has proved to be just that. Barthel says people seem drawn to the former hockey player by his honesty and vulnerability, reasoning that if he can change his life so can they. Its actually miraculous, she said. I havent really got enough adjectives to describe it.People approach Fleury everywhere. He cant even go to the bathroom, said Barthel.We have had some incredible moments of reveals, said Fleury. It would just warm your heart that people look to you as somebody whos safe.Fleury, who has no complaints about being a people magnet, says part of his success is that people understand he is on their side. They know he not going to judge them or use their deepest darkest secrets against them.And he understands that part of helping others is not interjecting yourself. Youre just holding the space which allows them to talk about these things that have happened to them in their life, said Fleury. They dont want comments. If they want, theyll ask. Theyll ask for what they want. But you dont provide anything other than Im just going to hold the space for you.And occasionally asking the right question, adds Barthel.Barthel has her own rule of rule of thumb — not to offer advice unless someone asks three times.Fleurys autobiography, Playing with Fire, co-written by Kirstie McLellan Day, was released in 2009. An HBO Canada documentary, Theo Fleury: Playing with Fire, came out in 2012.Both detail his life spiral. The bleak image of Fleury standing outside a Chicago crackhouse he used to frequent is hard to forget.The two faces of Fleury are captured on the cover photo of Conversations With a Rattlesnake.Theres the black-and-white shot of Fleury from the past, his face covered with an unhealthy sheen of sweat. And next to it, a colour shot of a smiiling Fleury today. Tuukka Rask Jersey. .One is a survival face that says Stay away, Fleury explains. The other says Come ....Ive got something you might want to try.These days there is a glow about Fleury, who says he has not had a drink or used drugs in nine years. He says his story of abuse is part of him, but does not define him.I dont wear the Scarlet Letter any more. Ive gotten rid of it. And thats why I want other people to come to the realization, he said.Because I look at my parents, I look at Graham James, I look at the lowest points of his life, I look at them as gifts now. Because without those gifts, I still have that face. With those gifts I have this face now.James was convicted in 2012 for hundreds of sexual assaults on Fleury and his cousin, Todd Holt, when they played for him in the Western Hockey League in the late 1980s and early 90s. An Appeal Court later extended his sentence to five years from two.Fleury and Barthel first met in May 2012 in Winnipeg at a presentation by Barthel. Fleury, who was also a speaker at the conference, called it a thunderbolt of brilliance.He walked up to an unsuspecting Barthel afterwards to say she had changed his life and that they were going to work together from then on.It was amazing. It was like you were explaining me inside and out and I didnt feel threatened by it, Fleury writes in the book. One hell of a liberating combination. I guess we should never underestimate the potential for finding help when we least expect it.Today they are friends before anything else, according to Fleury.But when you have a close friendship or relationship, you should have these kind of conversations, said Fleury.Those with little experience of therapists might be surprised to learn that the growth in the book seems on both sidesIf youre a really good therapist, its always a learning experience, said Barthel, who opens up about her past in the book. Part of the process is Healer, heal thyself.Fleury says Barthel helped him understand his trauma started early in life. Fleury believes he was shaped by an upbringing that included an alcoholic father and depressed mother. The book discusses in depth the chemistry of the brain and how the way you are treated can modify it.The book is about finally taking a look at that family of origin trauma where I understand why my brain is defective, Fleury said.Barthel jumps in again to warn against the use of defective as negative language.So would she call him out on it if that exchange had been in the book? I just did, she replied.Which tells you that therapy is for the rest of your life, Fleury added. Theres no beginning and theres no end. Theres only learning and experiences.His own brand of spirituality — a mixed bag of everything from organized religion to aboriginal spiritual teachings — has played a huge part in Fleurys road to recovery.For me spirituality was the way back to self, he said. I dont care what you believe in. Its not my journey and spirituality is very personal. I suggest that you try everything.Fleury, who has been married twice and has four children, who has just embarked on a new relationship.He is constantly on the move these days, be it speaking, accepting an honorary doctorate in Guelph or giving a speech in Helsinki. Fleury reckons he is on the road 200 days a year while Barthel is at 300.Fleury is also making music, writing and singing rockabilly/country songs for his band Theo Fleury and the Death Valley Rebels. A record and tour are in the works. Its all a far cry from his hockey days. But it somehow makes sense for Fleury. Because Im a big thinker, I always felt there was something greater than my hockey career, he said. I just didnt know what it was.Today he does. He knows his life purpose.Thats to share my story and be vulnerable, and not really care about what the world thinks about what Im doing. All I know is the feedback that I get back is more positive than negative.The former Calgary Flames, Colorado Avalanche, New York Rangers and Chicago Blackhawks forward still watches hockey but with not as much interest and not as much invested.Because someday I would like people to say Oh, Theo Fleury, the spiritual guy and philosopher. Didnt he used to play hockey? That would be kind of neat.— Conversations With a Rattlesnake, by Theo Fleury and Kim Barthel, Influence Publishing, $26.95---Follow @NeilMDavidson on Twitter Cheap Jerseys Online Wholesale Black NFL Jerseys Youth NFL Jerseys Wholesale Cheap Jerseys Wholesale Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping ' ' '