McGregor and Malignaggi (right) (photo via @TheNotoriousMMA / Instagram

By FCF Staff

Now that Paulie Malignaggi is no longer part of Conor McGregor’s camp, the retired boxer is discussing in length, how, according to him, his sparring with the UFC champ went.

Malignaggi has been front-and-center in combat sports news recently, after he announced last week that he was leaving McGregor’s camp. The former boxing champ was brought in to help McGregor train for his August 26th boxing match with Floyd Mayweather. The outspoken fighter was upset with how McGregor’s team was spinning the sparring sessions via social media, and Malignaggi has also claimed he has other issues with the Irish star’s team.

On the latest “MMA Hour”, Malignaggi made the following claims about his second time sparring McGregor (quote via MMA Fighting):

“He hung tough the first five rounds,” Malignaggi said. “He came out sharper, with more of a purpose. He hung tough for the first rounds, he even landed a couple of good shots, but I was starting to take over.

“My work was more consistent. My style was more consistent. My counter punching was sharper. My jab was sharper. There was just more consistency on my part.”

“Here’s the thing, people ask me did he get better from the first to the second time — he did,” Malignaggi said. “The thing is, this is still something new to him, so the increments at which he is growing at are still smaller.”

Malignaggi also claimed that McGregor became “very hittable”, after the sixth round. McGregor and his team have not responded directly to any of the New York fighter’s recent statements.