Mark Henry epitomises class with his reaction to Conor McGregor’s press conference insult

Mark Henry has managed to get himself involved in a beef with Conor McGregor, and he appears to regret it deeply.

The amiable striking coach/pizzeria owner has always shown nothing but respect towards his fellow coaches as well as every fighter who makes that walk to the Octagon. However, McGregor's antics struck a nerve with the New Jersey-based trainer to the point where his prize pupil Edgar believes he transforms into his alter-ego 'Dark Mark' whenever the acerbic-tongued Irish man gets brought up. Henry recently stoked the flames of rivalry by taking aim at John Kavanagh. He likened the SBG head coach to Ronda Rousey's coach Edmond Tarverdyan, the former boxer who's most famous fighter has a noticeable weakness in the striking department. He also claimed that McGregor's striking coach Owen Roddy deserves the lion's share of the kudos for McGregor's development. https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/770888853980930048 This online smack talk may very well have been what caused McGregor to scream "Fuck Mark Henry!" into his microphone at the official UFC 205 press conference, an unusual moment where the coaches got dragged into the pre-fight trash-talk. He doesn't blame the UFC featherweight champion for what he said, though. In fact, as he told MMA Fighting, he felt he deserved more, considering how he has been handling himself as of late.

"I was a little upset with myself because, for over a decade being affiliated with guys in the UFC and any organisation for that matter, I try to be a good example for my fighters, for my kids and especially as a coach. Guys that I look up to like Renzo [Gracie] and Ricardo [Almeida] and Nick Catone, and outside of our thing, like Greg [Jackson] and Wink and Brandon Gibson, so many good guys, John Crouch. I don’t know one coach I don’t get along with." "I talked about a fighter when I shouldn’t have, and I really felt bad about it. I don’t think I have any business talking about a fighter. And whatever Conor had to say to me I think I deserve it or more. Whatever he said… I deserve more than that."

Henry only had complimentary things to say about the Notorious, praising his striking ability and the improvements he's made in his game. He also respects him for the good work he's done in helping to bring the sport further into the mainstream.

"I’ve got nothing but respect for Conor. He’s an amazing fighter, and besides my guys where I’m going to be biased, I think he’s the best striker in MMA. I think he’s gotten better in different areas, I have nothing but the utmost respect for him and just what’s he’s done in this sport. And not just in the sport, but personality wise."

Pure class. The GAA Hour podcast is out every Monday and Thursday. Subscribe here on iTunes or listen on Soundcloud (if you want to).