Conor McGregor was barred from a top MMA gym in the run-up to UFC 194

Days before he became the undisputed UFC featherweight champion, Conor McGregor was frustrated in his efforts to use a top MMA gym in California.

The Notorious was keen to sharpen his skills during a stop-over in Los Angeles, early last week. McGregor had undertaken the majority of his fighting at John Kavanagh's Straight Blast Gym in the lead-up to his title unification bout. He landed in L.A and was based there for a few days - fulfilling media obligations and staying in shape - before he completed his preparation in Las Vegas. While he was in L.A, according to Kavanagh, McGregor looked into training at a couple of gyms. One of those gyms was Kings MMA, near Sunset Beach, which is run by legendary trainer Rafael Cordeiro. UFC Heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum is a member of that gym and revealed to Portal Odia that McGregor was rebuffed in his advances to train there. Werdum commented, "Conor McGregor wanted to train with us recently. "Imagine going against Jose Aldo, who is our buddy?" "Conor's coach asked if Rafa could give him some time," Werdum continued. "It was not possible for him to train with us. It would have been dangerous for him to do so. "He wouldn't have been able to fight here as we'd try to break him all day."