MMA star Brendan Loughnane admits he had to pinch himself when he started training with Conor McGregor.
But soon he was under attack from the UFC legend's famously powerful left hand.
The two met in Dubai in November, when McGregor was preparing to return to the Octagon.
And Lochnane revealed that it will take a long time.
He said: “It was a bit of a pinch moment.
“It was so crazy because when I went to Dublin to commentate, we had never met at that point and then I went to the Forge and met him.
“We were talking and I said, 'I'm so happy to finally meet you.' And he said, 'Have we never met?' He couldn't believe it either.
“We had been chatting on Instagram for a while and I said, 'When you come to Dubai, let's train.'
“And he did and he sent me a message. I think we trained for six weeks straight. We sparred and trained at least five nights a week, several times a week. And I really loved it. Enjoyed it.”
Loughnane, 34, will return to the cage in Chicago on Friday to face Pedro Carvalho, 28, who happens to be McGregor's training partner.
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And he's doing so despite getting knocked out in his last fight in June.
So Loughnane wanted to give McGregor some experience and confidence as a southpaw left-hander, which McGregor feared.
Loughnane said: “Yes, it was! And I felt it in my jaw a few times.
“And to be honest, because of my last fight, I was just checking my jaw and thinking, 'Is this jaw still working?'
“And there's nothing like McGregor's backhand to see if that's still happening and if it's still going on and we're still okay.”
Loughnane won the 2022 Professional Fighters League season at featherweight, earning him $1 million in prize money.
However, he was defeated by 2023 champion Jesús Pinedo, 27, and did not qualify for last year's knockout stage.
So he returns this year with revenge in the season opener against Carvalho, coached by McGregor's trainer John Kavanagh.
And Loughnane is hoping to help McGregor, 35, in his return fight at UFC 303 against Michael Chandler, 37, scheduled for June 29th.
He said: “Obviously right now I'm fighting one of John's guys and that's going to add up a little bit to my work going into this camp.
“But after that, I want to jump into Chandler’s camp and be around it in some way.”
How does PFL work?
PFL is MMA's only seasonal format, consisting of a qualifying stage and a knockout stage.
Stars in each division will play two “regular season” qualifying games, with points awarded for each winning method.
The top four then move on to the “playoffs” where they decide whether they win or go home from the semi-finals.
The finale of the battle for the title belt and the $1 million prize begins.
