How Good Is Conor McGregor at Jiu Jitsu

What Belt Is Conor McGregor in Jiu Jitsu

Conor McGregor is a BJJ black belt. His coach John Kavanagh tied the black belt on him in September 2024 at Straight Blast Gym Ireland, capping a climb that began when McGregor first walked into SBG as a teenager.

Before the black belt he had been a brown belt for several years, which is the rank he held through his most active UFC career. The progression from white to black spans roughly twenty years and includes his whole career as a two division UFC champion.

Conor’s BJJ Coach and SBG Lineage

John Kavanagh is Conor’s head coach and the only BJJ coach he has really trained under. Kavanagh was the first Irishman ever promoted to black belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu and built Straight Blast Gym Ireland into one of the most successful fight gyms in Europe.

Kavanagh’s pedigree is the reason the promotion carries weight. He is a legitimate black belt with a grappling obsession and he does not hand the rank out casually. Whether fans agree with the decision or not, the belt was awarded by one of the most respected coaches in MMA.

How Conor’s Jiu Jitsu Actually Shows Up in Fights

For all the brown belt and black belt rank, McGregor’s UFC career has almost never featured his jiu jitsu on offense. His game plan is to land the left hand, finish the fight on the feet, and stand back up if he ever ends up on the mat.

The most famous example of his ground game came against Nate Diaz at UFC 196. Diaz, himself a legitimate Gracie black belt, took McGregor down and choked him out. In the rematch McGregor changed the fight by moving back to 170 and striking more patiently, but he was never able to win grappling exchanges against Diaz.

Against Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 he tapped to a neck crank from mount in the fourth round. Khabib is not a BJJ specialist but he is a world class grappler, and once the fight hit the floor McGregor could not keep it standing.

What Conor’s Jiu Jitsu Actually Looks Like in Training

Training footage from SBG shows a different side of his ground game. Rolls with Kavanagh released in 2022 when he was a brown belt show him chaining armbars, omoplatas and triangles in sparring, with good flexibility and real comfort on his back.

Elite grapplers who have trained with him, including Gilbert Burns and Gordon Ryan, have spoken about his jiu jitsu with respect. The gap is between his training room ability and the way he chooses to fight in the cage. In the UFC he has always been a counter striker who treats the ground as a place to get up from.

The Verdict on Conor McGregor’s Jiu Jitsu

Is Conor McGregor a black belt? Yes, awarded by one of the most credentialed coaches in the sport. Is he as dangerous on the ground as that belt implies? No. His UFC grappling highlights are all from the losing side of the fight.

Our rating, 6 out of 10. The skill is real, the rank is legitimately awarded, but his career tape does not show the ground game a 10 out of 10 black belt would have.

Part of our ongoing series ranking the BJJ of every notable UFC fighter and BJJ practicing celebrity. See the full Fighter BJJ Profiles index.