Is Conor McGregor for real with these training videos?

Conor McGregor is an amateur boxer and, in less than two weeks, will make his professional debut against one of the best boxers in history, Floyd Mayweather Jr.

How he’ll prepare to make that transition from mixed martial artist to boxer will be scrutinized, no matter what he approach he takes.

McGregor compiled a 21-3 record in mixed martial arts, and last year became the first fighter to ever hold two championship belts in the UFC simultaneously.

Boxing is a different sport, though. Yes, it was McGregor’s hands — particularly, his left — that fueled his quick rise to superstardom, but the challenges of a different rule set change a lot.

After 49 fights in the ring, we know what Mayweather will look like as a boxer, but McGregor is a different story. So every time he releases video of his training it is dissected and diagnosed by everyone trying to decide if he has any chance at all.

So far those training videos have been mocked and made fun of.

At an open workout Friday, McGregor provided more fuel for those fires when some clips of him training in front of reporters were released on the internet. Are those criticisms fair? Let’s take a look.

The obvious takeaway is that this is slow. Boxing is a sport of speed, timing, and reactions. Looking like you’re moving in slow motion isn’t going to win anybody over.

Speed the video up and, hey, now we’re talking.

It was the same thing that got McGregor laughed at in June, when he and Mayweather both released videos. The 40-year-old boxer’s looked significantly better.

Comparing the two video is unfair, considering they’re different bags. But after months of training, Mayweather has made an effort to show his quickness and McGregor hasn’t released videos on a speed bag.

So why train in slow motion? Some have suggested McGregor is trying to keep the element of surprise for when he meets Mayweather. Others think he’s just trolling with intentionally bad videos to dupe the public.

It’s clearly not a show of his actual hand speed. He’s shown that he’s faster than that in the UFC, and even in short clips of his sparring session with Paulie Malignaggi we can see him slip a quick left hand through much faster than any punch he threw at the bag Friday.

But the reality is this isn’t any different than the way McGregor always trains. He explained his training philosophy and walked a group of fighters through his reasoning when he was a coach on UFC reality show The Ultimate Fighter in 2015.

“That’s upgrading your software without damaging your hardware,” McGregor explained to the fighters. “So you’re not getting injured, but you’re feeling the positions and all.”

The idea has seemingly served him well in the UFC. Fighters often have to pull out of fights due to injuries suffered in camp, but McGregor has always shown up and is 9-1 in the UFC.

But reaction time and quickness are even more important in boxing. Will his training philosophy translate well to a different sport? We’ll find out on Aug. 26.

This is definitely something that you won’t see McGregor do in the ring against Mayweather. It’s also incredibly easy to make fun of.

That’s also not new for McGregor. He was mocked for doing similar drills while working with movement coach Ido Portal prior to several of his UFC fights.

“You’ve got that little goofy mother fucker with you. I have real training partners,” Nate Diaz said prior to his first fight with McGregor.

Diaz was referring to a video released prior to McGregor’s fight with Jose Aldo at UFC 194 that showed the fighter doing cartwheels, somersaults, and other things he’d never actually do in a fight.

McGregor explained the value in another video released just a few days later.

”What happens is people jump out of bed, brush their teeth, stuff their faces with food, make their way to the gym, barely warm up, do 10 rounds, go home, rest, eat, go back to the gym,” McGregor said. “You can just feel that body locking. I’m waking up and the first thing I’m doing now is spinal waves. I can actually hear it. ... It’s like you’re loosening the cobwebs. And it’s been paying off for me.”

Like McGregor’s slow training videos, his movement training is also easy to mock. And it too, is a philosophy that may not translate well to the world of boxing.

In an interview with MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani, he was asked about the reactions to his training videos.

“It happens to all greats. Training methods, everything is criticized,” McGregor said. “Orginially, Floyd way back, his method of hitting the pads and the bag were ridiculed during the [Ricky] Hatton build up. When I first started hearing about Floyd, they ridiculed his methods. And then all of a sudden everyone starts trying to follow his methods.

“It’s been the same way with me when I started incorporating movement training and I started incorporating certain attacks and certain approaches in the mixed martial arts game. It’s a joke. How many times have I been called a joker? And then everyone starts following and trying to study. It’s no different here.”

McGregor believes his methods will eventually be adopted by other boxers.

“The same thing will happen that always happens. They will try to push it away, it will be put in front of them, Floyd will be slept, and then they will begin the studying process, and then implementing process.”

With less than two weeks to go, McGregor is currently a +375 underdog, a surprisingly close line considering the monumental task he has ahead of him. If he’s dominated by Mayweather, as many expect him to be, it’s safe to say his training methods aren’t going to become all the rage. It’ll also justify everyone who made fun of him.

If you think McGregor’s going to get worked by Mayweather — a more than valid opinion — mock away. But if he pulls off the titanic upset, maybe he’s right.

Wait, one more training video before you go.

Uh ... OK yeah, I have no idea what that one is.