{"id":23806,"date":"2021-03-05T09:00:50","date_gmt":"2021-03-05T09:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.anfocal.ie\/?p=23806"},"modified":"2021-04-08T02:09:52","modified_gmt":"2021-04-08T01:09:52","slug":"john-hutchinson-the-irishman-coaching-a-ufc-champion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.anfocal.ie\/index.php\/john-hutchinson-the-irishman-coaching-a-ufc-champion\/","title":{"rendered":"John Hutchinson: The Irishman Coaching A UFC Champion"},"content":{"rendered":"

John Hutchinson has been coaching Petr Yan since the beginning of the Russian\u2019s UFC career and will corner him for his first title defence against Aljamain Sterling this weekend.<\/span><\/p>\n

Neither of them started out in mixed-martial arts with John winning bouts all over the world as a professional boxer and Yan making his way in the amateur ranks.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yan ended up getting into MMA and stayed with it, racking up a 15-1 record in the sport and titles in multiple organisations.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Russian only started working with \u2018The Buncrana Banger\u2019 at the start of his UFC career after hurting his foot but Hutchinson instantly recognised the fighter\u2019s talent.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe always knew from day one, as soon as we started training him, that he was going to be a world champion\u201d, said the 34-year-old striking coach.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Yan has become a UFC champion under Hutchinson’s tutelage.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He describes Petr as one of the most hard-working fighters you will ever know, being the first person in the gym in the morning and the last to leave.<\/span><\/p>\n

John was still fighting professionally at the time and found it hard to step away from it to focus solely on coaching because he \u201cdidn\u2019t want to walk away from boxing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He was coaching between fight camps at Tiger Muay Thai in Thailand towards the end of his boxing career and had found himself popular there with many fighters looking for his help.<\/span><\/p>\n

The coaching became a priority over time and soon his professional career was playing second fiddle to it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPetr [text me on Instagram] because his English wasn\u2019t good at the time. He said \u2018I\u2019m going to Tiger; will you be there? We got a training camp\u2026I pushed my own camp away.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Donegal native has since become a mainstay in Yan\u2019s fight camps and has worked on settling down Yan\u2019s wild striking style which has helped the UFC star to focus more on his power which has rocked top fighters such as Jose Aldo and Jimmie Rivera.<\/span><\/p>\n

Couple this work with Yan\u2019s natural ability and high fight IQ and you get a fighter capable of dominating many of his fights \u2013 all his wins that have gone the distance have been by unanimous decision.<\/span><\/p>\n

Petr also poses a threat defensively with the MMA champion utilising an aggressive style of protection that includes heavy attacks disguised by various feints.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the boxing background you know, always in control, always overreaching, always thinking about counter work.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Yan has successfully adapted this boxing mindset into his new sport with the crowning achievement of his aggressive defence being the stunning head kick that knocked out Hall of Famer Urijah Faber.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, it was not all roses for Hutchinson after Yan reached the summit of the bantamweight division with the former Irish boxer returning to Ireland and almost getting stuck here.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThailand had locked down the borders and I thought \u2018I\u2019m stuck here now. There was a lot of worrying. My life\u2019s over in Thailand.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t get to enjoy [being in Ireland] as I should have gotten to enjoy it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Tiger Muay Thai striking coach hopes to take the bantamweight champion to Buncrana someday soon, stating that \u201c[he\u2019ll] get him over there sometime.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Most of Yan\u2019s fight camp for this weekend\u2019s fight took place at American Top Team in Florida, where Jorge Masvidal and bantamweight challengers Marlon Moraes and Pedro Munhoz train.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Yan, Hutchinson and co. trained at American Top Team in Miami in preparation for his upcoming title defence.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

John describes Masvidal as a \u201ccool guy\u201d and says that the bantamweight fighters are also great people behind the scenes \u2013 \u201cthere\u2019s a good buzz around [ATT].\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Training for the fight at the high-profile gym has been perfect for Hutchinson & co. as they avoided a period of quarantine by choosing not to prepare in Thailand and Yan will need the ground game for this fight, which has more prominence in the Miami establishment.<\/span><\/p>\n

Both bantamweight stars took a step back when it came to Yan\u2019s sparring, but John made it clear that Yan\u2019s dominance transcended divisions in a sparring match.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOnce a week, every Tuesday, [they close up] and they have one-hour private sparring sessions. We had three guys, UFC guys, coming in \u2013 bigger weights than Petr, world-class guys. The first guy got carried out, the second guy got dropped with a body shot and the other guy was on the run for his life. Petr said it was like he was back on the doors of the nightclub when he was 19.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

However, Yan will be looking past Moraes and Munhoz after this fight with his eyes on TJ Dillashaw or Cody Garbrandt and a third fight to round out the year.<\/span><\/p>\n

As for the upcoming bout, Hutchinson knows the quality that will face his fighter but feels confident going into fight week.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAldo would have been a harder, tougher opponent than Sterling but [Sterling] is very tricky, very clever and very tough on the ground.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNobody has seen Petr\u2019s ground game; he doesn\u2019t get to show it because he\u2019s always standing up. He\u2019s a monster [on the ground].\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Hutchinson did not reveal many details of their game plan heading into the highly anticipated match-up.<\/span><\/p>\n

If Yan does suffer his second professional loss in MMA, his striking coach is certain that he will bounce back from it, believing that any losses he may suffer along the way will only make him a better fighter.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThem fights make him stronger.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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John Hutchinson has been coaching Petr Yan since the beginning of the Russian\u2019s UFC career and will corner him for his first title defence against Aljamain Sterling this weekend. Neither of them started out in mixed-martial arts with John winning bouts all over the world as a professional boxer and Yan making his way in […]<\/p>\n

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