49ers' Christian McCaffrey Reveals Using Tips from Trainer Who Worked with UFC Star Conor McGregor

San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey was inspired by Conor McGregor's movement coach in his preparation for his 10th NFL season, he told The Athletic's Vic Tafur.

McCaffrey told Tafur he started incorporating tips from Israeli trainer Ido Portal while adopting what he called "animal movements" in his training routine this offseason.

"I started following Ido Portal a long time ago, back when he was working with Conor McGregor," McCaffrey told Tafur. "I've just been fascinated with it and incorporated some of it into my training.

"A couple times a week, especially early in the offseason. We'll do a lot of those just to kind of reprogram everything, get moving again, learn how to fall, learn how to roll and get in positions that you're not used to being in."

McCaffrey went viral in April after sharing a glimpse of his new workout routine in a video on his Instagram.

The moves looked similar to work by McGregor movement training videos shared by Portal around the time the UFC star was holding dual featherweight and lightweight titles.

McCaffrey previously said in an April appearance on NFL Network's The Insiders he had gotten his new routine "from a bunch of UFC fighters way back in the day."

The NFL celebrated McCaffrey as 2025 Comeback Player of the Year after he returned from a shortened 2024 campaign to play all 17 games last season.

The Niners leaned heavily on McCaffrey in both the run and pass game in his return. McCaffrey finished the campaign with 1,202 rushing yards and 924 passing yards before helping lead his team to the divisional round.

The 49ers will hope to take some of that workload off McCaffrey after bringing in wide receivers Mike Evans and Christian Kirk this offseason. Keeping McCaffrey healthy down the stretch will still be key to the team's hopes of making a deeper playoff run this winter.