There are pundits wondering what good it does the UFC to have Conor McGregor face Dennis Siver this weekend. Siver is ranked lower than McGregor’s last opponent, Dustin Poirier. And a win over Siver, on paper, doesn’t do a ton for McGregor’s already surging stock.
McGregor’s coach, though, understands what the UFC is doing. John Kavanagh told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour that Siver represents another potentially devastating finish en route to a featherweight title shot for McGregor.
“The reality is it’s going to be an exciting fight,” Kavanagh said. “You’ve got two guys that are more strikers than grapplers. Well, there’s no other way to say it: Dennis is there to make Conor look good. He’s gonna get cleanly knocked out, which will set up a nice highlight reel and set up a nice main event title fight in Ireland.”
McGregor has predicted he will knock Siver out within the first two minutes of the fight. Kavanagh agrees, but goes one step further. He thinks the Irishman will take out the German on Sunday night in Boston in less than 60 seconds.
“I just think unless Dennis really pushes the grappling quickly, it’s going to be in the first exchange,” Kavanagh said. “He’s a tough guy, but he’s getting closer to 40, he’s been in a lot of wars. Cub [Swanson] kind of landed not the cleanest shot and he had him all over the place. [McGregor is] by far the hardest hitter in the division. I think he’s the hardest hitter in a few divisions, not only that one. To go against someone like that and to be about a foot shorter than him and have no real ability to close distance, it’s a terrible matchup.”
So what Kavanagh is saying is that Siver is merely a showcase fight. Not just Siver, either. All of McGregor’s four opponents in the UFC. The 26-year-old is 4-0 in the organization with three TKOs. The only decision, a win over Max Holloway, came when McGregor tore his ACL during the fight.
“They all will make Conor look great or he makes them look bad,” Kavanagh said. “I don’t know which way is the way to say it. I don’t think it would have mattered had it been Cub Swanson. I would have called that a showcase fight. When they’re facing Conor, it’s just different.”
UFC president Dana White has said that McGregor will earn a title shot against Jose Aldo if he beats Siver. The Brazilian has won 18 in a row and has never lost under the UFC/WEC banner. He has defended the belt nine times.
Kavanagh concedes that Aldo would not be a showcase fight for McGregor. But he also doesn’t think McGregor will lose, either. In his opinion, McGregor has faced men like Aldo, feared strikers. But Aldo has not taken on anyone like McGregor.
“Aldo has faced more guys that are wrestlers learning how to strike and after one or two exchanges, they start shooting from the other side of the Octagon,” Kavanagh said. “He’s not gonna have that advantage on Conor. He’s not gonna intimidate him with his strikes. He’s gonna be the one on the back foot and he will be the one that’s turning into a grappler pretty soon.”
As for where that Aldo-McGregor fight might be, Kavanagh believes it’s a no-brainer to put it in Croke Park, an outdoor stadium in Dublin that holds more than 80,000 people.
“I can’t see why it wouldn’t happen,” Kavanagh said. “It just makes sense, because he will sell out 90,000 tickets in an afternoon in Ireland now. People have no idea what it’s like for him and for the rest of them in Dublin, in Ireland right now. Just the level of momentum that’s going and just the whole country going crazy for this sport now. I just can’t visualize how it wouldn’t happen.”