“I think what has come back around is the love of the sport. He loves doing it, he loves training, he loves competing.”
Does Conor McGregor still have the drive and tenacity to compete in the UFC? Does he still have the fire burning inside him that ignited his epic featherweight title run from 2013-2015, when he eventually went on to KO former pound-for-pound No. 1 Jose Aldo in just 13 seconds to win the 145-pound belt?
The former two-division champ has already accomplished so much and he is — by far — the highest paid fighter in the UFC and one of the richest athletes in the world but, according to longtime coach and mentor John Kavanagh, ‘The Notorious’ still has plenty more to give.
Speaking to ESPN’s Ariel Helwani in a recent interview, Kavanagh said his prized student is enjoying training again and back to his usual, motivated self.
“I guess what I was really trying to say was I really want to see him motivated,” Kavanagh said, per Fernando Quiles Jr. of MMA News. And he probably said in the Tony Robbins interview where he spoke about losing that for a bit. And this is a game where it’s full-on, it’s full contact, it’s dangerous. When he won the second belt when he beat Eddie [Alvarez], he’d achieved everything he set out to achieve. He was very wealthy, he was world champion. So you’ve got to then take some time and think, well what’s gonna motivate you to do it anymore.
“He said himself that that became a bit of a problem. What is it? Is it getting another belt? Is it make some more money? And I think what has come back around is the love of the sport. He loves doing it, he loves training, he loves competing. And legacy, that he’s remembered being one of the best, if not the best ever. So that’s what’s really come back into him since the beginning of the year. That’s what I wanted to see. Because he’s obviously a very well known student of mine, but he’s also somewhat like a kid brother. You wouldn’t want to see him doing something just for the sake of doing it and maybe getting hurt or whatever because he’s not fully there. But now he absolutely is.”
McGregor, 30, is expected to return to the Octagon later this year, although no date or opponent has been announced. The SBG Ireland standout last fought at UFC 229, where he was submitted by undefeated lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov in the fourth round. Prior to that, McGregor fought boxing great Floyd Mayweather Jr. in one of the highest grossing fights of all time. The former ‘champ-champ’ was finished in the 10th round.