Straight Blast Gym (SBG) Ireland head coach John Kavanagh believes Conor McGregor will fight in 2019. A lot has been made of McGregor’s status for this year, especially given his recent hand injury. However, speaking on “The Ariel Helwani MMA Show” earlier today (Mon. June 17, 2019), Kavanagh admitted he believes McGregor will fight before […]
Straight Blast Gym (SBG) Ireland head coach John Kavanagh believes Conor McGregor will fight in 2019.
A lot has been made of McGregor’s status for this year, especially given his recent hand injury. However, speaking on “The Ariel Helwani MMA Show” earlier today (Mon. June 17, 2019), Kavanagh admitted he believes McGregor will fight before the year is over. In regards to opponent, he’d love to see “Notorious” run things back with Nate Diaz for a third time:
“Um, yes,” Kavanagh admitted. “I always love the Diaz trilogy, I’ve said that from the start. I think that’s – I’m really looking forward to seeing how Nate looks in his – the fight that’s coming up. As a fan, that’s very exciting. Justin Gaethje kind of reminds me of that similar style, he can take a tremendous amount of punishment and keep coming forward.
“Honestly, if it’s Conor excited and motivated and pushing himself hard – it doesn’t matter all that much to me. Anyone in the UFC at the level that Conor will be fighting are good opponents, different challenges – if you’re going to put a gun to be, it would be the Diaz trilogy. That would be for me.”
McGregor hasn’t fought since October of last year when he was submitted by Khabib Nurmagomedov. The Irishman failed to re-capture the lightweight title when he tapped out to a neck crank in the fourth round. Diaz hasn’t fought since his 2016 rematch with McGregor, which he lost via Majority Decision.
However, the Stockton native will return in August against Anthony Pettis at welterweight. They’ll co-headline UFC 241 on pay-per-view (PPV) from Anaheim, California.
This past weekend (Fri. June 14, 2019) Dillon Danis picked up the second win of his mixed martial arts (MMA) career. Danis submitted Max Humphrey in the first round with an armbar at Bellator 222. However, after the fight, Danis revealed he was dealing with a torn LCL prior to competing. Speaking on today’s (Mon. […]
This past weekend (Fri. June 14, 2019) Dillon Danis picked up the second win of his mixed martial arts (MMA) career.
Danis submitted Max Humphrey in the first round with an armbar at Bellator 222. However, after the fight, Danis revealed he was dealing with a torn LCL prior to competing. Speaking on today’s (Mon. June 17, 2019) “Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show,” Danis’ coach, John Kavanagh, explained when the injury took place:
“Yeah, it happened a week out,” Kavanagh admitted. “Weirdly, a common story, the last round of his last spar. In fact, it was the last few seconds of the round. And, he went for – actually he went for the same technique he won his fight with, but he got caught in kind of a funny angle and he heard a tear. He went and got assessed and it turned out he had a tear of his LCL.”
Kavanagh was very impressed with Danis’ performance. He noted that Danis’ ground-and-pound ability was very much on display in the fight, and he has to remind himself that this is only Danis’ second professional fight inside the MMA cage:
“The takedown came pretty quick,” Kavanagh said. “His ground-and-pound style, I don’t think we’ve really seen that before. He’s only had one fight. Very dominant takedown, dominant style of ground-and-pound, good positioning, and then, obviously, good awareness to his corner. I still have to remind myself it’s his second fight ever.”
Later on in the show, Danis himself made an appearance. When asked about his injury, the jiu-jitsu ace revealed that he is in “excruciating pain,” but the satisfaction of victory eases the pain:
“Terrible,” Danis said. “So bad. It’s so bad. I’m in excruciating pain for the past three days. It’s been so bad. It feels like I can’t move it, it’s swollen – it feels like someone is stabbing me in the knee over and over again. It’s really bad. But the only reason I’m getting through it is because, with the win, it takes all the pain away. Just hope I can get better soon.”
In regards to his return, Danis is opting for rehabilitation over surgery. He believes he’ll be able to regroup in time to stay active when 2019 is said and done. Danis would like to fight around October, and would like to fight twice more before the year is up:
“I think maybe October,” Danis said. “I want to get two more before the end of the year. Maybe October, December – I definitely want to fight twice. I definitely want to fight two more times.”
Of course, Danis is one of UFC star Conor McGregor’s main training partners. The two have developed quite the friendship with one another over the years. Shortly after his win, Danis said McGregor texted him to give him some insight into his performance. “The Notorious” was apparently impressed with Danis’ evolution in the standup department, and called his victory “easy work”:
“Yeah, I did actually,” Danis said. “He messaged me right away. I’m pretty sure he was watching live. He said how much more comfortable I looked on the feet, and stuff like that. He was just like, that’s light work, easy work. So, he was very complimentary towards the performance. He said, this guy has like 30 fights and I don’t have any amateur background and I went in there and made it look easy. And MSG where all my fans were, all my friends, and I went out there laughing basically.”
Head coach John Kavanagh says Conor McGregor’s desire to compete at the highest level has returned. McGregor hasn’t been seen in action since Oct. 2018. He went for his second Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight title when he c…
Head coach John Kavanagh says Conor McGregor’s desire to compete at the highest level has returned. McGregor hasn’t been seen in action since Oct. 2018. He went for his second Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight title when he challenged Khabib Nurmagomedov. Things didn’t go the way of the “Notorious” one as he was submitted in […]
Last month, former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion Conor McGregor revealed he suffered a hand injury during an “intense” sparring session. McGregor has been very vocal about his intentions to return to the Octagon soon. UFC President Dana White has said he expects the Irishman to fight before the year is over. Earlier today (Mon. […]
Last month, former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion Conor McGregor revealed he suffered a hand injury during an “intense” sparring session.
McGregor has been very vocal about his intentions to return to the Octagon soon. UFC President Dana White has said he expects the Irishman to fight before the year is over. Earlier today (Mon. June 16, 2019) McGregor’s longtime head coach, John Kavanagh, was in-studio for “Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show” and was asked about “Notorious.”
In regards to the injury, Kavanagh detailed McGregor’s recent injury did, in fact, happen during a sparring session while preparing for a fight. McGregor subsequently underwent surgery and is currently rehabbing:
“It was sparring,” Kavanagh said. “I set up a spar, it was a good spar. He just clipped a guy in the back of the head and damaged his hand. But he went to see a really good hand surgeon. He’s undergoing therapy right now.”
Kavanagh was then asked if he believes McGregor will fight before this year is up, and who he’d like to see him face. The SBG coach admitted he does think McGregor will fight in 2019, and said he’d love to see a Nate Diaz trilogy:
“Um, yes,” Kavanagh admitted. “I always love the Diaz trilogy, I’ve said that from the start. I think that’s – I’m really looking forward to seeing how Nate looks in his – the fight that’s coming up. As a fan, that’s very exciting. Justin Gaethje kind of reminds me of that similar style, he can take a tremendous amount of punishment and keep coming forward.
“Honestly, if it’s Conor excited and motivated and pushing himself hard – it doesn’t matter all that much to me. Anyone in the UFC at the level that Conor will be fighting are good opponents, different challenges – if you’re going to put a gun to be, it would be the Diaz trilogy. That would be for me.”
McGregor hasn’t competed since October of last year when he was defeated by Khabib Nurmagomedov. The pair headlined the UFC 229 pay-per-view (PPV) in Las Vegas. Khabib forced McGregor to tap in the fourth round with a neck crank, handing him his second loss under the UFC banner.
The Irishman is desperate for a rematch with “The Eagle,” but will likely have to earn a second go with another win. As for Khabib, he’s scheduled to unify his lightweight title with interim champion Dustin Poirier at UFC 242 in September.
In all of sports, many believe the Drake curse is real. Sports teams have banned him from events or taking pictures with their players. The so-called curse has gone on for years, and in combat sports, it could be legit. He walked out McGregor at his UF…
In all of sports, many believe the Drake curse is real. Sports teams have banned him from events or taking pictures with their players. The so-called curse has gone on for years, and in combat sports, it could be legit. He walked out McGregor at his UFC 229 weigh-in, he had a lyric about Max […]
The Drake curse lives on. Last night (Sat. June 1, 2019) boxing heavyweight star Anthony Joshua was defeated for the first time in his career. The defeat was a major upset, as he dropped his unified heavyweight crown to Andy Ruiz Jr. Joshua is one of several fighters and sports teams who have lost major […]
Last night (Sat. June 1, 2019) boxing heavyweight star Anthony Joshua was defeated for the first time in his career. The defeat was a major upset, as he dropped his unified heavyweight crown to Andy Ruiz Jr. Joshua is one of several fighters and sports teams who have lost major competitions after being pictured with the famed rapper, Drake.
Joshua posted a photo with Drake weeks before his fight, ironically captioning it, “Bout to break the curse”:
Of course, that didn’t happen, as Joshua was knocked out in the seventh round by Ruiz last night. He joins a number of names, including Conor McGregor, who lost major fights after associating themselves with Drake. Straight Blast Gym (SBG) Ireland head coach John Kavanagh has taken note. He took to Twitter this morning and jokingly warned the rapper to stay away from his gym.
Kavanagh said if Drake ever came to his facility, he’d be getting a roundhouse kick for his troubles:
One fan pointed out to Kavanagh that he should’ve kept McGregor away from Drake before the Khabib fight, which McGregor lost via submission. He responded with the following:
#June1st
Drake & Mystic Mac | 
and 
team up at