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McGregor’s Coach: Diaz Loss Was Positive For Whole Team

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If you ask Conor McGregor how he feels about his first fight with Nate Diaz, which took place on March 5, 2016 at UFC 196, he’ll likely tell you that he beat Diaz up for the better part of two rounds before gassing and finding himself in a rear-naked-choke that would force him to tap near the tail end of the second frame. Prior to that bout, the “Notorious” one had run through the featherweight class, winning seven straight UFC bouts including a triumphant 13 second knockout over former longtime 145-pound king Jose Aldo. McGregor was essentially used to putting people away, but Diaz got the best of him in the end, and it was clear change was needed.

His coach, John Kavangah, admitted earlier today (August 13, 2016) that it was hard to argue with McGregor’s style given his past successes, but also said that change was indeed sought after:

“Each fighter has his own personality, and I’ll model the training camp based around their personality,” Kavanagh said during a spot on The MMA Hour on Monday. “Some fighters you can tell them what to do, and set down a certain schedule. Some you can’t. And with Conor, he has his way of doing things, and it’s hard to argue with somebody who’s going out and knocking out legends in 13 seconds. So his system was working very well for him. But, it obviously didn’t in the last fight. So, we said look, what’s the definition of insanity…it’s doing the same thing and expecting different results. So we changed things up.”

One major change that was implemented was increased endurance and conditioning training, specifically cycling, as Kavangah brought in a friend of his who happens to be an ex-professional cyclist to assist McGregor. With the new training, Kavanagah compared McGregor’s ‘engine’ to that of a ‘super-charged American muscle car’:

“I’m lucky that I have a good friend for a long time, he’s actually the guy behind the camera of TheMacLife,” he told Ariel Helwani. “He’s an ex-professional cyclist. I reached out to him and his teammate from back in the day who is now a doctor, and there’s not much they don’t know about human performance. Being a cyclist, it’s not the most technically demanding sport, as compared to say mixed martial arts…in general there’s not a lot to it, other than having a huge engine. It’s about your VO2, it’s about your heart and your cardiovascular system. So, Dana [White] helped him make a machine, and that’s what we’ve spent the last 17, 18 weeks doing, is upgrading Conor’s engine.

“Now it’s a super-charged, 800 horsepower, five-liter American muscle car type engine.”

Perhaps the loss to Diaz was a good thing for the Irishman. In fact, Kavanagh said that the loss was a ‘positive’ for the whole team surrounding the “Notorious” one:

“I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again, that I truly believe, March 5, that loss — in retrospect, in a few years time — will be seen as a turning point for the better,” he said. “And probably the most positive thing that’s happened to the team as a whole.”

How do you see McGregor performing this weekend in the rematch?

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John Kavanagh Says His Reputation Is At Stake In Nate Diaz Rematch

The highly-anticipated rematch between Nate Diaz and UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor is upon us, as the blockbuster UFC 202 card is merely two weeks away and has mixed martial arts (MMA) fans around the world foaming at the mouth in anticipation. McGregor is seeking redemption after his upset loss to Diaz this past March,

The post John Kavanagh Says His Reputation Is At Stake In Nate Diaz Rematch appeared first on LowKick MMA.

McGregor is seeking redemption after his upset loss to Diaz this past March, as the Stockton Native’s superior ground game resulted in ‘Notorious” downfall after being forced to tap to a well clenched rear naked choke in the second round.

Nate Diaz chokes Conor McGregor for the tap at UFC 196... — Nate Diaz chokes Conor McGregor for the tap at UFC 196…

The Irish champ and his team have been deep in preparation for the rematch that he has been obsessing over since the conclusion of their initial meeting, and at the forefront of production is SBG Ireland head coach John Kavanagh.

Kavanagh recently wrote an exclusive piece for The 42, in which he claims the result of the rematch against Diaz holds his own reputation as a coach at stake:

“This is a very important fight for Conor, but I also feel that my own reputation as a coach is at stake. This contest can be a bit of a game-changer for us all. Some observers who are obsessed with weight classes and belts don’t see this as a very meaningful fight. They’re more interested in seeing Conor defend his featherweight belt and going after the lightweight strap too.

But for me, we’re very lucky to be in a position to have an immediate rematch. In most cases, fighters have to be patient in order to get that chance. Having an opportunity to reverse an unfavourable result under the same circumstances just a few months later provides us with a chance to show that ‘Win or Learn’ isn’t just a catchy phrase. It really is something we practice and we have done for a long time.

I know Conor will do himself proud, while also proving that methodology to be correct by ensuring that this fight is very one-sided. I do believe that this win must be very dominant. It can’t be a close decision or anything like that. In that case there won’t be much satisfaction.

We want to deliver a contest which will remove any doubts or questions in the aftermath. We want to put a definitive stamp on this to prove that for us, it really is a case of win or learn.

I firmly believe that Conor’s loss to Diaz earlier this year will turn out to be a significant turning point in his career, which will really stand to him as we embark on this next part of the journey and the next batch of fights, whether they’re at featherweight, lightweight or welterweight.

We know what routine to follow now. Technically speaking we were already quite sound. Routine was the missing link. We have it now and I’m very excited about moving forward with it.

There can be no excuses here if we don’t get the result we’re pursuing. The preparation has been flawless. But the reassuring thing from our point of view is that I know we won’t need any excuses because it’s not going to come to that.”

Diaz and McGregor will collide once again in the main event of UFC 202 live on pay-per-view (PPV), from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on August 20, 2016.

You can read Kavanagh’s full article here.

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Conor McGregor’s Coach On UFC 202: “My Reputation Is At Stake”

John Kavanagh knows the importance of UFC 202, both for himself and his fighter, Conor McGregor.

The reigning UFC featherweight champion steps back inside the Octagon – and back at welterweight – to meet Nate Diaz on August 20 from Las Vegas. McGregor suffered his first UFC loss when he was submitted by Diaz earlier this year.

Both fighters took that bout on relative short notice, as “Notorious” was expected to meet then-UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos.

Now that they have had ample time to prepare – especially considering they were originally set to square off again last month at UFC 200 – Kavanagh knows just how much he needs to make sure McGregor is 100-percent ready.

The coach posted a recent entry on his blog for The42 ahead of UFC 202:

“WHAT ARE YOU doing here?”
The Garda on duty at passport control was quite confused when he saw me arriving at Dublin Airport yesterday, but he seemed relieved when I put his mind at rest by assuring him that I’d be back there next week to return to Las Vegas.
Having been in Vegas with Conor McGregor and the rest of the team since June, the final sparring session took place last Wednesday ahead of his rematch with Nate Diaz at UFC 202 in Las Vegas a week on Saturday.
Now we’re tapering down after a very productive training camp, so while I’m currently at home in Ireland to take care of some business here, I’ll be heading back to the US again for a fight I’m extremely excited about.
The word we’ve been focusing on for this camp is ‘routine’. We basically did the same thing every day since we arrived in Vegas: Leave the house to go to the gym for a skill session at 1pm, before working on cardio in the evenings.
We’ve been following that pattern now for what feels like a long time — about 19 weeks in total come fight night. Although it seems like it has been a long process, we’re definitely seeing the fruits of our labour. There are certain fitness tests that we have numbers on, and the improvements from when Conor began to where he is now have been dramatic.
There’s no comparing this training camp to any we have done previously. I can’t stress enough how different this has been. As many of you will probably already know, routine hasn’t been something you would have associated with Conor’s preparations in the past.
But this has been like nothing we’ve done before and it’s going to be a massive help for his next number of fights, not just this one. And that’s how it should be done. We’re learning about this art as we go along. The way we’re doing things now is the right way. I strongly believe that will manifest itself in Las Vegas in 12 days’ time.
Will we approach every fight in this manner from now on? This scenario in particular is reflective of the style of opponent in question. Nate Diaz is so unique compared to the majority of other fighters in that division.
If you look at that run Jose Aldo had for so many years, he always seemed to be fighting small, stocky wrestlers who were trying to develop their striking. Most guys don’t do anything that would force you to raise your eyebrows and recognise something different, but Diaz is an exception. We’ll make a decision on the approach for each fight when we find out who the opponent is.
I’ve often spoken of how drastically Conor improves with each training camp, and while there’s certainly no denying that he gets better for every fight, this has undoubtedly been his biggest leap forward yet. Sometimes your feelings can trick you, but when things are being measured, like they are now, then it’s different.
Technically there has been a massive jump in the right direction. In addition to that, the amount of analysis we have conducted on his opponent and the strategy and gameplan we have designed, it’s new territory for me.
Anyone who knows about the history of SBG Ireland will be aware that we were always regarded as the last-minute gym — the guys who would be ready to step in at short notice. Our mentality reflected that so all you can do in those circumstances is try to get your skillset to such a high level that the opponent doesn’t matter.
I believe that worked well for us and the results were proof of that, but I also feel that when you’ve done that for so long, you can end up getting caught out against certain styles of opponent. This has provided us with an opportunity to experience the other method of extreme gameplanning and being very opponent-orientated.
It’s been a new approach for me, and for us all. I’d describe it as doing an exam after seeing the questions on the teacher’s test sheet. I feel like we’re almost cheating going into this fight because we know what questions we’re going to face in the test.
In every other fight it’s been a fun approach because we’ve been figuring the guy out in the first round. With this one, I really feel like I can describe — technique by technique, round by round — what’s going to happen.
Identifying where things went wrong for Conor in his defeat to Nate Diaz back in March was a pretty straightforward process. There were a lot of good moments for him in that contest. To a large extent it’s been a case of looking back at it and dividing the elements into two columns: what was working and what wasn’t working.
From there we scratch out what wasn’t working and increase the focus on what was. There were certainly times in the fight where we had a good rhythm going, with some good techniques. But perhaps in our own eagerness to finish the fight, we were lured into areas where Diaz was more efficient.
While we have spent a long time — four or five months now — preparing for this rematch, we’ve been working on only a handful of techniques. That includes some new techniques I’ve been working on with Conor which he hasn’t done before, so you can expect to see a thing or two that you haven’t before. I’m confident that this will change the landscape.
Patience will be essential for Conor in this fight. I’m veering towards a fourth-round finish in his favour, following an opening three rounds which I expect him to dominate in the same manner he did in the first frame of the previous fight.
I’ve been asked if I’m concerned about that dominance potentially tempting him to go after the finish a little too eagerly again, but I’m not. Maybe I would be if I hadn’t seen how focused and keen he is to right the wrongs from the last fight.
It’s not a secret that Nate, as well as his brother Nick, can take an enormous amount of punishment, even though we were caught out by it at UFC 196. If you look at their fights, they’re like long-distance runners. They can go for days. They walk through punches like nobody else can.
Even if you do knock them down, they don’t react like wrestlers by panicking and exposing the back. They’ll gladly lie back and play guard. If you’re silly, you’ll end up being caught in a submission very quickly.
They have the ability to throw shots without having to be concerned about the consequences of being hit. While they’re also not the fastest guys, they’re adept at setting their own pace and maintaining that right the way through.
We’re ready for 25 minutes but I do believe that the cumulative damage will have become too much by the fourth round, resulting in Nate’s corner stopping the fight if the referee doesn’t do it before that.
This is a very important fight for Conor, but I also feel that my own reputation as a coach is at stake. This contest can be a bit of a game-changer for us all. Some observers who are obsessed with weight classes and belts don’t see this as a very meaningful fight. They’re more interested in seeing Conor defend his featherweight belt and going after the lightweight strap too.
But for me, we’re very lucky to be in a position to have an immediate rematch. In most cases, fighters have to be patient in order to get that chance. Having an opportunity to reverse an unfavourable result under the same circumstances just a few months later provides us with a chance to show that ‘Win or Learn’ isn’t just a catchy phrase. It really is something we practice and we have done for a long time.
I know Conor will do himself proud, while also proving that methodology to be correct by ensuring that this fight is very one-sided. I do believe that this win must be very dominant. It can’t be a close decision or anything like that. In that case there won’t be much satisfaction.
We want to deliver a contest which will remove any doubts or questions in the aftermath. We want to put a definitive stamp on this to prove that for us, it really is a case of win or learn.
I firmly believe that Conor’s loss to Diaz earlier this year will turn out to be a significant turning point in his career, which will really stand to him as we embark on this next part of the journey and the next batch of fights, whether they’re at featherweight, lightweight or welterweight.
We know what routine to follow now. Technically speaking we were already quite sound. Routine was the missing link. We have it now and I’m very excited about moving forward with it.
There can be no excuses here if we don’t get the result we’re pursuing. The preparation has been flawless. But the reassuring thing from our point of view is that I know we won’t need any excuses because it’s not going to come to that.

John Kavanagh knows the importance of UFC 202, both for himself and his fighter, Conor McGregor.

Both fighters took that bout on relative short notice, as “Notorious” was expected to meet then-UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos.

The coach posted a recent entry on his blog for The42 ahead of UFC 202:

“WHAT ARE YOU doing here?”
The Garda on duty at passport control was quite confused when he saw me arriving at Dublin Airport yesterday, but he seemed relieved when I put his mind at rest by assuring him that I’d be back there next week to return to Las Vegas.
Having been in Vegas with Conor McGregor and the rest of the team since June, the final sparring session took place last Wednesday ahead of his rematch with Nate Diaz at UFC 202 in Las Vegas a week on Saturday.
Now we’re tapering down after a very productive training camp, so while I’m currently at home in Ireland to take care of some business here, I’ll be heading back to the US again for a fight I’m extremely excited about.
The word we’ve been focusing on for this camp is ‘routine’. We basically did the same thing every day since we arrived in Vegas: Leave the house to go to the gym for a skill session at 1pm, before working on cardio in the evenings.
We’ve been following that pattern now for what feels like a long time — about 19 weeks in total come fight night. Although it seems like it has been a long process, we’re definitely seeing the fruits of our labour. There are certain fitness tests that we have numbers on, and the improvements from when Conor began to where he is now have been dramatic.
There’s no comparing this training camp to any we have done previously. I can’t stress enough how different this has been. As many of you will probably already know, routine hasn’t been something you would have associated with Conor’s preparations in the past.
But this has been like nothing we’ve done before and it’s going to be a massive help for his next number of fights, not just this one. And that’s how it should be done. We’re learning about this art as we go along. The way we’re doing things now is the right way. I strongly believe that will manifest itself in Las Vegas in 12 days’ time.
Will we approach every fight in this manner from now on? This scenario in particular is reflective of the style of opponent in question. Nate Diaz is so unique compared to the majority of other fighters in that division.
If you look at that run Jose Aldo had for so many years, he always seemed to be fighting small, stocky wrestlers who were trying to develop their striking. Most guys don’t do anything that would force you to raise your eyebrows and recognise something different, but Diaz is an exception. We’ll make a decision on the approach for each fight when we find out who the opponent is.
I’ve often spoken of how drastically Conor improves with each training camp, and while there’s certainly no denying that he gets better for every fight, this has undoubtedly been his biggest leap forward yet. Sometimes your feelings can trick you, but when things are being measured, like they are now, then it’s different.
Technically there has been a massive jump in the right direction. In addition to that, the amount of analysis we have conducted on his opponent and the strategy and gameplan we have designed, it’s new territory for me.
Anyone who knows about the history of SBG Ireland will be aware that we were always regarded as the last-minute gym — the guys who would be ready to step in at short notice. Our mentality reflected that so all you can do in those circumstances is try to get your skillset to such a high level that the opponent doesn’t matter.
I believe that worked well for us and the results were proof of that, but I also feel that when you’ve done that for so long, you can end up getting caught out against certain styles of opponent. This has provided us with an opportunity to experience the other method of extreme gameplanning and being very opponent-orientated.
It’s been a new approach for me, and for us all. I’d describe it as doing an exam after seeing the questions on the teacher’s test sheet. I feel like we’re almost cheating going into this fight because we know what questions we’re going to face in the test.
In every other fight it’s been a fun approach because we’ve been figuring the guy out in the first round. With this one, I really feel like I can describe — technique by technique, round by round — what’s going to happen.
Identifying where things went wrong for Conor in his defeat to Nate Diaz back in March was a pretty straightforward process. There were a lot of good moments for him in that contest. To a large extent it’s been a case of looking back at it and dividing the elements into two columns: what was working and what wasn’t working.
From there we scratch out what wasn’t working and increase the focus on what was. There were certainly times in the fight where we had a good rhythm going, with some good techniques. But perhaps in our own eagerness to finish the fight, we were lured into areas where Diaz was more efficient.
While we have spent a long time — four or five months now — preparing for this rematch, we’ve been working on only a handful of techniques. That includes some new techniques I’ve been working on with Conor which he hasn’t done before, so you can expect to see a thing or two that you haven’t before. I’m confident that this will change the landscape.
Patience will be essential for Conor in this fight. I’m veering towards a fourth-round finish in his favour, following an opening three rounds which I expect him to dominate in the same manner he did in the first frame of the previous fight.
I’ve been asked if I’m concerned about that dominance potentially tempting him to go after the finish a little too eagerly again, but I’m not. Maybe I would be if I hadn’t seen how focused and keen he is to right the wrongs from the last fight.
It’s not a secret that Nate, as well as his brother Nick, can take an enormous amount of punishment, even though we were caught out by it at UFC 196. If you look at their fights, they’re like long-distance runners. They can go for days. They walk through punches like nobody else can.
Even if you do knock them down, they don’t react like wrestlers by panicking and exposing the back. They’ll gladly lie back and play guard. If you’re silly, you’ll end up being caught in a submission very quickly.
They have the ability to throw shots without having to be concerned about the consequences of being hit. While they’re also not the fastest guys, they’re adept at setting their own pace and maintaining that right the way through.
We’re ready for 25 minutes but I do believe that the cumulative damage will have become too much by the fourth round, resulting in Nate’s corner stopping the fight if the referee doesn’t do it before that.
This is a very important fight for Conor, but I also feel that my own reputation as a coach is at stake. This contest can be a bit of a game-changer for us all. Some observers who are obsessed with weight classes and belts don’t see this as a very meaningful fight. They’re more interested in seeing Conor defend his featherweight belt and going after the lightweight strap too.
But for me, we’re very lucky to be in a position to have an immediate rematch. In most cases, fighters have to be patient in order to get that chance. Having an opportunity to reverse an unfavourable result under the same circumstances just a few months later provides us with a chance to show that ‘Win or Learn’ isn’t just a catchy phrase. It really is something we practice and we have done for a long time.
I know Conor will do himself proud, while also proving that methodology to be correct by ensuring that this fight is very one-sided. I do believe that this win must be very dominant. It can’t be a close decision or anything like that. In that case there won’t be much satisfaction.
We want to deliver a contest which will remove any doubts or questions in the aftermath. We want to put a definitive stamp on this to prove that for us, it really is a case of win or learn.
I firmly believe that Conor’s loss to Diaz earlier this year will turn out to be a significant turning point in his career, which will really stand to him as we embark on this next part of the journey and the next batch of fights, whether they’re at featherweight, lightweight or welterweight.
We know what routine to follow now. Technically speaking we were already quite sound. Routine was the missing link. We have it now and I’m very excited about moving forward with it.
There can be no excuses here if we don’t get the result we’re pursuing. The preparation has been flawless. But the reassuring thing from our point of view is that I know we won’t need any excuses because it’s not going to come to that.

Coach: Conor McGregor May Seek Equity If UFC Sells

Throughout the duration of his monumental meteoric rise to the top of the sport, reigning UFC featherweight champion the “Notorious” Conor McGregor has established himself as the promotion’s biggest draw. Aside from serving as the face of the company, the brash Irishman has repeatedly stated that he’s on his way to being ‘neck and neck’

The post Coach: Conor McGregor May Seek Equity If UFC Sells appeared first on LowKick MMA.

While McGregor may seem outlandish at times, he truly believes in his star power and it shows within his words and his actions. With that being said, it’s an interesting time for the Dublin native given the constantly swirling rumors of a potential sale of the UFC.

According to his long-time coach John Kavanagh, McGregor may even request a stake in the company if it were indeed to sell (Via Sunday Business Post):

“John Kavanagh, the coach of Irish mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor, has said he expects that the sport’s breakout athlete would ask for a stake in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) if it was sold.”

“With rumours circulating of a $4.2 billion UFC sale, Kavanagh raised the prospect of McGregor seeking equity from any new owner.”

“Conor will have thought of this and I am sure, when he is sitting down with his new overlords, he will have that conversation,” Kavanagh said.”

McGregor is coming off of the first loss of his Octagon career after being submitted by Nate Diaz in the main event of March 5’s UFC 196, although his name value hasn’t diminished. In fact, the Irishman’s upcoming rematch with Diaz at August 20’s UFC 202 is expected to do massive numbers in terms of pay-per-view sales.

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Video: John Kavanagh Believes Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather Will Still Happen

It looks like the announcement of Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz 2 for UFC 202 in August won’t stop the talk of a potential boxing match between “The Notorious” one and Floyd Mayweather.

McGregor’s coach, John Kavanagh, recently spoke with MMA Und…

It looks like the announcement of Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz 2 for UFC 202 in August won’t stop the talk of a potential boxing match between “The Notorious” one and Floyd Mayweather.

McGregor’s coach, John Kavanagh, recently spoke with MMA Underground’s Jonathan Shrager to promote his new book, “Win Or Learn,” and during the discussion, he spoke about what the Diaz announcement means for McGregor’s rumored boxing match with Mayweather.

“It puts it on hold. I think that contest will happen eventually but it’s on hold for now. I’d be very surprised if it doesn’t at some stage. I think it’s a bigger fight; I think there’s a lot of intrigue about it. I could be 100% wrong. Right now we’re focusing on August 20th. We have an important rematch – a mixed martial arts fight – but if in time that fight was to be announced it would not surprise me and I think it would be an interesting one.”

As the SBG Ireland head coach continued, he spoke specifically of the style breakdown between McGregor and Mayweather, joking that McGregor might need to utilize some of his MMA skills in such a match.

“It’s hard to beat Floyd with boxing because he seems to be almost perfect in terms of how defensive he is. I think if you’re a classically trained boxer you’re gonna lose to Floyd because he just seems to make everybody look quite ordinary. But maybe somebody who doesn’t strike like a boxer might be a new look for him. Maybe the odd sly knee and leg kick as well. [Laughs.] You get two warnings. [Laughs.]

“But seriously I think Conor’s style is very unusual and Floyd is – I’m personally a fan of his style. I love watching him. I love watching fighters who don’t get hit… I think it’s absolutely beautiful and that’s why I mean I think he is one of the older school trained fighters and the boxing approach most are using against him just won’t work because he’s been doing this for so long. He’s in fantastic shape for his age and he hasn’t taken much head trauma.

“So if you understand anything about skill development you’ll know that he’s got so many hours of that purposeful practice. Not only purposeful practice but actual competitive experience, so I don’t think that same approach will beat him. But I think the way we strike in mixed martial arts and some of the movements we use and some of the approaches we use, he won’t have the software ready ignition system to that way of moving and way of standing. It would be different to him. So that and a couple of sly elbows as well. [Laughs].”

Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz 2 headlines UFC 202 on August 20, 2016. Join us here at MMANews.com for live UFC 202 coverage on 8/20.

H/T: MMAFighting.com

Conor McGregor’s Coach Admits He’s Unsure If McGregor Will Return To 145-Pound Division

While reigning UFC 145-pound champion “The Notorious” Conor McGregor prepares for his 170-pound rematch against Nate Diaz at UFC 202 in August, the 145-pound division will crown an interim champion, as former champion Jose Aldo takes on Frankie Edgar i…

Ahead of both pairs of fights, McGregor’s SBG Ireland coach John Kavanagh spoke with Jonathan Shrager of MMA Underground (via Jonathan Bradley of FOX Sports) about whether or not he sees McGregor returning to the UFC’s 145-pound division after his fight with Diaz in August.

“The short answer is I don’t know,” Kavanagh said. “I’m very intrigued to see the Aldo and Edgar fight.”

Kavanagh continued, “I hope Aldo is fully recovered from the bad knockout. I thought (Chad) Mendes went back in there really quick after the knockout against Conor. People don’t realize the damage it does — it takes a long time to recover, and I think Mendes went down quicker in that fight because of that. Maybe if he’d let himself rest a bit more he might have had more fight for Edgar.”

As Kavanagh continued, he explained that he hopes to see the best of both Aldo and Edgar at UFC 200, before acknowledging that rising contender Max Holloway is also in the mix.

“I hope that’s not the case for Aldo, (I hope) we get to see a solid version of Aldo and a new kind of improved Edgar, and see what different from the first fight. So yea, let’s see that, and assess after the rematch. It’s kind of those two names and (Max) Holloway kind of in the mix, so it’s an interesting time.”

H/T: BloodyElbow.com