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…
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 in a rematch at UFC 200 in July.
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.”
UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor and No. 4-ranked Chad Mendes put on a hell of a main event back at UFC 189, that saw the Irish phenom down ‘Money’ in the closing moments of the second round to secure the interim 145-pound title. Since then Mendes has been on a downward spiral as he was
UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor and No. 4-ranked Chad Mendes put on a hell of a main event back at UFC 189, that saw the Irish phenom down ‘Money’ in the closing moments of the second round to secure the interim 145-pound title.
Since then Mendes has been on a downward spiral as he was viciously knocked out by No. 2-ranked Frankie Edgar at The Ultimate Fighter 22 Finale (TUF 22 Finale), and now his recent troubles with the United States Anti Doping Agency (USADA).
The UFC released an official statement Friday afternoon, stating that Mendes had been flagged for a potential doping violation after an out-of competition USADA drug test.
Now amongst the two-time title challenger’s highly publicized issues, 145-pound champion McGregor’s head coach John Kavanagh has taken to Twitter to react to Mendes’ potential violation:
Dun dun dun….another one bites the dust #CleanSport ????????
Kavanagh and his Straight Blast Gym (SBG) star-pupil McGregor are currently preparing for their upcoming rematch bout, against Stockton native Nate Diaz at UFC 202 this upcoming August.
Diaz handed McGregor his first UFC loss back at UFC 196 in March, choking out the brash Irishman in the second round of their headliner bout. Now McGregor will get his opportunity to run it back again, as he looks to avenge his first loss in nearly six years.
Kavanagh is also set to release his autobiography this summer, as the SBG head coach has signed a deal with Penguin to take over the publishing of his book.
While further news is currently being awaited on Mendes’ status, McGregor and Diaz are set to throw down in the main event of UFC 202 on pay-per-view (PPV), live from the T-Mobile Arena on August 20, 2016.
The rollercoaster that is Conor McGregor’s UFC career has been one of endless undulation. From his historically hot start, to his tightly contested battle with Chad Mendes, to his unprecedented KO of former featherweight kingpin Jose Aldo and back down to his upset loss against Nate Diaz, “The Notorious’” time in the UFC has been
The rollercoaster that is Conor McGregor’s UFC career has been one of endless undulation. From his historically hot start, to his tightly contested battle with Chad Mendes, to his unprecedented KO of former featherweight kingpin Jose Aldo and back down to his upset loss against Nate Diaz, “The Notorious’” time in the UFC has been anything but boring. Even when his name does not appear on any fight cards coming up in the near future, he still manages to dominate the headlines.
His recent verbal scuffle with UFC brass culminated with his removal from the landmark UFC 200 event, where McGregor was scheduled to try and avenge his only UFC loss to lightweight boxing ace Nate Diaz. Amid constant speculation as to when the Irish striker would make his return to the Octagon, his increasingly outspoken coach, John Kavanagh, gave his two cents today (May 3, 2016) on the ever-popular subject:
“[Conor will return at] 201 or 202, announcement to come soon I’m sure.”
So, according to Kavanagh, “The Notorious” should be making his return to combat at either UFC 201 or 202. There are currently no set dates for either of these cards and his opponent has obviously yet to be named, but if UFC President Dana White has anything to say on the matter (and you best believe he does), McGregor will face the winner of Jose Aldo versus Frankie Edgar who will step into the cage together for the interim featherweight title at UFC 200 on July 9.
However, there are just two problems with this. First, the gap between UFC 200 and UFC 201 (even 202) is entirely too close for either Edgar or Aldo to [successfully] make that turnaround and second, both McGregor and his teammates have been quite clear that the weight cut down to 145lbs is just too taxing on his body. So, the likely and heavily favored choice would be for McGregor and Nate Diaz to square off again and settle their business once and for all.
Either way, it’s looking more and more doubtful that Conor McGregor will ever return to the featherweight division that he so handily mowed through. He’s been quite vocal about his reluctance to relinquish his gold, but if his body just can’t handle the weight cut anymore, he may have to set his sights on the lightweight belt and his old pal, Mr. Rafael dos Anjos.
No matter what the outcome, you can bet your bottom dollar that “Notorious” will grace the Octagon with his presence again in 2016.
On the latest episode of his “Beyond The Fight” podcast, former UFC title contender Chael Sonnen addressed his belief that Conor McGregor’s coach John Kavanagh recently handled a major situation the wrong way.
Accordi…
https://youtu.be/nTeU3m4zQiY
On the latest episode of his “Beyond The Fight” podcast, former UFC title contender Chael Sonnen addressed his belief that Conor McGregor’s coach John Kavanagh recently handled a major situation the wrong way.
According to Sonnen, Kavanagh “outed” McGregor in the way he handled the ongoing situation between them and the UFC.
As Sonnen explains, McGregor knew what he was doing when he pulled recent negotiation tactics that resulted in him being pulled from the upcoming landmark UFC 200 event in July.
“His coach cannot be putting anything out about him ever. Period. Ever. Because he doesn’t get it. Respectfully, coach Kavanagh, You don’t get it. You don’t get it! Your student does. He gets it. Conor knows what’s going on. Every time you talk and think you’re helping him, you’re not. You’re hurting the cause. You have to stop! Conor cannot put a post saying ‘money made, bills paid, game slayed, your move,’ which means ‘I do not care what happens, I’m handled either way. It’s your move.’ He can’t do that and three days later have you come out saying hey fans, please petition and get him back. You can’t do it! It’s never good for a trainer or manager to do this. Whether it comes from a good place or not, you look like you’re trying to get paid. If one guy is sitting there, and the whole hand he’s playing is ‘I got enough, I don’t need to do it, won the title, got the money, don’t care, having a great life.’ If he’s playing that, that’s a pretty good hand. But you can’t show cracks in it. You’re talking about UFC 200, UFC New York, and why we’re blacklisted. Wait a minute, I thought the game was slayed, the bills were paid, and the money was made? That was their move! Now you’re begging to get on a card? You guys have got to get on the same page. You want to hustle some hustlers, you better believe you’ve got to be on the same page! You can’t have one guy say I don’t give a damn, and have his trainer say ‘boy, we sure would like to fight, can someone send some tweets in our favor?’ It doesn’t work! Once there’s a crack, it’s unraveled, and the gig is up! You want to fight. You need the fight. The bills are not paid, the money is not made, and the game damn sure hasn’t been slayed. That’s the reality. We all knew that, and it was cool when it came out, but your own guy outed you.”
UFC 200: Cormier vs. Jones II is scheduled for Saturday, July 9, 2016 at the brand new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
UFC president Dana White recently stated during a press conference that the likelihood of Conor McGregor being added to the upcoming New York City debut event was not very good.
McGregor’s head coach, John Kavanagh, was not too happy to hear those r…
UFC president Dana White recently stated during a press conference that the likelihood of Conor McGregor being added to the upcoming New York City debut event was not very good.
McGregor’s head coach, John Kavanagh, was not too happy to hear those remarks, explaining his reasoning during an appearance on The MMA Hour Monday.
“That was hard to hear,” he said (thanks to MMAFighting.com for the quotes). “I really think that’s going too far. (McGregor) was bold, but it wasn’t anything that bad. If we get the slap on the wrist for (UFC) 200, we definitely can’t be put on the naughty (list) for New York.”
After years of fighting, MMA was legalized earlier this year in New York. UFC officials promptly announced plans for a mega-event this fall to be held November 12 inside Madison Square Garden.
You can hear all of Kavanagh’s interview in the video below:
Appearing in an interview today (Mon., April 25, 2016) on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, SBG Ireland head-coach John Kavanagh commented on the craziness that has been going on this week with his longtime student, UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor. Kavanagh first commented on McGregor’s Monday morning tweet saying he was back on the UFC
Appearing in an interview today (Mon., April 25, 2016) on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, SBG Ireland head-coach John Kavanagh commented on the craziness that has been going on this week with his longtime student, UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor.
Kavanagh first commented on McGregor’s Monday morning tweet saying he was back on the UFC 200 card:
Happy to announce that I am BACK on UFC 200! Shout out to @danawhite and @lorenzofertitta on getting this one done for the fans. #Respect
“I do know that we left Iceland very early this morning”, Kavanagh said. “And we ended up getting separated and went different ways. I turned my phone on, I was with Gunny and Paddy Houlahan, and things started going crazy when I saw this message.
Now I didn’t know about this, and neither did his manager so it was news to both of us when we saw. I hadn’t been speaking to Conor since because I’ve had a bit of a day with Paddy”, he said. “I presume I’m gonna see Conor this afternoon in training and get the exact news.”
Kavanagh also touched on how serious “The Notorious” was when he pondered the idea of early retirement:
“That was not a joke. I’ll tell you how I found out was I was coaching Gunnar in Iceland. He showed up late for the session,” he said.
“I was telling him to hurry up and get on the mat we’re starting. He went, “Oh yeah, ‘I just retired.’ And I said, “Okay well, let’s just do the session and then we’ll talk about that”. So ya we trained for a couple of hours, we went outside I turned on my phone and I’d seen he’d actually put it out there. And ya he was content to leave it at that. That was not a joke”.
The SBG head coach also tried to make amends with the UFC himself by reaching out to UFC President Dana White:
“I did it on Wednesday, last Wednesday”, Kavanagh explained. “I just tried to put my case across, and sort of explain. We’re doing everything different for this fight. There’s a really new approach to what we’re doing.
“I don’t really mind losses, I see it as a necessary step for success no matter what you do in life, but only if you learn from the loss. If you lose and you don’t see what went wrong and don’t make changes, well then you will continue to lose.
“Whereas we very much made a lot of changes and we were in a really great place. Some new members on the team, we were really hitting the ground running in Portugal and we were getting some great stuff done. I knew it would completely throw everything off.”
Kavanagh also assured that McGregor is in good spirits following this week’s tumultuous media frenzy:
“He’s in a great place, we did two great weeks training. We did a week in Portugal, then we did a great week in Iceland and we were there as well obviously helping Gunnar, and he always gets a real buzz out of being in his company.
“He’s not against doing media”, Kavanagh explained. “It was just, at that particular time, that amount of travel, and losing momentum of what we were starting was just going to be detrimental physically and I believe psychologically as well.
Kavanagh was also disappointed to hear that Dana White is reluctant to put McGregor on the promotion’s first event at MSG in New York:
“That was hard to hear. I really think that’s going too far.”
“We get the slap on the wrist for 200, we definitely can’t be put on the naughty step for New York. As an Irish guy in New York and the first card at Madison Square Garden. I think conor will show up anyway and fight someone in the training room if they don’t put him on the card.”
Kavanagh believes that the UFC and McGregor could have worked out other possibilities for the press conference in this day and age of technology.
“The way the world is now, you don’t have to be physically at places to be involved in things. I don’t know what this obsession is with Vegas. UFC is a global sport, not a Vegas sport. I don’t see why everything has to be done there.
“Is there anyone in the MMA world that didn’t want to see that fight?” Kavanagh asked. “Was there the need to spend $10 million on that ad?
“This was Conor getting up at 7:45 a.m. — and I can’t tell you how unusual that is unless you know him the way I do,” Kavanagh said. … “He’d become this soldier. I basically said if it comes down to the press conference or the fight, we’ve gotta let that one go.”
In the end, Kavanagh remains hopeful that the issues between “Notorious” and the UFC can be resolved before the July card.
“It seems to be swinging the right way and we’re aiming and we’re training for 200,” Kavanagh said. “We’re hoping for good news.”
“I don’t think we’ve gone past any point of no return,” he said. “There’s mutual respect from both parties. Dana and Lorenzo and those guys are sensible businessmen. This is just one of those things. I have no doubt that we’ll continue with the tradition for his next fight. Lorenzo will bring in his bottle of Midleton and we’ll do our usual toast and we’ll carry on.”
Kavanagh also assured that McGregor is in good spirits following this week’s tumultuous media frenzy:
In the end, Kavanagh remains hopeful that the issues between “Notorious” and the UFC can be resolved before the July card.