Conor McGregor’s coach John Kavanagh confirmed with ESPN his client’s ongoing negotiations with UFC for a return fight. It’s no secret McGregor wants to dance with undefeated champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, he who played bully to his friend Artem Lobov.
Kavanagh will corner two fighter on UFC 226 this Saturday, readily believes his most famous client has regained the spark he had for the sport before he tried his hand at boxing, and his subsequent arrest in April, an incident where McGregor confronted a passenger bus thinking Nurmagomedov was on board.
"I really have seen the spark back lately," Kavanagh told ESPN. "I think that was directed at other areas of his life for a while, building up his business world, which is completely justified. We all know the hard luck stories of fighters retiring broke. They get pats on the back and they're forgotten.”
As far as the outlook for a potential fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov, Kavanagh likes his client’s chances. The trainer sviews the fight as classic case of “grappler versus striker,” McGregor with more than a puncher’s chance: "I think a lot of people are so afraid of Khabib's grappling, they don't engage with him. Conor is a good grappler. I know that will get a lot of people upset when I say that, but watch his fights.”
Kavanagh, who’s known McGregor for over a decade, is confident a fight will get signed by when bother fighters sit down with Dana White. Who would you pick in a prospective bout between McGregor and Nurmagomedor?
