John Kavanagh News

Cole Shelton - September 23, 2019

John Kavanagh hopes Conor McGregor’s return fight will be against Frankie Edgar. Conor McGregor has been hinting at a return to the Octagon for a while, but has had his sights set on a Khabib Nurmagomedov rematch.

Natasha Hooper - August 2, 2019

Bellator MMA plans to develop new markets across the pond and believe Conor McGregor’s trainer, John Kavanagh will be instrumental in achieving this. The company’s CEO,Scott Coker joined the Viacom-owned business in 2014 and has been pushing hard to develop the brand. Part of his plan has been to capitalize in areas where he believes the UFC is flagging. Bellator wants to cultivate international talent and emerging markets that are currently neglected. Coker intends on investing in the MMA market in UK and Ireland as he believes this is a “business opportunity that UFC is not taking advantage of.”

Mike Pendleton - June 17, 2019

As the UFC’s lightweight championship picture continues to take shape, the road back to the Octagon for former featherweight and lightweight champion Conor McGregor also seems to be taking shape. Back in March while doing a Q&A with fans McGregor said he feels he owes it to Nate Diaz to have a trilogy fight, but that idea was recently shut down by Diaz himself. When Conor McGregor does decide to return his head coach John Kavanagh has a preference as to what opponent he wants his fighter to face first, and it’s the trilogy fight with Nate Diaz. Speaking to Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show, Kavanagh spoke about his preference wanting Diaz as McGregor’s next opponent, saying it’s something he’s wanted for a while.

Mike Pendleton - June 3, 2019

It’s getting harder and harder to deny the legitimacy of the Drake Curse. When Drake meets an athlete, it seems like that athlete almost always loses immediately thereafter. One MMA coach is taking action to ensure his fighters go unaffected by the rapper’s witchcraft. After a photo of Drake and former boxing heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua surfaced online, John Kavanagh, head coach of SBG Ireland and Conor McGregor, sent out a pretty fair warning to the artist.

Chris Taylor - April 13, 2019

John Kavanagh recently made a guest appearance on Ireland’s The Late Late Show, where he discussed the future of UFC star Conor McGregor. Kavanagh claimed that this past weekend was the first time he had seen Conor McGregor in months. The SBG head coach went on to say that he plans to meet with his star pupil later next week to discuss his next move.

Christopher Taylor - March 30, 2019

Former two-division UFC champion Conor McGregor shocked the mixed martial arts community earlier this week when he unexpectedly announced his retirement from MMA. The 30-year-old Irish superstar took to Twitter where he issued the following statement.

Cole Shelton - February 22, 2019

As the days go on, the question of when and who Conor McGregor will fight next continues. McGregor last fought at UFC 229 in October, where he took on current UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov for the belt. The fight marked McGregor’s return to the Octagon after a nearly two year hiatus.

Tom Taylor - October 29, 2018

Shortly after Khabib Nurmagomedov submitted Conor McGregor in the UFC 229 main event, he leapt over the side of the Octagon and attacked McGregor’s training partner Dillon Danis. McGregor then attempted to chase Nurmagomedov, but was intercepted by a pair of the Russian champion’s training partners, including one who punched him in the back of the head from behind. In the wake of this event, McGregor’s head coach John Kavanagh has stated that he doesn’t fault Khabib Nurmagomedov for losing his tempter and attacking Danis. That being said, Kavanagh recently divulged that he considers the actions of the fighters who attacked McGregor in the Octagon to be absolutely reprehensible.

Tom Taylor - October 23, 2018

On Monday night, former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion Conor McGregor released an honest and astute assessment of his UFC 229 submission loss to undefeated UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. Fetching content “Thoughts on my last fight. Round 1. I believe from a sport standpoint, round 1 was his. Top position against the fence. Zero position advancement or damage inflicted. But top position. From a fight standpoint the first round is mine. Actual shots landed and a willingness to engage. Straight left early. Knee to the head on the low shot. Elbows in any and all tie up scenarios. Opponent just holding the legs against the fence for almost the entire round. Round 2 he is running away around the cage before being blessed with a right hand that changed the course of the round, and the fight. It was a nice shot. After the shot I bounced back up to engage instantly, but again he dipped under to disengage. That is the sport and it was a smart move that led to a dominant round, so no issue. Well played. If I stay switched on and give his stand up even a little more respect, that right hand never gets close and we are talking completely different now. I gave his upright fighting no respect in preparation. No specific stand up spars whatsoever. Attacking grapplers/wrestlers only. That won’t happen again. I also gave my attacking grappling no respect. To defense minded. Lessons. Listen to nobody but yourself on your skill set.You are the master of your own universe. I am the master of this. I must take my own advice. Round 3. After the worst round of my fighting career, I come back and win this round. Again walking forward, walking him down, and willing to engage. Round 4. My recovery was not where it could have been here. That is my fault. Although winning the early exchanges in 4, he dips under again and I end up in a bad position with over 3 on the clock. I work to regain position and end up upright, with my back to the fence. A stable position. Here however, I made a critical error of abandoning my over hook at this crucial time, exposing the back, and I end up beaten fair and square. What can I say? It was a great fight and it was my pleasure. I will be back with my confidence high. Fully prepared. If it is not the rematch right away, no problem. I will face the next in line. It’s all me always, anyway.See you soon my fighting fans I love you all.” – Conor McGregor on Instagram. 

Tom Taylor - October 14, 2018

Conor McGregor was not able to reclaim the UFC lightweight title from his arch rival Khabib Nurmagomedov. Although McGregor had some success in his UFC 229 mega fight with Nurmagomedov, he just couldn’t keep up with his destructive foe. His head coach John Kavanagh believes that might have something to do with his lengthy absence from MMA competition.

Tom Taylor - October 11, 2018

Conor McGregor’s long awaited return to the Octagon, which headlined UFC 229 last Saturday night in Las Vegas, didn’t go the way he planned. Instead, he was pummelled by his opponent Khabib Nurmagomedov and ultimately submitted in the fourth round. That, of course, is not the way McGregor’s head coach John Kavanagh envisioned the fight going. Kavanagh and his fellow coaches had worked out a detailed game plan for the Irish MMA star, but unfortunately things just didn’t work out.

Tom Taylor - October 9, 2018

Last Saturday night, in the main event of UFC 229, former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion Conor McGregor returned to the Octagon after two long years away, as he attempted to reclaim the UFC lightweight belt from undefeated champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. Unfortunately for McGregor and his dedicated team, this mission didn’t go as planned. Instead, the Irish MMA star was soundly walloped en route to a fourth-round submission loss. Although he was able to steal a round from Nurmagomedov — something nobody has been able to do in a long time — it was not enough, and he’ll now have to return to the drawing board.

Chris Taylor - October 6, 2018

Tonight’s highly anticipated UFC 229 main event between Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov left fight fans with a bitter taste in their mouths. The fight itself was highly entertaining. Khabib used his strong wrestling to take advantage early in the fight, but Conor McGregor was able to claw back in round three.

Tom Taylor - September 20, 2018

At 26-0, UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov has never lost a fight. On October 6, in the main event of UFC 229, former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion Conor McGregor will attempt to change that. In the opinion of Conor McGregor’s head coach John Kavanagh, defeating Khabib Nurmagomedov could begin with winning a single round. Nurmagomedov faces adversity so infrequently that the Irish MMA coach isn’t sure the Russian knows how to cope with it.

Tom Taylor - July 3, 2018

Renowned MMA coach John Kavanagh, who is the man behind stars like Conor McGregor, Gunnar Nelson, James Gallagher and Dillon Danis, has a bone to pick with the UFC. The Irish coach is currently in Las Vegas to corner his SBG Ireland fighters Richie Smullen and Brad Katona, the latter of whom is a finalist on the latest season of The Ultimate Fighter. Both fight at the Ultimate Fighter 27 Finale this Friday.

Tom Taylor - June 26, 2018

If Conor McGregor fights again — which is starting to sound more and more likely — it will probably be against reigning UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. While McGregor’s head coach John Kavanagh is all for this fight, he says he’d prefer to see McGregor engage in a trilogy fight with Nate Diaz first. “Nate Diaz is my favourite fight, by the way,” Kavanagh said in a Friday sit-down with MMA analyst Robin Black (transcribed Jim Edwards for MMANytt). “If I could pick a fight for the next one it would be that trilogy. I realise it’s not the fan favourite.

Tom Taylor - February 26, 2018

Last week, MMAFighting reported that the UFC is plotting a return to the MMA mecca of Dublin, Ireland on May 27. Early on Monday morning, SBG head coach John Kavanagh ran a poll on Twitter, asking fans how they’d feel about a potential Dublin main event pitting his student Gunnar Nelson against surging British contender Darren Till. If UFC were coming to Dublin late May 😉😉😉 how would you the fans feel about a Gunni v Till main event?

Tom Taylor - January 24, 2018

For weeks, there’s been mystery surrounding the main event of the UFC’s April 17 stop in London, England. Originally, the idea seemed to be that the retiring Michael Bisping would fight the last fight of his career in the main event. With Bisping now hesitating on fighting again at all, however, it appears the UFC is going a different direction. According to SBG head coach John Kavanagh, Icelandic welterweight Gunnar Nelson has been offered a scrap with surging British contender Darren Till, in a bout that has been targeted as the UFC London headliner. Per Kavanagh’s Tweet, he and Nelson are just waiting on Till and his team to accept the deal.