John Kavanagh News

Tom Taylor - March 29, 2017

Last November, in the main event of the blockbuster UFC 205, Ireland’s Conor McGregor knocked out Eddie Alvarez to win the UFC lightweight title. Given that he still owned the UFC featherweight crown at the time, this made him the first fighter in UFC history to hold titles in two weight classes at the same time. With this history-making win, the Irishman realized new and unprecedented heights of stardom, and maintained his status as the biggest name in MMA. Since this massive win, however, McGregor’s focus has been far from MMA. Instead, he’s been transfixed on an ultra-lucrative boxing bout with undefeated star Floyd Mayweather.

bjpenndotcom - March 28, 2017

UFC superstar Conor McGregor has taken the MMA world by storm since making his UFC debut in 2013, where he knocked out Marcus Brimage in the very first round with beautiful looping uppercuts. Fast forward four years and McGregor is undoubtably the biggest name in MMA at the present time. After making history in 2016 by capturing his second straight UFC championship when he knocked out Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205, McGregor announced that he would be taking time away from the sport due to the upcoming birth of his firstborn son. During his layoff, news has continued to surface regarding a potential superfight between McGregor and undefeated boxer Floyd Mayweather.

Tom Taylor - March 19, 2017

Last night, in the co-main event of the UFC’s latest trip to London, England, Iceland’s Gunnar Nelson scored an impressive win over the ever dangerous Alan Jouban. This win, which occurred after a fairly dominant first round, saw Nelson put his American foe on roller skates, before chasing him to the mat, where he locked up a guillotine choke for the win.

Tom Taylor - March 2, 2017

Shortly after winning the UFC lightweight title with a beautiful, second-round knockout of Eddie Alvarez, Conor McGregor set his sights on a game-changing boxing match with semi-retired boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr. Whether this fight actually happens is still very difficult to say, but it remains the Irishman’s singular focus. McGregor’s coach John Kavanagh, however, would prefer to see his student stick to mixed martial arts. In a recent interview with Submission Radio, Kavanagh outlined his preferred next steps for his star pupil.

Russell Ess - December 19, 2016

Straight Blast Gym head coach John Kavanagh, who has led UFC superstar Conor McGregor to the top of the fight game is putting the safety of his fighters ahead of anything else for 2017. Kavanagh, who runs SBG Ireland where Conor McGregor has trained from a young age before making his way into the UFC, has gained a lot of attention with the massive success of the current UFC lightweight champion.

bjpenndotcom - December 9, 2016

Friday morning, unfortunate news surfaced that former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis had missed weight for his scheduled UFC 206 interim featherweight title fight with Max Holloway. Pettis, who missed weight by three pounds for the event, is no longer eligible to win the interim featherweight championship in the fight, and also forfeited 20% of his purse to Holloway. This of course stirred up quite a bit of controversy given that former UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor was forced to relinquish his featherweight championship in order for the UFC to make the fight between Holloway and Pettis an interim featherweight championship fight, with Jose Aldo subsequently being promoted to the undisputed featherweight champion.

Russell Ess - December 5, 2016

UFC superstar Conor McGregor put on a brilliant performance in his historic fight against Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 in November. With his dominating win, “The Notorious” became the first fighter to ever hold two UFC division titles at the same time, being the champion of the UFC’s 145-pound featherweight and 155-pound lightweight divisions.

Tom Taylor - November 29, 2016

Earlier this month, in the main event of UFC 205, Conor McGregor knocked out Eddie Alvarez to win the UFC lightweight title. Because he already owned the UFC featherweight title, this defeat of Alvarez made him the first fighter in UFC history to hold belts in two divisions simultaneously. Just weeks later, shortly after the UFC 206 main event got cancelled, the UFC announced that the card’s Max Holloway vs. Anthony Pettis co-main event would be for the interim featherweight title, and that Jose Aldo had been promoted from interim champion to undisputed champion. This, of course, meant that McGregor had been stripped of the featherweight belt – or as they put it, he’d “relinquished” it.

Russell Ess - November 14, 2016

Following Conor McGregor’s historic win over Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 over the weekend, everyone wants to know what comes next for the Irish UFC superstar. On Monday’s episode of The MMA Hour, McGregor’s long-time coach John Kavanagh spoke about the next potential fight for “The Notorious” and said that he personally would like to see the McGregor vs. Diaz trilogy fight because he feels Nate is the second best lightweight in the world next to Conor McGregor.

Tom Taylor - November 14, 2016

Last Saturday, in the main event of UFC 205, UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor knocked out lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez with beautiful, second-round combination. This seemingly effortless victory rendered the Irish star the first fighter in UFC history to own titles in two divisions simultaneously. While many members of the MMA community were shocked by the ease with which McGregor defeated Alvarez, McGregor’s coach John Kavanagh was not. Being very careful not to disparage Alvarez’s personality or toughness, the famed coach explained his confidence in McGregor on the latest episode of The MMA Hour.

Russell Ess - November 14, 2016

UFC star Conor McGregor made history at Madison Square Garden at UFC 205 when he finished Eddie Alvarez by TKO to become the first fighter in the UFC to hold two weight division’s titles simultaneously. The biggest thing that fans of Conor McGregor are waiting on is what fight comes next for the Irish superstar.

Tom Taylor - November 7, 2016

UFC 205, which will mark the UFC’s long awaited debut in New York City, is now just days away. As this mammoth card draws ever closer, fans, media members, fighters, and other MMA personalities have begun to offer up their predictions on the main event: a lightweight title fight between divisional king Eddie Alvarez and featherweight champ Conor McGregor. One of the latest MMA notables to offer up a prediction on this massive title fight is McGregor’s head coach, John Kavanagh.

Russell Ess - October 31, 2016

It’s crazy to imagine a world of mixed martial arts without Conor McGregor. Back when “The Notorious” was just starting off his career in MMA and barely making ends meet, he almost walked a completely different path but was lured back on track by his coach, John Kavanagh.

Russell Ess - October 31, 2016

UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor has become a worldwide star and it’s only fitting that the prize MMA fighter has been seen hanging out with other celebrities. We’ve seen Conor hanging out with Jennifer Lopez at her birthday. Soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo paid “The Notorious” a visit during his UFC 202 training camp preparing for his rematch with Nate Diaz. Kanye West went out to watch McGregor and Diaz fight at UFC 202 and the rapper was seen backstage having a friendly exchange with the Irish prize fighter.

bjpenndotcom - October 10, 2016

Following a report on Monday of Conor McGregor being knocked out while sparring in preparation for his UFC 205 title fight with Eddie Alvarez, SBG’s head coach John Kavanagh took to Twitter to vaguely dispel the report. MMA insider Dizz had tweeted that McGregor was “shaky getting back to his feet” and with a possibly broken nose after a sparring session at Straight Blast Gym in McGregor’s native Ireland.

Chris Taylor - August 28, 2016

UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor was able to drop Nate Diaz on three different occasions during their five-round war at UFC 202 in Las Vegas. Although “Mystic Mac” was able to find a home for his big left hand on frequent occasion against Diaz, Nate took all of the shots and just kept coming back.

bjpenndotcom - May 7, 2016

SBG Ireland has earned the reputation as one of Ireland’s premiere MMA gyms, with John Kavanagh earning the reputation as one of the best coaches in all of MMA. Coach Kavanagh likely receives hundreds of emails regarding training at SBG Ireland given the number of high profile fighters who train at his gym. We have a feeling that this has to be one of the strangest ones he’s ever seen.