Coach reveals who McGregor could fight next
UFC champion Conor McGregor may be focused on starting his family next year, but his coach John Kavanagh has already speculated about who could be next to jump into the octagon with the fiery Irishman.
In an interview with The MMA Hour, John Kavanagh said he had three favourite contenders for McGregor depending on which weight class he would fall in to.
Should he be allowed to defend his featherweight title, Kavanagh said he would prefer to see McGregor take on Max Holloway rather than Jose Aldo or Frankie Edgar.
“The second-best 145-pounder is Max Holloway,” Kavanagh said. “That’s just my opinion.”
Holloway lost to McGregor in 2013, but after his defeat he managed to secure nine straight wins.
In the lightweight category, Kavanagh picked a rematch with Nate Diaz over current champion Tony Ferguson and undefeated fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov.
“I think the second-best 155-pounder is Nate Diaz,” he told The MMA Hour. “I think Nate would beat either Tony or Khabib. I think he really turned a corner with the Michael Johnson fight — I thought we saw a new version of him — and I think he looked fantastic in both the Conor fights.
“I understand Khabib is the number one contender and it’s probably going to be him, if that’s how the company works. But for me ... the Nate fight would interest me greater.”
If McGregor was to tackle the welterweight belt, Kavanagh said he would pick reigning champion Tyron Woodley as his opponent – a fight slammed by fans a critics alike.
“Maybe it won’t happen, we’ve got so many irons in the fire at this stage. But I don’t see why other people say ‘there’s no way Conor can touch this guy’. There is. No one is perfect. There’s openings there,” Kavanagh said.
“Of course it’s a bigger man, there’s more power and you’ve got to be super-careful. But Conor trains with big guys like this, I see him do amazing things in the gym all the time.”
“If he was to say to me tomorrow, ‘that’s it, I’ve got the green light, we’re fighting Woodley for the belt’, I’d say ‘OK, let’s go’.
“What’s the worst that can happen? He loses. He’s just a man. I watched him against Thompson and he did very well, great win ... but he’s not enormous.
“Conor would have reach on him and technique on him in the striking ... I certainly don’t in my head say ‘oh my God, there’s no way’ ... it’s a doable fight.”
McGregor knocked out Eddie Alvarez at Maddison Square Garden on Sunday to become the first to hold two UFC titles simultaneously.
Following the UFC 205 fight, UFC president Dana White announced that the company had “broken all records”, including exceeding the number of pay-per-view buys.
In a post-fight interview McGregor announced that he and his partner Dee Devlin are expecting their first baby, due in May next year.
He also demanded a stake in the company, saying: “I’ve earned something”.
“If I’m the one that’s bringing this, they’ve got to come talk to me now.
“If you want me to stick around, if you want me to keep doing what I’m doing, let’s talk. But I want ownership now. I want equal share. I want what I deserve.”