Details McGregor training
In an article for The 42, Kavanagh details his approach to McGregor’s training.
We’ve been following that pattern now for what feels like a long time — about 19 weeks in total come fight night. Although it seems like it has been a long process, we’re definitely seeing the fruits of our labour. There are certain fitness tests that we have numbers on, and the improvements from when Conor began to where he is now have been dramatic. There’s no comparing this training camp to any we have done previously. I can’t stress enough how different this has been. As many of you will probably already know, routine hasn’t been something you would have associated with Conor’s preparations in the past. But this has been like nothing we’ve done before and it’s going to be a massive help for his next number of fights, not just this one…We’re learning about this art as we go along…I strongly believe that will manifest itself in Las Vegas in 12 days’ time…I’ve often spoken of how drastically Conor improves with each training camp, and while there’s certainly no denying that he gets better for every fight, this has undoubtedly been his biggest leap forward yet…Patience will be essential for Conor in this fight. I’m veering towards a fourth-round finish in his favour, following an opening three rounds which I expect him to dominate in the same manner he did in the first frame of the previous fight.
Kavanagh: McGregor nearly went off the rails
Kavanagh says that, after his loss to Sitenkov in 2008, McGregor stopped attending SBG and went missing for a few weeks. Concerned by his behaviour, McGregor’s mother, Margaret, called Kavanagh to try and get him to convince her son to return to training and steer him back on track.
Yeah (it was big). Maybe you and me wouldn’t be talking now (if it didn’t happen). At that stage, he’d already disappeared for four or six weeks. I kind of just moved on with what I was doing and sort of half forgot about him if I’m being honest. Over the years, I must have had what must be over tens of thousands of guys come through my doors at this stage. You get these little flames of enthusiasm and sparks of possibilities but then they fizzle out for the 99.9-per-cent. So, I think I was already putting him down to being one of those could’ve been type people. And maybe if I hadn’t of driven up that night to try give us one more chance, maybe he would’ve been a has been and be that guy on the bar stool talking about ‘I could’ve been that guy, I could’ve done this.’ So yeah, I’m glad his mother called me and I’m of course very happy that I went up there and we worked it out and he came back. And since then, we’ve been a fairly rock-solid team.
UFC Bad Blood: McGregor Spars with Southpaws
UFC releases a second trailer for Bad Blood, showing McGregor sparring with southpaws, including Wallace.
I’m certainly preparing a lot more specific. Usually, I don’t prepare specific, because they always pull out, every time. I know Nate will show up. This time I know this fight will go down. This time I know I’ll be facing a tall, lanky southpaw, with the height, the weight, and the reach on me. So I am preparing accordingly…I’m feeling very confident. It’s gonna be a bad night for Nate.
Kavanagh:
For the first fight we didn’t even have one training session with a similar opponent. Now, it’s all we’ve done for the last few months.
MMA Hour livestream
McGregor and Coach Kavanagh appear on a livestream for MMA Hour. Kavanagh is scheduled to speak at 2:25pm ET, McGregor at 4:00pm ET.
Kavanagh: Training Camp created ‘perfect fighter’
In his interview on MMA Hour, Kavanagh talks about the effect of McGregor’s training camp.
I think the first round of the fight was all Conor. I think there is the technical superiority there. I don’t think that will have changed with 18 weeks training. I don’t think Nate will have been able to catch up on that. Clearly the way the contest ended, there was a substantial conditioning difference between the two. That’s what we have changed. Skill wise, it takes maybe ten years, the 10,000 hour rule, to get to a mastery level in something. But conditioning wise, 18 weeks is a lifetime… So I think he is the somewhat perfect MMA fighter now.
On McGregor’s mood:
I have never seen him like this six days out from a fight. Six days out from a fight is normally…you got to creep around the house a bit because the weight cut’s in, he’s tired of training at this stage and all the media obligations. Where we didn’t have to do all that much this time, there is no weight to be cut, training went perfect. He is like a kid on Christmas Eve.
Kavanagh: ‘We did it’
Coach Kavanagh posts a picture to Instagram.
We did it @TheNotoriousMMA pic.twitter.com/EXOaoSs9h8
— Coach JK (@John_Kavanagh) August 21, 2016
Kavanagh: No leg injury
Coach Kavanagh confirms to MMA Hour that McGregor did not injure his foot or leg during his fight with Diaz. McGregor landed 40 kicks to the leg of Diaz throughout the 25 minutes.
It’s a bad bruise and it’s very, very painful but there’s no damage. He never mentioned it [that he was injured] but I saw. If I remember correctly, in the third round there were one or two where Nate did turn his knee out and started checking them. And the range was a little bit wrong so he was kind of slapping with the foot and caught Nate’s knee. I just remember seeing that but I knew with adrenaline and with his mindset, it wasn’t going to make a difference. His shin could be clean snapped and he wasn’t going to stop for the five rounds. We discussed it as well. He knew he was going to bang up his left leg. That was going to be the sacrifice. It was going to be a bruised leg but victorious.
UFC 202 Backstage video
The Mac Life releases video of McGregor and Kavanagh backstage after UFC 202. McGregor is on crutches.
They all doubted me. Everyone of yous doubted me. Doubt me now!
On his call of “Surprise surprise Motherf-cker! The king is back!”
I’d planned that for months.
Kavanagh: McGregor should fight Alvarez next
Kavanagh says he would like to see McGregor challenge Alvarez for the lightweight title.
1 – dont know whats next. decision made over the next 2 weeks i'd imagine. personally i'd like 55 title….but we'll see what happens.
— Coach JK (@John_Kavanagh) August 24, 2016
2 – leg is fine. in theory could be ready for NY BUT nothing definite, see tweet no.1
— Coach JK (@John_Kavanagh) August 24, 2016
Kavanagh wants Alvarez fight next
Kavanagh writes an article for The 42, where he talks about UFC 200 and what he would like McGregor to do next.
A lot of Conor’s fights have been short and relatively straightforward — which is great, because those wins are also to be enjoyed — but to see him go 25 minutes and face adversity, especially when so many people expected him to lose, it doesn’t get much better than that when you face those odds and come out with a victory…Where do we go from here? Well, we’re taking a short while to enjoy this victory, first of all, because it’s something we invested a lot in…I think it’s important to enjoy each victory, at least to a certain extent. Conor was actually back doing cardio work less than 48 hours after last weekend’s fight, so the training has continued…From a personal point of view, my own preference would be a lightweight title bout against reigning champion Eddie Alvarez next. Conor can make 145lbs to defend his featherweight belt, absolutely, but I just think 155lbs suits him best. Ultimately that’s Conor’s decision, not mine…If and when that fight is announced, I would be leaning towards a second-round knockout in Conor’s favour.
Kavanagh also says he welcomes the idea of a fight at Croke Park, in Dublin, and that non-US fights should be scheduled for Irish local time.
Henry disses Kavanagh
In reply to a screenshot of an article where Kavanagh said he’d prefer for McGregor to go to 155lb and fight Alvarez for the lightweight championship, and in addition predicted a second round knockout, Henry says:
John Kavanagh, for a jiu-jitsu coach who can’t event teach his student Conor McGregor how to tie his belt and just got subbed quick you have a lot to say. PS give the proceeds of your book to the striking coach, he deserves it.
Kavanagh responds:
it won't. I'll focus on my fighter. I'm not a fighter and I'm not interested in headlines, I'm just a coach doing my best.
— Coach JK (@John_Kavanagh) August 30, 2016
Accurate fight simulations key to win
Kavanagh says McGregor’s UFC 202 training not only used training partners capable of mimicking Diaz inside the cage on MMA sparring day, they also attempted to mimic fight day conditions in every other possible way.
We made sure that we did a lot of very accurate fight simulations. On our MMA sparring day, we really treated it the exact same as fight day. What he was going to eat on fight day, how he was going to rest – we mimicked it perfectly. We left the house at the same time he was going to leave the house for fight day. One of the guys that we brought in as a sparring partner, they didn’t hang out together, they didn’t become friends, they didn’t chat to each other. And when they would go into the gym, they would get changed in a different room and they wouldn’t talk to each other until they were actually sparring. And then, as sort of a stroke of luck, this particular guy we got, he actually liked to do some shit-talking.
‘I used to struggle to sell McGregor tickets’
At the BAMMA 26 press conference in Dublin, Kavanagh says that he used to struggle to sell ticket for McGregor fights.
You know sometimes I laugh because I used to run small amateur shows, well they were pro fights back then but they really were amateur shows, and I remember I had a show with Gunnar Nelson, Conor McGregor, Aisling Daly and Paddy Holohan and it was a tenner for a ticket and I struggled selling them. I’d probably sell them out now pretty handy, but what I’d say to fans now is [BAMMA 26] is your chance to look at future stars [in Irish MMA]. For me BAMMA is more or less the top show in Europe, and you don’t have to be bowing down to the UFC, because as far as I’m concerned, these fighters have skill levels that are as good as anyone, regardless if they fight in the UFC or BAMMA.
Next fight to be decided ‘within days’
Coach Kavanagh says that McGregor will decide on his next fight when he returns to Ireland in the next few days. On the potential of a fight with Alvarez:
It’s a great fight…It’s a pretty straightforward fight for Conor to be honest. Will he get it? I can tell you that we’re in talks. It will be decided whether they are going to go with that fight within days…If the next fight is for the lightweight strap, they will take the featherweight belt off Conor. I think that’s a given. I guess, the little bit of consolation Conor will take from that is that it will be two guys he has beaten fighting for the vacant featherweight title…It will probably be (Max) Holloway and (Jose) Aldo. He beat one in 13 seconds and one on one leg. It’s hard to say that on paper he isn’t the champion when he’s beaten the two guys who are fighting for his belt. He’ll probably do the same to the lightweight division.
Shout out to Kavanagh and the fans
In advance of Kavanagh’s appearance on The Late Late Show, McGregor gives a shout out to his coach and the fans.
It’s great to see Coach Kavanagh getting the recognition he deserves. What an amazing coach he is. I wouldn’t be in the position I am in without [his] guidance throughout the years…I want to give a shout out out everyone back in Ireland…I want to thank you and let you know that it’s that motivation that continues to push me on, to work harder each day and stay focused, and make the right moves on this crazy journey I’m on.
A message from @TheNotoriousMMA for @John_Kavanagh & the Irish fans before John's appearance on tonight's #LateLate pic.twitter.com/2tOBSJkAzZ
— The Late Late Show (@RTELateLateShow) September 9, 2016
Flow sparring video
Kavanagh posts a video of McGregor and others flow sparring at Straight Blast Gym, in Ireland.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BKsuj9jgbl7/
Takedown defence video
Kavanagh posts a video showing McGregor using a Granby roll to get out of a wrestling takedown.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BK8-IvkgJ-M/
Denies McGregor sparring knockout
Kavanagh denies that McGregor was knocked out n sparring, and posts an Instagram as proof.
Free tip – Just because its on the Internet doesn't mean its true 😂
— Coach JK (@John_Kavanagh) October 10, 2016
https://www.instagram.com/p/BLbNVZFg8aH/
Talks about Ronaldo at J-Lo’s party
Kavanagh talks about going to J-Lo’s party with McGregor and Ronaldo. When McGregor was taken away by Lopez for a dance, Ronaldo questioned the coach.
Ronaldo comes over and tells me that he reads everything I write and follows me on Instagram. I’m thinking ‘Wait until I tell my dad about this’…[Even though I moved to another part of the party] he kept coming over, and then he would drift away, and then I’d be in another part [of the house] and he’d come over again…This guy is just like Conor. Just a one-track mind, no interest in anything else. Civilians would call them obsessed or say there was something wrong with them, but you can’t get to that level unless you have that personality.
Kavanagh ‘beat the shit out of’ McGregor
Kavanagh talks about the first time McGregor came to his gym.
Well, it was supposed to be a spar, but it was a fight. Owen [Reddy] was the top dog back then and the new guy [McGregor] wanted to test himself…Owen had been with me a long time — he was my boy — but this new kid moved in a certain way. He was a southpaw, a good boxer and he just had a way about him that made you go: ‘What’s going to happen here?’ And he caught Owen with a good shot and put him down. [And then he floored Aisling Daly], which sounds worse than it was. He wasn’t hitting her in the head or anything, but just happened to throw a body shot that hit her in the sweet spot, the solar plexus, and put her down…I got a little emotional because Ash had been with me a long time and the other guys would look after her. But this new guy had come in and put her down, and my protective nature kicked in. I was still fighting at that stage, or hadn’t stopped that long, so I put the gloves on… actually, he has corrected me on that and says it was bare knuckles. But I held him down and beat the shit out of him, without putting too fine a point on it… I kept hitting him in the body until he couldn’t breathe and then I looked at him: ‘What’s it going to be? We can train or we can fight?’ And he was OK from the next day.