John Kavanagh appeared on Ariel Helwani's MMA Hour this evening following Conor McGregor's win against Eddie Alvarez, having also done so before the fight last week.
Kavanagh spoke for an hour, so he naturally touched on a wide range of topics throughout the interview. Here are the key takeaways:
He felt that Eddie Alvarez was a "massive mismatch"
Kavanagh was quite honest in his feelings surrounding Eddie Alvarez, keen to stress that he thinks that he is a great man and great fighter, but that, from a skills point of view, pairing him with McGregor was a "massive mismatch, skills-wise".
Kavanagh elaborated that an "orthodox, head down brawler" like Alvarez offered nowhere near the challenge necessary to beat McGregor, whom Kavanagh describes as the best in the world.
The coach predicted that the fight would be over within eight minutes and, in the end, he was just four seconds off, and says he knew that McGregor would win after the first knockdown in the first round. The challenge of McGregor utterly discombobulated Alvarez' camp, according to Kavanagh:
Within the opening seconds, I could hear their corner and there seemed to be panic and screaming and this is within the opening 15 or 20 seconds.
It was so loud and they're only 30 feet across. And he seemed kind of like he was talking to them and it just looked like disarray.
In my head I was thinking, 'This is going to go bad fast!'
His ideal pick for McGregor's next fight is be a bout with Nate Diaz at 155lbs
With Khabib Nurmagomedov seeming desperate to earn a crack with McGregor, and a whole host of fighters fancying their chances of earning a massive pay-day against the Irishman, there will be much talk over the next few weeks as to the identity of McGregor's next opponent.
Naturally, Helwani asked Kavanagh his opinion of such matters. While acknowledging Khabib and Tony Ferguson are "great fighters", he offered his opinion:
I'm going to give you my small opinion. I think the second best 145lber is Max Holloway, that's my opinion, and I think the second best 155lber is Nate Diaz, that's my opinion.
I think Nate would beat either Tony or Khabib. I think he really turned a corner in the Michael Johnson fight. I think we saw a new version of him.
He looked fantastic in both Conor fights, Conor just bested him. That's my opinion - my small, unimportant opinion. There's no need to tweet me your opinions. He asked me for mine, I'm just giving it.
That's who I think the two best guys are.
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, interest-wise, the Nate fight would interest me greater because of that.
If it's Tony or if it's Khabib then great. They're two fantastic fighters. There'd be a lot to learn in the preparation for them and both would be extremely interesting fights to watch and problems to solve and to see Conor beating both of them and how he does it would be very interesting for me.
Although he is not ruling out a return to Welterweight
Kavanagh is not buying the discourse dictating that McGregor should not return to welterweight, having been beaten by Nate Diaz on the first occasion he stepped up in weight class. Tyron Woodley has not exactly been averse to talking up the potential of a meeting with McGregor at that weight class, and it is not something Kavanagh is ruling out.
He respects Woodley but does not seem his as unbeatable, and says "the worst thing that can happen is that he [Conor] loses".
He did smile at Helwani's suggestion McGregor become a three-weight champion.
He explained why McGregor was pictured holding his hands behind his back during the Alvarez fight
McGregor was accused of showboating during the Alvarez fight, when he clutched his hands behind his back. This, as it transpired, was simply a habit picked up from training, as Kavanagh explained to Helwani.
Kavanagh revealed that McGregor injured his index knuckle in the Diaz rematch, and that, while it wasn't an injury sufficient to pull out of a fight, he did have a little trouble with it in training.
To avoid using the injured hand unless necessary, McGregor taught himself to hold it behind his back. It is a habit that stuck.
McGregor taught Odell Beckham Junior the "Billy Strut"
McGregor's strut in the Octagon pre-game is known as the Billionaire's Strut, and is an import from the WWE. After the fight, as celebrities including Hugh Jackman poured in to offer McGregor congratulations, Odell Beckham Junior wanted to learn more of McGregor's strut.
#WhenYouKnowYoureTheMan @VinceMcMahon @TheNotoriousMMA #UFC205 pic.twitter.com/HGOgmS3mgf
— Triple H (@TripleH) November 14, 2016
Kavanagh says that McGregor taught the footballer how to do it, not that Kavanagh was fully sure who he was: he originally believed him to be a rapper, and almost congratulated him on his music. He didn't, thankfully.
Gordon Ramsey slid into his DMs
Kavanagh is not big on celebrity. but he did drop in the fact that Sweary Gordon Ramsey (he of the 'This pork is so raw, I can hear it singing Hakuna Matata' line) got in touch with him via direct message on twitter ahead of the fight.
He would be very surprised if McGregor retired
With a baby on the way, and a couple of reports in Ireland claiming that the end may be nigh, Helwani asked Kavanagh if McGregor is contemplating retirement.Kavanagh said that he would "very surprised" if he retired, given that he is just 28 and carrying very few injuries. He reckons, now that he will soon have a family to provide for, McGregor may be "more dangerous" than ever.
He did add, however, that "I've learned with Conor never to make too many plans".
You can watch the full chat below.
