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Conor McGregor’s Head Coach Says McGregor Will Still Be Champion Even If He’s Stripped of Title

January 18, 2018 | Posted by Jeremy Thomas

Conor McGregor’s head coach said that his client will still be the real UFC lightweight champion even if he is stripped of the title. John Kavanagh did a Q&A on the Wimp 2 Warrior Facebook Page and said that while he doesn’t know if the upcoming Tony Ferguson vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov fight will be for the full title, it won’t change people’s minds. Highlights are below:

On the upcoming fight: “I’m kind of hearing this at the same time as everybody else and seeing this the same time as everybody else. I think regardless of what way it’s sold, this fight, I think it’s still going to be known who the champion is. I know that’s going to upset a lot of people, but there we go. That’s my opinion on it. If it happens that they fight each other, and if it happens that it’s for the belt, they’re both going to bed at night think to themselves, ‘I’ve got to beat Conor to be really seen as the champ.’ That’s how I see it.”

On who he thinks will win: “They’re both grapplers for starters; neither has really high-level striking, so it’s going to be a grappling match. I think a lot of it will be played with Khabib on top. I think he wins a decision. I think it goes the five rounds, I think it’s a decision Khabib. I do think there’s a really high risk of it not happening. It’s been scheduled twice, and it’s not happened twice. It’s very impressive what Khabib can do when he is fighting – just that pace he has and the relentless pressure. But it does require you to train in a certain way. I would see a high likelihood of one of them pulling out before the fight happens,” he continued. “But let’s assume both get through the training camps, both are healthy and the fight happens and it’s five rounds. I think Tony will have his moments in the first round or two. He’ll get close with some guillotines maybe, or some triangles. But I think Khabib powers out of them and wears him down. I don’t think he really has the stopping power to really finish him.”

On McGregor: “You look at the way Conor won that belt, he didn’t decision someone or edge out someone. In that fight (with Alvarez), no one can look at that fight and say it wasn’t completely one-sided. It wasn’t in any way a close fight. Conor won that belt with an exclamation mark, with a statement. He is the champion. He is the lightweight champion, and that’s that.”

article topics :

Conor McGregor, Jeremy Thomas