Following the announcement of the UFC 205 main event, the new season of the ‘Conor McGregor show’ is running again. Facing Eddie Alvarez in the historic New York City pay-per-view,McGregor stands on the brink of making history.
After the big reveal of McGregor’s chance at a two-weight title win, the Irish star teased a ‘huge announcement’ following the fight. November 12 seems like a lifetime away, and much speculation circles his possible retirement or otherwise.
McGregor Inc.
MMA Fighting journalist Ariel Helwani pointed out an interesting Tweet earlier this week. ‘The Notorious’ warned folks to be ready for ‘McGregor Inc.’ after UFC 205. This has led to rumours spreading of McGregor’s own promotion, or something similar.
Anyway, we digress, here’s the meat on the bone you all came for. Conor McGregor’s coach at SBG Dublin, John Kavanagh, told The Independent a very intriguing tale this weekend. Revealing an incident from 2007, Kavanagh said he gave McGregor a bareknuckle beatdown after the future champion dropped female sparring partner Aisling Daly:
![kavanaghmcgregor[1]](https://www.scrapdigest.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/kavanaghmcgregor1.jpg)
Kavanagh defeats McGregor by TKO
PK: Tell me about the first day (in 2007) he walks into your gym. He had been boxing in Crumlin with Phil Sutcliffe.
JK: Correct.
PK: And he picks a fight with Owen Roddy.
JK: Well, it was supposed to be a spar, but it was a fight. Owen was the top dog back then and the new guy wanted to test himself.
PK: And you’re watching this with an inquisitive eye?
JK: Of course. 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.
PK: And then he floored Aisling Daly, which was incredible really.
JK: It 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.
PK: And now the coach is not happy.
JK: 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.
PK: (Laughs.)
JK: 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.
![mcgregor-and-kavanagh[1]](https://www.scrapdigest.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/mcgregor-and-kavanagh1.jpg)
Future, UFC 205 & Beyond
It’s always cool to hear insider stories from the training partners and coaches of UFC stars. McGregor has clearly grown a lot since 2007, but perhaps that beating from coach Kavanagh humbled him a little.
Fighting a very dangerous striker and wrestler in Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205, McGregor will need to be on top form.
Here’s the full UFC 205 fight card for November 12 as it stands right now:
