John Kavanagh is not worried about Conor McGregor’s motivation in his return fight.
The biggest star in all of MMA has been away from the sport for almost two full years now. Conor McGregor last fought in the UFC Octagon back in July of 2021 when he suffered a broken leg in his fight against Dustin Poirier. Since that injury, he has been sidelined and has been doing everything he can to heal up. In the meantime, McGregor has been living large with his other business venture and even filmed a movie. Now he is slated for a return but fans are curious to see what kind of McGregor returns after such a long layoff.
At one time McGregor was on top of the UFC. He was a duel champion and was actively pursuing a legendary career. He seems to have earned that legendary status at least in notoriety and fame, but where does that leave his motivation? More recently McGregor has not been faring well inside the cage. He has lost three of his last four but according to his head coach, he is not lacking in motivation.
John Kavanagh sees a motivated Conor McGregor in his return against Michael Chandler
McGregor will be making his long-awaited return to the UFC Octagon following a stint on The Ultimate Fighter. He agreed to join the new season as a coach across from Michael Chandler. The filming of this season will begin soon and the pair will fight afterward. McGregor’s longtime coach Kavanagh will be joining him in Las Vegas to help coach the team and had some words about the motivation he sees in his pupil before his comeback.
“He’s never stopped training. I was only out in Crumlin with him recently, he’s in phenomenal shape. There’s a real excitement and there’s a real buzz around him and I’ll be honest that was part of the, I won’t say worry for me, but you know, what will be the level of motivation when you’ve achieved the titles, you’ve achieved the money, etc,” he said to Sherdog on YouTube. “But, man, I’ve never seen him as pumped as I seen him recently. I’m just really excited. He’s excited to be back. I’m excited to have him back.”
Kavanagh feels that McGregor’s return is good for the sport and he is happy to be involved. He will be there in the TUF gym helping out much like he did the first time McGregor coached on the show back in 2015. This time McGregor is an even bigger star and is setting out to show the world that he still belongs.
“I’ve zero concerns about motivation, the motivation is there to show everybody that this is his world,” he said. “This is his game, he absolutely loves. He’s got a lot going on in his life but I can message him anytime day or night with a fight sequence and go ‘hey, what do you think about this?’ I get an immediate reply because he’s still obsessed about the sport.”
There are few details so far regarding the show. The filming is set to begin this week. McGregor and Chandler will be flying to Las Vegas soon to be there with the fighters and pick teams. The show will air in May with McGregor and Chandler fighting sometime after the summer.
