For years, Conor McGregor has been the biggest star in UFC history. However his coach, John Kavanagh revealed that there was one point where the UFC actually refused to sign him.
Kavanagh has been by McGregor’s side, basically since the beginning. The pair have worked together as Conor grew into a global sensation, becoming the UFC’s first ever champ-champ, and boxing Floyd Mayweather. It has been a long road that saw the Irishman go from being on government assistance, to being one of the highest paid athletes on the planet. Even in spite of the recent issues between McGregor and the UFC, he is still one of the most important figures in the sport right now.
John Kavanagh Shows Old Rejection Email
As it turns out, there was once a time where the UFC was not interested in signing Conor McGregor. Taking to his Instagram, John Kavanagh decided to participate in the current “How it started/How it’s going” social media trend. However his version of this reveals an old email from the UFC’s matchmaker Sean Shelby, actually refusing to sign McGregor. Obviously the how it’s going is pretty clear, considering McGregor just purchased a massive yacht.
“Thanks for the email,” Shelby said. “If I can use any of your fighters, especially Conor, I will contact you. At the moment, the featherweight division is terribly impacted from so many UFC lightweights moving down in weight. So, I’m not looking to sign anyone else for a while, but hopefully, it will clear up soon and guys like Conor will get the opportunity.”
To be fair, the time in which this email from John Kavanagh was sent, there was a lot happening in the featherweight division, with names like Frankie Edgar moving down and earning cracks at the title. Although it seemed like they were always interested in Conor McGregor, there simply was not room for him at that time, even though he would wind up signing with the UFC just a few months later. It is crazy to see how far things have come since then.
