John Kavanagh ready to ‘get the old gang back together’ for Conor McGregor fight

Conor McGregor doesn’t currently have a fight booked, but if the former two-division UFC champ decides to return to the Octagon, his long-time coach John Kavanagh will coach and corner him. The other long-term members of McGregor’s inner circle will also apparently be there to pitch in.

“I don’t think [me cornering Conor] is in doubt,” Kavanagh told the Irish Mirror of a McGregor comeback. “I’m sure I’ll be there, we talk almost daily.

“He doesn’t have a fight lined up yet but as soon as he does we’ll get the old gang back together and starting plotting, training and I’m sure he’ll steal the show again, which I’ve no doubt he’ll do.”

Kavanagh’s willingness to corner Conor McGregor in a potential UFC return is interesting, given that he previously suggested the Irish star would have to convince him to do so.

“Well, he would certainly have to convince me to go again,” Kavanagh told the Irish Independent shortly after McGregor lost to Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 in October.

“I love the whole journey we’ve had but I’d need a good ‘why’. It might be [Nate] Diaz again because he promised that fight. It might be a rematch with Khabib. But if it was just ‘well, they want me to fight that guy’ I think I’d say, ‘I wish you the best.’”

Conor McGregor has not fought since his October loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov. Although he recently announced his retirement from MMA, it’s sounding more and more likely that this announcement will be short-lived.

Unfortunately, most of the McGregor’s rivals in the lightweight division, including Nurmagomedov, Donald Cerrone and Nate Diaz, are currently booked, which means his list of possible opponents is quite short.

That being said, there is one top lightweight that is still available for a fight.

Do you think we’ll see Conor McGregor fight again this year?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 5/15/2019.