Coach on McGregor retiring young: 'Conor isn't going anywhere soon'
John Kavanagh expects Conor McGregor to go out on top, just not anytime soon.
The UFC lightweight champ's legacy was firmly cemented last November, when he became the promotion's first fighter to hold titles in two divisions simultaneously with a knockout of Eddie Alvarez.
McGregor even made history at the box office just a few months prior, splitting a pair of dates with Nate Diaz that shattered the UFC's pay-per-view records - all by age 28.
With a boxing match opposite Floyd Mayweather now in the works, McGregor could be in for the kind of payday that would allow him to live large for the rest of his days. But as Kavanagh recently told the Irish Mirror, the day his star student cashes in his chips and retires has not yet dawned.
"Like any sport, there’s a sell-by date. But Conor is 28, he’s a baby in the sport," Kavanagh said, according to FOX Sports' Damon Martin. "I look at Bernard Hopkins who’s 50, winning world title fights so Conor isn’t going anywhere soon."
According to the Straight Blast Gym leader, McGregor's desire to sharpen his skills burns just as bright as his pursuit of the almighty dollar. To his point, Kavanagh recounted the aftermath of the Dubliner's 13-second KO of Jose Aldo from UFC 194. Instead of basking in a victory that crowned him the promotion's undisputed featherweight king, McGregor put all the flaws he'd found in his brief performance in writing and brought them to Kavanagh.
"I always use this story that when Conor beat Aldo to unify the 145 (pound title), he argues it was an 11 second fight but it was 13 seconds on the record book, one punch and it was over.
"But he’s the most self-critical fighter I’ve ever met, and that night we went out for a bit and when we came home he wrote me an essay on everything he’d done wrong. It was only a 13 second fight."
The Irishman has fielded a hefty amount of scrutiny over his stint in the UFC, but he's shown a knack for debunking it all and following through on his brash boasts come fight night. While McGregor's larger than life persona - coupled with his in-cage exploits - have earned him the lion's share of the promotional spotlight, Kavanagh says his top gunner isn't all that taken with superstardom. In fact, when "The Notorious" does decide to call it a career, the coach expects him to exit stage right without so much as a word.
"I predict once he’s done in the sport he will disappear. People think he likes the limelight, he doesn’t. He just likes fighting and promoting fights."