“But He Remained Defiant” – Despite Relentless Efforts From His Coach, Conor McGregor Made the Biggest Mistake of His Career That Cost Him Dearly Against Khabib

Conor McGregor could arguably be called the biggest UFC star today. However, he wouldn’t have made it this far without his coach. Coach John Kavanagh helped a young and delusional Conor McGregor. His guidance and belief in McGregor‘s abilities pushed the Irish Brat to become a better version of himself. ‘The Notorious’, however, didn’t always listen to Kavanagh. He used to ignore his attempts to train McGregor in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. McGregor thought his striking game was enough to down any opponent and worked out on his grappling only when forced by his coach.

In his book Win or Learn: MMA, Conor McGregor and me, A trainer’s Journey, John Kavanagh described how he failed in sparking any interest in grappling in his protégé. He even shared how he saw a ray of hope when Conor McGregor lost to Artemij Sitenkov because of his weak on-ground game. McG, however, assured that he will never land in such a situation again. This ignorance cost him heavily later.

Conor McGregor didn’t believe in Grappling

Remembering Conor McGregor‘s training days, Coach Kavanagh recounted his struggles with trying to get McG to learn BJJ. He wrote, “I’ve had some success in many areas as a coach, but one thing I could never quite do in those years was to convince Conor McGregor to embrace the art of Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Conor had a laissez-faire attitude when it came to grappling.”

The SBG Ireland boss then wrote, “He really only trained in it when I forced him to. What’s the point of grappling when you can just knock people out instead that was Conor’s outlook.”

Read More: “If He Stayed Out Until 1 A.M., I Was Aware of It” – After Conor McGregor’s Dishonest Act in 2008, That Cost Him “Few Hundred Dollars,” Coach Kavanagh Took Matters Into His Own Hands

Kavanagh further added, “After the weaknesses in that area of his game were exposed in his defeat to Artemij Sitenkov, I hoped that he might be inspired to change his approach. But he remained defiant. Conor was adamant he’d never find himself in that situation again.” They say if you don’t correct your mistakes, they haunt you again and again. It seems something similar happened with Conor McGregor.

Khabib Nurmagomedov exposed McGregor’s weak Ground game

Going against Khabib Nurmagomedov was probably the biggest fight yet for McGregor. The fight was very hyped after Conor McGregor attacked Nurmagomedov‘s team bus in Ireland. The constant banter and trash-talking had heated up the encounter. It was here that the Irishman’s old weakness came out all over again.

At UFC 229, grappling guru Nurmagomedov submitted Conor McGregor. ‘Mystic Mac’ had to tap in front of his home crowd and watch while ‘The Eagle’ scaled the cage and got into a fight with McGregor‘s crew and fans after submitting him.

Maybe Coach Kavanagh’s words would have come rushing back to Mystic Mac after that loss. The old mistake made him pay dearly. What do you think about the grappling vs striking debate?

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