5 Years After Intense Brawl With Khabib Nurmagomedov, Conor McGregor’s Coach Has Surprising Take On “Dagestani Fighters”

Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov‘s legendary rivalry is still very much alive. Although we don’t see the former UFC lightweight champions go at each other anymore, there is no love lost between the camps. In fact, Nurmagomedov’s manager Ali Abdelaziz and McGregor occasionally have a go at each other on Twitter. Further, the current lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev, also takes shots at McGregor at times.

While the rivalry between two individuals is often perceived as a rivalry between Ireland and Dagestan, that is not the case for everyone. Surprisingly, that includes Conor McGregor’s head coach John Kavanagh. The main man of SBG Ireland has no ill will towards Dagestani fighters and is familiar with quite a few of them. He revealed the same during a recent online meet with UFC commentator Laura Sanko.

The pair has recently started holding video sessions on Instagram to discuss episodes of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ after they are released. Episode 4, which came out this week, involved a Dagestani fighter and Kavanagh has nothing but good things to say about him.

John Kavanagh speaks about Dagestani fighters

John Kavanagh and Laura Sanko discussed the recent TUF 31 episode where Timur Valiev of Team Chandler fought Trevor Wells of Team McGregor. Valiev was a veteran of Dagestani origin and had UFC experience. He and Wells fought for two rounds and the veteran won the decision.

Speaking on the subject, Kavanagh remembered interacting with Valiev on the show. He recollected that Team Chandler’s fighters were nice guys, but Valiev was especially nice. The 46-year-old recollected Valiev’s animated reactions on watching another acquaintance fight on a UFC card.

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Then, he said, “I know quite a lot of Dagestani fighters. I go to an organization called Brave. It’s on in the Middle East. All the time there. So I do know quite a lot of them. They’re all super nice, super respectful, super tough fighters.”

Kavanagh’s statement goes to show that despite the heated rivalry, there need not be any bad blood against every fighter from Dagestan or vice versa. To be fair, Kavanagh has always had a reputation for being a soft-spoken gentleman. A persona that is in stark contrast with his ward, Conor McGregor.

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What are your thoughts on Kavanagh’s attitude to Dagestanis? Do you think others from the McGregor camp also share the same opinion? Let us know in the comments.