John Kavanagh Plans to Add Dagestani Flavor to Conor McGregor’s Gym to ‘Penalize’ Students

There is a reason that the Dagestani fighters are so over-represented, compared to other ethnicities, in the UFC. The harsh, mountainous conditions and relative underdevelopment of the region means most men there have to engage in hard physical labor, which along with the legendary discipline and expectations of Dagestani coaches makes fighters from the region so successful.

The most shining example of the resilience that a Dagestani upbringing and training can instill is former UFC lightweight champion and the man many consider the GOAT, Khabib Nurmagomedov, who was involved in the biggest fight in UFC history with superstar Conor McGregor. Despite the animosity between the duo, ‘Mac’s coach, John Kavanagh has jokingly promised to incorporate one particular aspect of Dagestani coaching in his own gym.

John Kavanagh promises to bring Dagestan-style corporal punishment to SBG

John Kavanagh, head coach at the SBG Gym in Ireland, quote tweeted a video on X showing a coach disciplining students for having long hair. The video shows a bunch of fighters lined up against the wall, while a Dagestani coach is twirling a stick and examining their hairstyles.

When he found a student whose hair did not meet his standards, he would hit them on the back of their thigh before moving on to the next target. And Kavanagh promised to bring the disciplinary technique to his SBG gym.

“Bringing this to @SBG_Ireland,” the head coach declared on X (Twitter). Considering his approach to coaching, Kavanagh is clearly joking about it. Even if he does bring it to the SBG gym, it is unlikely to be used for unruly haircuts as has been done elsewhere, since the likes of Conor McGregor and Johnny Walker, with their unique hairstyles will almost definitely not be big fans of it.

But, Kavanagh, being the head coach is the boss and has the authority to do whatever he wants in his gym. Not to mention he is financially well-off after a significant recent development.

Conor McGregor congratulates coach on huge milestone

John Kavanagh, taking a leaf out of Conor McGregor’s entrepreneurial book, founded a company called Alta, which offers a 20-week crash course in cage fighting to individuals who are not fighters and even to people who have never trained in any kind of martial art before.

At the end of their training, the participant has the chance to enter the cage and fight another similarly trained opponent. And the coach reached a significant milestone recently as his company has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange, the largest equity-based stock exchange in the world.

Conor McGregor reacted to the news and congratulated his coach with a short and sweet message in one of his Instagram Stories. “Huge! @trainalta,” the former two-division champion wrote. What do you think about Kavanagh’s venture?

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