Kavanagh: Nate Diaz Is The Second-Best Lightweight Fighter

Following his big win at UF 205 this past Saturday night, Conor McGregor has options regarding his next opponent. Tyron Woodley, Jose Aldo, Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov could be the next guy in line as McGregor’s opponent. McGregor’s coach, John Kavanagh, spoke with Ariel Helwani on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour about what’s next for the two-division champion.

According to Kavanagh, there is one name that stands out above all the others, and that is Nate Diaz, who beat McGregor at UFC 196.

“I understand Khabib is the No. 1 contender and it’s probably gonna be him if that’s how the company works,” Kavanagh said. “But for me, interest wise, the Nate fight would interest me greater because of that. If it’s Tony, if it’s Khabib, great. They’re both fantastic fighters.”

Kavanagh thinks that the second-best featherweight fighter on the UFC roster currently is Max Holloway who has been blitzing through the division and is on a lengthy winning streak.

“I think the second-best 145er is Max Holloway,” Kavanagh said. “That’s my opinion. And I think the second-best 155er is Nate Diaz. I think Nate would beat either Tony or Khabib. I think he really turned the corner with the Michael Johnson fight. I think we saw a new version of him. And then he looked fantastic in both Conor fights.”

While Diaz does hold a win over McGregor, McGregor earned a victory in their rematch at UFC 202 this past August. After UFC 202, many people were calling for a third fight. That was before McGregor held two belts at once, so it appears that the trilogy fight will have to wait.

“I do think Nate would, not comfortably, but [he would] be quite a bit better than either of them,” Kavanagh said, referring to Nurmagomedov and Ferguson. “If I had the magic buttons to press as a fan, [McGregor vs. Diaz 3 is] the fight that would interest me the most.”