Conor McGregor’s coach makes a list of names he could fight in UFC return, Justin Gaethje included
Love him or hate him, we’ve all been patiently awaiting the return of ‘The Notorious’ Conor McGregor ever since he broke his leg in his trilogy bout with Dustin Poirier at UFC 264.
The former two-division champion has been on the sidelines for nearly two years at this point, has gone 1-3 in his last four, and 3-4 in his last seven after opening up his career with a record of 19-2.
Many blame his boxing match in 2017 with Floyd Mayweather for this, and for good reason.
Making upwards of $80million in a single night probably does make it difficult to wake up and drain your lungs every day whilst taking punishment.
Nonetheless, Conor McGregor‘s coach John Kavanagh recently went onto Ariel Helwani’s MMA Hour to discuss the Irish superstars future and who he could possibly face upon return:
“Let’s say I’m seeing Conor this week and we’re chatting (hypothetically) and he says a few names. And I see a name particularly gets the eyes open and particularly gets him pacing up and down the living room, showing me what he’s going to do and what he’s not going to do.
“That would be absolutely the most important thing for me is that it’s a name that’s going to excite him. Because for Conor training for his next fight, he’s definitely got to find something that’s massively motivating to him, you know, that’s going to get him out of the silk pants and into the sweaty gym.
“What’s it going to be, a couple million more? Is that really going to motivate him? I don’t think so. He has a couple of championship belts already (five to be exact) and is that it? I don’t think so. So I think it’s more (so) going to be a particular opponent, a particular skillset and how it matches up against him.”
John Kavanagh previews opponents for Conor McGregor in UFC return
You know, you’ve got the great Nate Diaz who’s obviously in there. Justin Gaethje I think would be a very interesting match up, someone he hasn’t fought before. The Poirier fight, we’ve done that (fight) so many times at this stage and it’s just a weird one. Michael Chandler, great fighter, great athlete. They’re all brilliant, they’re all going to bring something different to the contest.
“What I’d be looking for is the one name that gets Conor McGregor moving, gets him off his stool, (and) gets him moving around and gets him excited.”
Any of those match ups sound incredibly enticing for Conor McGregor’s next fight, especially former interim UFC champion Justin Gaethje and former Bellator champion Michael Chandler. Or, how about former UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira?
Conor McGregor just finished up his filming for the new Road House movie, so assuming his leg is in good health, we should expect to see him return something in 2023.
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