This is your classic striker vs grappler match-up.
After successfully seeking retribution against Nate Diaz in a welterweight do-over at UFC 202, the future for Conor McGregor remains unclear.
Plenty of people, including El Presidente Dana White, want to see him move back down to 145 lbs to defend a belt for the first time in his career against a resurgent Jose Aldo.
Although the Notorious claimed the belt off the Brazilian in devastating fashion via 13-second knockout, Aldo looked like a man possessed in his interim-strap winning performance against former lightweight king Frankie Edgar at UFC 200. Rather than the super-aggressive, risk-taking Aldo that got rendered unconscious by the Celtic cross, he came into the fight calm, composed and stuck to a gameplan to dominate ‘the Answer’ over five rounds.
Jose Aldo's head coach was praying for Conor McGregor's hand to be raised at UFC 202 https://t.co/BZTN4ELaws
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) August 23, 2016
‘Scarface’ wants his belt back one way or another and considering how much build-up and hype surrounded Aldo’s first dance with McGregor, you could see why the brass would want to put on that scrap again. However, that fight wouldn’t be John Kavanagh’s first choice.
The SBG head coach wrote in his column for the42 that he would prefer a lightweight title shot against legendary brawler and current 155 lb champion Eddie Alvarez. The Philly fighter won the belt by knocking out Rafael dos Anjos inside one round in July, the man who Diaz stepped in for at UFC 196.
Kavanagh also predicted a quick finish for McGregor should he throw down with the two-time Bellator champion, saying he was leaning towards a second round knockout. Alvarez’s coach Mark Henry read his comments and he clearly took offence to them.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BJvtPzUDxCc/?taken-by=mark_henry7
Henry spat some serious venom at Kavanagh on Twitter, slagging him off over that infamous photo of McGregor donning a gi with his belt improperly tied.
He then called his abilities as a BJJ coach into question, insinuating that McGregor’s striking coach Owen Roddy deserves more credit for the fighter’s development.
He also used the hashtag ‘#IrishEdmund, a reference to Ronda Rousey’s coach Edmond Tarverdyan, the former boxer who can’t seem to get Rousey’s stand-up skills up to scratch.
The trash-talk didn’t go unnoticed by Kavanagh, who admitted that he isn’t interested in engaging in a trash-talk battle with the coach.
it won't. I'll focus on my fighter. I'm not a fighter and I'm not interested in headlines, I'm just a coach doing my best.
— Coach JK (@John_Kavanagh) August 30, 2016
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