Those of you hoping to cheer Conor McGregor on at the proposed Dublin City Council civic reception in January 2016 could well be in for some disappointment.
The featherweight champion is yet to return to Ireland after his stunning KO success over Jose Aldo, at UFC 194, in Las Vegas.
McGregor may pop up at UFC Fight Night Orlando to watch the lightweight title fight between champion Rafael dos Anjos and Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone. Having stated his intention to jump weight to fight the winner, it makes sense… from a marketing perspective.
McGregor will certainly return to Dublin for Christmas before, early in the New Year, diving head-first into his plans to be a two-weight world champion.
To that end, John Kavanagh, McGregor’s coach, has suggested that The Notorious may not take DCC up on their kind offer of a civic reception in his honour and a belated homecoming that would have attracted thousands of supporters to the capital.
On his Facebook page this afternoon, Kavanagh answered a number of queries from fans and addressed the reception, planned for early next year. Interestingly, he used quotation marks around the word civic. He stated:
‘IF the ‘civic’ reception is happening, which i dont think will as we just want a return to regular training, then it’ll be advertised well in advance. Just keep eye on usual social media outlets….no need to ask me.’
Kavanagh concludes by saying ‘a heartfelt THANK YOU for the INCREDIBLE support from each and every person that sent me fantastic inspiring messages’.
‘During those tough sessions when you are hurting,’ he added, ‘you’ve no idea how much they help and encourage us to be the absolute best we can be.’
There was good news too, in the Facebook update. Kavanagh has allayed fears of McGregor damaging his wrist in the win over Aldo.
The Nevada Athletics Commission had provisionally suspended the Dubliner for from taking a fight for six months until an x-ray on his left wrist could be carried out.
Kavanagh stated, “His wrist is 100%.”
Good news for fight fans looking for McGregor to fight again as early as April 2016.
Credit for main picture: Orlagh Hunter via Instagram
