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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Sport
Ben Davies

Conor McGregor's coach John Kavanagh defended after coming under fire from angry UFC fans

John Kavanagh has been defended after coming under fire for the form of the Conor McGregor and Johnny Walker.

Kavanagh, who coaches both McGregor and Walker, was criticised by fans on social media after the Brazilian's defeat over the weekend.

McGregor has lost three of his last four fights and has suffered a noticeable decline in addition to Walker's brutal stoppage defeat at the hands of Jamahal Hill on Saturday night.

However MMA manager Malik Kawa has come to the defence of Kavanagh on Twitter after a fan posted: "If you take into consideration how bad of a coach John Kavanagh is., Conor might actually be the greatest fighter ever."

Kawa quickly hit back at the tweet: "Where is all this hate coming from? Second or third tweet I see going at Kavanagh."

Kavanagh has coached McGregor throughout his hugely successful UFC career where he has previously reigned as double champion holding the featherweight and lightweight belts simultaneously.

(Corbis/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

McGregor is also considered one of UFC's biggest superstars ever having headlined eight of the top ten best-selling pay-per-views in the promotion's history with his huge draw undeniable.

However he has suffered a noticeable decline with just one win in the promotion against Donald Cerrone back in 2020 for over five years.

Last year culminated in disaster for McGregor who finally rematched Poirier and was brutally stopped before breaking his leg in the opening round of their trilogy.

But the 33-year-old is now looking towards the future and is plotting his UFC comeback to the lightweight division.

He has slid down to ninth position in the rankings and could face dropping out of the top ten if he is unable to return until later in the year.

Several options lay on the table for McGregor including a potential title clash against the winner of Charles Oliveira's defence against Justin Gaethje which continues to be talked up by many.

Kavanagh previously suggested that the summer could be a realistic date for McGregor who is planning a return to full contact training and sparring in April.

However McGregor's manager Tim Simpson has since claimed that his return could be delayed until a clear option becomes available and his recovery is completed.

“Really that’s on Conor [when to return], but I expect this year," Simpson told the MMA Hour. "He is in the Bahamas with his family right now and is focusing on other business ventures.

"After that injury it was like ‘now might be the time’ but he wants to fight again which to me is baffling and says a lot about him.

“I don’t think it will be in the summer but it will definitely be some stage this year. Maybe we see when the lightweight title fight happens and go then.

"He will fight this year and it is a credit to him, he has no real reason to fight other than the fact he wants to and that is impressive."

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