After a rocky negotiation process, the awaited rematch between Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz has been made final. The two men will once again face each other in a non-title welterweight fight at UFC 202 on August 20th in Las Vegas.
Yet, despite the making of the fight, the McGregor camp is still not letting go of the idea of the much talked about boxing match against Floyd Mayweather Jr. For SBG head coach John Kavanagh in particular, the bout is still bound to take place down the line.
“It puts it on hold. I think that contest will happen eventually but it’s on hold for now,” Kavanaugh said in an interview with MMA Underground (transcription by MMA Fighting). “I’d be very surprised if it doesn’t at some stage. I think it’s a bigger fight; I think there’s a lot of intrigue about it. I could be 100% wrong. Right now we’re focusing on August 20th.”
“We have an important rematch – a mixed martial arts fight – but if in time that fight was to be announced it would not surprise me and I think it would be an interesting one.”
Rightfully, it has been agreed upon that Mayweather handily beats McGregor in a boxing match, while the exact opposite is seen to happen, should the fight follow mixed martial arts rules. But for Kavanagh, McGregor’s “unusual” style as a fighter puts him in a unique position.
“It’s hard to beat Floyd with boxing because he seems to be almost perfect in terms of how defensive he is. I think if you’re a classically trained boxer you’re gonna lose to Floyd because he just seems to make everybody look quite ordinary.”
“But maybe somebody who doesn’t strike like a boxer might be a new look for him. Maybe the odd sly knee and leg kick as well. [Laughs.] You get two warnings. [Laughs.]”
“So if you understand anything about skill development you’ll know that he’s got so many hours of that purposeful practice,” Kavanagh continued. “Not only purposeful practice but actual competitive experience, so I don’t think that same approach will beat him.”
“But I think the way we strike in mixed martial arts and some of the movements we use and some of the approaches we use, he won’t have the software ready ignition system to that way of moving and way of standing. It would be different to him. So that and a couple of sly elbows as well. [Laughs.]”