UFC Lightweight Champion and UFC Featherweight Champion Conor McGregor has had one coach throughout his MMA career, John Kavanagh.
Kavanagh recently appeared on The MMA Hour, where he talked about his belief that Nate Diaz is a better fighter than both Khabib Nuramgomedov and Tony Ferguson.
"I understand Khabib is the No. 1 contender and it's probably gonna be him if that's how the company works," Kavanagh said. "But for me, interest wise, the Nate fight would interest me greater because of that. If it's Tony, if it's Khabib, great. They're both fantastic fighters. I think the second-best 145er is Max Holloway. That's my opinion. And I think the second-best 155er is Nate Diaz (behind the champion). I think Nate would beat either Tony or Khabib. I think he really turned the corner with the Michael Johnson fight. I think we saw a new version of him. And then he looked fantastic in both Conor fights. I do think Nate would, not comfortably, but [he would] be quite a bit better than either of them. If I had the magic buttons to press as a fan, [McGregor vs. Diaz 3 is] the fight that would interest me the most."
Kavanagh did catch a few minutes of the Khabib Nurmagomedov/Michael Johnson fight at UFC 205 and he was impressed with what he saw Khabib do.
"In the first two or three minutes of the Johnson fight, we kind of saw what would happen if he was to face Conor," Kavanagh said. "He got tagged quite a bit. I just think that sort of power and accuracy Conor brings, I'm sure Eddie had a great plan until 60 seconds in when he was scrambled. I don't think it would go massively different if he was to face [Nurmagomedov]. Tony gets hit a lot as well. Super tough guy. Keeps coming forward. Tough fighter. I think it would go that way."
McGregor’s next title defense or opponent has yet to be announced, as he just competed at UFC 205 on Saturday, November 12. He's likely to take a break until next Summer.
