Conor McGregor's coach: Keeping him off UFC NYC would be 'going too far'
As the strange saga drags on between UFC brass and Conor McGregor, the featherweight champion's coach wants to draw the line in the sand at UFC 205.
The marquee event, slated for Nov. 12, is the promotion's first event in New York City, and UFC president Dana White and CEO Lorenzo Fertitta have promised to bring the UFC's biggest stars to what would surely be one of the biggest cards in history.
Many would assume that McGregor, easily the UFC's most talked about fighter at the moment, would have to be on the card. But White says that the Irishman's absence from UFC 200 would likely mean he won't be attending UFC 205 as well.
McGregor's coach, John Kavanaugh, thinks that's taking the feud too far.
"That was hard to hear," Kavanaugh told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour. "I really think that's going too far. [McGregor] was bold, but it wasn't anything that bad. If we get the slap on the wrist for 200, we definitely can't be put on the naughty [list] for New York."
If the current pattern holds, McGregor would fight the winner of Aldo vs. Edgar for the featherweight belt. But depending on how those two warriors hold up, that fight would take place before UFC 205.
Keeping McGregor off the UFC's first card in New York City would be a huge statement from the promotion. Not only does the city have a large Irish contingency, but McGregor himself has stated that he wants to fight on the east coast more, so his fans travelling from Ireland don't have to fly all the way to Vegas.
Either way, Kavanaugh sees McGregor engaging in fisticuffs that night, regardless of whether he's on the card or not.
"As an Irish guy in New York, the first card in Madison Square Garden, I think Conor would show up anyway and fight someone in a changing room if [White] doesn't put him on the card," Kavanagh said. "We have to be put on the New York card."
