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Conor McGregor recently lost his highly anticipated trilogy fight against Dustin Poirier in the main event at UFC 264. This was McGregor's second consecutive loss to Poirier after 'The Diamond' handed him the first knockout loss of his career at UFC 257 earlier this year.
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Once a feared knockout artist, the Irishman has now suddenly gone 1-3 in his last four UFC outings. At the age of 33, the time might be ripe for Conor McGregor to consider bringing in some changes to his training camp.
Since his days on the Irish MMA circuit, Conor McGregor has stuck with his head coach John Kavanagh. Kavanagh had not long retired from his own MMA career when Conor McGregor fell into his hands. Together, along with striking coach Owen Roddy, they went on to win the Cage Warriors featherweight and lightweight titles before McGregor was signed by the UFC.
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While Conor McGregor and John Kavanagh will go down as one of the greatest coach-pupil pairs in MMA history, their heyday might be a thing of the past. As we await a comeback from the Irishman, let's look at five reasons why Conor McGregor should part ways with head coach John Kavanagh:
#5. Conor McGregor's striking has seen a steady decline
Conor McGregor has knocked out his opponent in 19 out of the 22 professional wins of his career. However, the only opponent McGregor has managed to knockout in almost five years was Donald Cerrone, who was well past his prime.
Taking into account his consecutive TKO defeats against Dustin Poirier, it might be safe to say that Conor McGregor is not the striker he used to be. However, there have been no visible attempts from his camp to identify the problem and come up with a solution. Despite losing to Poirier at the start of the year, McGregor's coaches failed to incorporate any significant changes in his striking game before the rubber match.
Long gone are the days when McGregor maneuvered out of Jose Aldo's left hand and landed his own flush shot down the pipe. In the short duration that the trilogy fight lasted, Dustin Poirier was clearly dominating McGregor in the standup game, even forcing the Irishman to jump for a guillotine. To rebuild his image as a feared knockout artist, Conor McGregor should seriously consider changing his coach.
#4 John Kavanagh refuses to even acknowledge the problem
While fight fans and pundits are concerned about the steady decline in Conor McGregor's performance, his head coach John Kavanagh seems to be in denial.
According to Kavanagh, McGregor was doing really well against Dustin Poirier in the UFC 264 main event before a broken leg led to a stoppage loss. In the aftermath of his loss, McGregor's longtime coach told UFC analyst Laura Sanko:
"At the kind of two-minute mark, it was reminding me a lot of the New York, the Eddie fight, and he predicted it would be a kind of a masterclass like that. (I) Really had started to believe that's how it was going. It was going fantastic. I thought he looked really, really good in there."
However, Kavanagh must have been mistaken as the judges scored the first round 10-8, 10-8 and 10-9 in favor of Poirier.
#3 Conor McGregor needs honest people around him
With a net worth close to $400 million, Conor McGregor has no dearth of people boosting his self-worth. Considering the economic benefits being reaped from him, few people might be telling McGregor when and where he goes wrong.
Instead, the Irishman is more than likely to be surrounded by people who always complement him and blame his losses on mere chance. As rightly pointed out by UFC analyst Dan Hardy during an appearance on Submission Radio, Conor McGregor stands the risk of being negatively 'indoctrinated' by the people around him.
With his career being at a crossroads, it's high time that McGregor gets rid of the yes-men around him. This is another major reason why a change in camp could result in a stark difference in his performance.
#2 John Kavanagh may have seen it coming
John Kavanagh and Conor McGregor have been by each other's side for the majority of their rise to MMA fame. However, Kavanagh may have sensed that it was finally time for the magical duo to part ways.
Hours before McGregor faced Poirier in the UFC 264 main event, his head coach John Kavanagh posted a throwback picture of the Irishman. The picture of McGregor and Kavanagh from their younger days was accompanied by a cryptic caption, suggesting it could be their last ride.
"Once more into the fray/ Into the last good fight I'll ever know/ Live and die on this day/ Live and die on this day," John Kavanagh wrote.
Having seen the rise of Conor McGregor from plumbing assistant to a two-division UFC champion, John Kavanagh could be content with calling for an end to their professional relationship.
#1 Conor McGregor may be looking to develop other aspects of his game
Whilst he's famously known for his unorthodox wide striking stance, Conor McGregor boasts a fairly average set of grappling stats, including a 55% takedown accuracy and 66% takedown defense. As he has seemingly exhausted his arsenal of knockout punches, it might be wise for McGregor to develop a more well-rounded game.
The idea seems to have crossed his mind, as Conor McGregor opted to jump a guillotine against a jiu-jitsu black belt like Dustin Poirier. In all likelihood it was a shot in desperation that only reinforces the fact that McGregor was exploring other avenues when in trouble.
While John Kavangh has since claimed to have orchestrated the move, it certainly didn't work out under his supervision. With that in mind, Conor McGregor should consider replacing Kavanagh in favor of a more diversified coach.
