Conor McGregor’s coach claims ‘casual fans’ fuel influencer growth while 'real fans' stream skilled pros

Conor McGregor's coach John Kavanagh doesn't like the idea of influencers making more money in combat sports than 'highly skilled pros'. Recently, Jake Paul made $30,000,000 fighting Tommy Fury, despite losing the bout via split decision.

Reacting to a post by Daily Loud showing Jake Paul celebrating his earnings despite losing, Kavanagh posted the following:

"Casual fans are more interested in storylines over skills. They tend to buy tickets, PPVs and merchandise. This is why influencers make more money than highly skilled pros. 'Real' fans are more interested in skill but rarely buy tickets and search online for illegal streams."

What Conor McGregor's coach said about casual fans and their influence on fighter incomes might be true. In the world of professional/prize fighting; the bigger the personality, the fatter the pay-check.

Kavanagh's star student is an anomaly, however, because 'The Notorious' is a highly skilled pro and a celebrity/influencer. Conor McGregor is single-handedly responsible for ushering in a new era of big-money fights in MMA. He reportedly earned a whopping $28,480,000 despite losing to Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229, according to Insider Sport.

John Kavanagh is currently assisting McGregor as a coach on the 31st edition of The Ultimate Fighter. The season is currently being filmed at the time of this writing, and 'The Notorious' is coaching against Michael Chandler. The two will face off after the season finishes airing, sometime during the fall season.

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"He's in phenomenal shape" - John Kavanagh on Conor McGregor's fall season return

John Kavanagh recently appeared on The Sheehan Show and discussed Conor McGregor's return later this year. According to Straight Blast Gym (SBG) head coach, 'The Notorious' is in 'phenomenal shape'.

Here's what coach Kavanagh said about McGregor's return:

"Yeah, he's never stopped training. I was at Crumlin recently, he's in phenomenal shape. And there's a real excitement in him - a real buzz around him. And I'll be honest - that was part of the, i won't say, worry for me but what will be the level of motivation when you've achieved the titles, you've achieved the money, etc. But, man, I've never seen him as pumped as I've seen him recently."

It was reported that McGregor had a couple of contestants removed from the gym to make room for his SBG teammates. Fighters like Chris Curtis, Adrian Yanez and Gilbert Burns made accusations against 'The Notorious' about his favoritism, which he vehemently denied.

Later, however, McGregor himself confirmed that he made the cuts through a post where he claimed he wanted to cut more fighters from the season than he wanted to. Here's what 'The Notorious' posted: