Conor McGregor may have suffered a catastrophic loss in the main event of UFC 264, but his coach, John Kavanagh, assured fans that the Irishman's spirit wasn't broken.
Speaking with Laura Sanko for W2W, Kavanagh revealed that McGregor was able to make light of his situation as he made jokes about wanting to participate in a wheelchair boxing match. The revered MMA coach said:
"It wasn't long after that he was making some jokes. There's this charity boxing match going on back home in Ireland. Have you heard about it? So the main event is a guy who was in a wheelchair and he's having a wheelchair boxing fight with an ex-Olympian Paddy Barnes, an amazing boxer."
Prior to UFC 264, Conor McGregor donated €10,000 ($12,226) to the said charity event, helping out the Irish Wheelchair Association. The former UFC two-division champion also volunteered to take part in the fundraiser. Kavanagh added:
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"Now the co-main event was Conor. Conor had volunteered to be the co-main event where he was gonna box there's a guy called Al Foran who is an impressionist. You might have seen him do some of Conor's impressions. So Conor's gonna fight Conor in the co-main event."
After breaking his left tibia in the main event of UFC 264, Conor McGregor will have to spend some time in a wheelchair. And according to Kavanagh, McGregor jokingly pointed out that he now has the perfect reason to participate in the charity event.
"But anyway in the heat of all this he just turned and [said], 'You know, I'm gonna do the wheelchair boxing fight now' because he's off his feet for a while. He made a joke about that," said Kavanagh.
Watch the full interview below:
Will there be a fourth fight between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier?
Dustin Poirier walked away with his second victory over Conor McGregor at UFC 264, effectively winning their highly-anticipated trilogy bout. But given how the fight ended, 'The Diamond' appears to be unsatisfied with his triumph.
In the post-fight press conference, the Louisiana native confirmed that he's willing to face the Irishman for a fourth time, "whether it’s in the octagon or on the sidewalk.” UFC president Dana White also confirmed that Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor would have an opportunity to get closure sometime in the future.
“It sucks, it’s brutal, and it’s not the way you want to see fights end. So, Dustin Poirier will fight for the title, and when Conor is healed and ready to go, you do the rematch I guess. I dunno," White stated.