Conor McGregor's Longtime Coach Says He's Officially Retired

Conor McGregor announced his retirement from UFC in early June, but fans are not buying it since he's "retired" twice before. McGregor's longtime coach, John Kavanagh, hosted an online Q&A this week and was asked multiple questions about the former UFC Champion. One fan asked him if McGregor was really retired, and Kavanagh confirmed he's done.

"Yes, he is as far as I can tell. It's what he said, isn't it!?" Kavanagh said. He was also asked if he could convince McGregor to come back. He replied: "I can't convince Conor to do s—. Conor will tell Conor what he's gonna do and who knows what's gonna happen in the future. But, for now, he's retired." Obviously fans want to see McGregor in the octagon as there's a number of opponents who could give McGregor a strong fight. Kavanagh was asked how would McGregor do against Justin Gaethje, who is the current interim UFC Lightweight Champion.

"I think the Gaethje fight is probably the best fight I could imagine because he has the style that really matches well with Conor," he said. "Gaethje likes to march forward. He sits down on his shots, he throws heavy shots. He doesn't seem to care about being hit. And he likes coming forward. Conor's always done very well as a counter fighter. Although he does walk forward, he responds to people's attacks very well."

McGregor's timing of his retirement announcement was interfering, considering he was challenging Gaethje, Khabib Nurmagomedov, and even UFC legend Anderson Silva. His last match was in January when he defeated Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone at UFC 246. McGregor announced his retirement on Twitter and posted a photo of him and his mother at a party.

"Hey guys I've decided to retire from fighting. Thank you all for the amazing memories! What a ride it's been! Here is a picture of myself and my mother in Las Vegas post one of my World title wins! Pick the home of your dreams Mags I love you! Whatever you desire it's yours." In McGregor's career, he won 22 MMA matches and lost only four times. Before his retirement, McGregor was ranked No. 4 in the UFC Lightweight rankings and No. 8 in the UFC Men's Pound-for-Pound rankings. He's a former UFC Lightweight and Featherweight champion.