Coach: “Very motivated” Conor McGregor can beat Kamaru Usman

Coach John Kavanagh believes his star pupil Conor McGregor can defeat reigning UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman if he’s “very motivated.”

Kavanagh discussed a potential McGregor vs. Usman fight on social media recently, sharing his confidence that his student can beat pretty much anybody with adequate preparation.

“That’ll be an interesting one,” Kavanagh said of a McGregor vs. Usman matchup (via MMA News). “There’s a fair size difference in there. Look, I’ll be honest. Anybody up to, around about his weight class, if there is a very motivated Conor I think he beats any of them. He has knockout power, he easily has knockout power up to that weight class. And if he was to put in a serious training camp, I think he wins.”

While this a fun fight to think about, Conor McGregor recently retired from competition.

“The game just does not excite me, and that’s that,” McGregor told ESPN shortly after he announced his retirement on social media. “All this waiting around. There’s nothing happening. I’m going through opponent options, and there’s nothing really there at the minute. There’s nothing that’s exciting me.

“I’m a bit bored of the game,” McGregor added. “I’m here watching the fight. I watched the last show — the [Tyron-Woodley-Gilbert Burns] show — I watched the show tonight. I’m just not excited about the game. I don’t know if it’s no crowd. I don’t know what it is. There’s just no buzz for me.”

“I had my goals, my plans, the season,” McGregor continued. “I had everything laid out. Obviously the world has gone bleeding bonkers at the minute. There’s f— all happening at the minute. They want to throw me up and down weights and offer me stupid fights. I don’t really give a f—. I’m over it.”

McGregor last fought in January, when he defeated record-collecting veteran Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone via first-round TKO. It took him just 40 seconds to seal the deal with a series of shoulder strikes, a head kick, and a volley of ground strikes.

Prior to his win over Cerrone, McGregor had not tasted victory since all the way back in November of 2016, when he knocked out Eddie Alvarez to become a two-division UFC champion. After his win over Alvarez, he came up short in a blockbuster boxing match with undefeated legend Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2017, then tapped out to undefeated UFC lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2018.

Do you think Conor McGregor could beat Kamaru Usman?