John Kavanagh says Conor McGregor vs. Justin Gaethje was ‘close to being done’

Head coach John Kavanagh claims Conor McGregor vs. Justin Gaethje was close to materializing.

Gaethje has been on a tear since dropping back-to-back bouts against Dustin Poirier and Eddie Alvarez. “The Highlight” is riding a four-fight winning streak. In that span, he’s beaten Tony Ferguson, Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, Edson Barboza, and James Vick.

Many have been left to wonder how Justin Gaethje would fare against Conor McGregor. SBG Ireland head coach Kavanagh expressed his belief that the matchup favors the “Notorious” one during a chat on social media (video courtesy of MMA World).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Po8oJY_0qww

“I think the Gaethje fight is probably the best fight I could imagine because he has the style that really matches well with Conor,” Kavanagh said when discussing a potential showdown between Conor McGregor and Justin Gaethje. “Gaethje likes to march forward. He sits down on his shots, he throws heavy shots. He doesn’t seem to care about being hit, 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.”

Kavanagh went on to reveal that a clash between Conor McGregor and Justin Gaethje was actually on the verge of becoming a reality. Unfortunately, as plans will be, plans will go awry.

“It was close to being done,” Kavanagh claimed. “It’s kinda sad now that it didn’t happen. We have obviously the coronavirus and how everything went with the world. I think we could’ve been getting ready for that fight any week now if things hadn’t have happened the way they did. But here we are, so all we can do is speculate.”

Justin Gaethje captured the interim UFC lightweight championship back in May. He defeated Tony Ferguson via fifth-round TKO. Gaethje snapped Ferguson’s 12-fight winning streak. Prior to the bout, “El Cucuy” hadn’t lost since May 2012. Gaethje now sets himself up for a lightweight title unification showdown with champion Khabib Nurmagomedov in September.

As for Conor McGregor, he claims to be retired. The “Notorious” one says that a lack of enticing options is one reason for his decision. He’s also admitted that he feels the UFC keeps going against his wishes. The former UFC “champ-champ” is also none too pleased that the 155-pound title unification bout between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Justin Gaethje has been pushed back to September.

Do you think we’ll ever get to see Conor McGregor and Justin Gaethje throw down inside the Octagon?