Coach John Kavanagh hasn’t spoken to McGregor since loss to Khabib at UFC 229

Conor McGregor’s in-depth breakdown of his loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 led some fans to believe that the Irishman was criticizing his cornermen for a bad strategy.

“Listen to nobody but yourself on your skill set,” McGregor posted on Instagram following his submission loss to Nurmagomedov. “I am the master of this. I must take my own advice.”

When quizzed by this on a recent episode of the True Geordie podcast, McGregor’s longtime coach and friend, John Kavanagh, said he didn’t know how to interpret ‘The Notorious’s’ comments because he hasn’t spoken to him since UFC 229.

“The honest answer is I don’t know. I haven’t actually spoken to him, I haven’t really seen him since the fight,” Kavanagh said when asked about McGregor’s Instagram post (h/t Adam Guillen Jr. of MMA Mania). “I’ve hit the ground running, got so much on. He’s doing his whiskey tours of the world. It’s sold out, it’s crazy. I don’t know, you’re going to ask me to get into the mind of another human, and I just can’t do it. He said what he said and you’d have to get him as your next guest, fingers crossed, and ask him.”

It’s thought that Kavanagh and McGregor have a close relationship (Kavanagh has been coaching McGregor at SBG Ireland since he was a teenager), but this isn’t the first time that both men have been distant. Kavanagh admitted back in 2015, after McGregor’s championship win over Jose Aldo at UFC 194, that he didn’t speak much to Conor in the lead-up to his welterweight bout with Nate Diaz at UFC 196, which he lost via second-round submission.

McGregor, the former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion, is willing to accept a tune-up fight before he inevitably challenges Nurmagomedov in the championship rematch. The 30-year-old will meet with the Nevada State Athletic Commission next month over his involvement in the UFC 229 post-fight brawl at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Both he and Khabib face possible suspensions.