Conor McGregor coach Kavanagh: I wasn’t surprised Mendes took him down

A coach can instruct his student for years upon years but ultimately can’t do the fighting once the cage door closes.

John Cavanagh, interim featherweight champ Conor McGregor’s longtime coach, was confident that his pupil would perform well against Chad Mendes (17-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) when they faced off at July’s UFC 189.

Despite persistent questions from the media on how McGregor would cope with a standout wrestler as Mendes, Kavanagh felt he was ready for the challenge.

And yet with the short-notice circumstances of the fight, he admits he had questions about what would transpire in the interim title match.

“Walking out for the Mendes fight, with it being so short (notice), I was curious to see how it would go,” Kavanagh told MMAjunkie.

As it turned out, McGregor did get taken down, repeatedly, by Mendes, who thumped the popular Irish fighter with punches and elbows as he lay on the mat. One shot opened a cut over McGregor’s eye, and yet he seemed no worse for the wear.

Mendes, meanwhile, lost steam just as McGregor surged and in the third round fell to a well-placed series of punches to award “The Notorious” the UFC interim featherweight title.

“I wasn’t surprised at the few takedowns that were hit,” said Kavanagh. “If you’re going to be facing someone at that level, and you’re shocked that you’re taken down, well that’s actually what induces the panic. That’s what makes you tired. But if that’s just part of the game, and you’re not worried, and once you understand that the general flow of the fight is going the right way. … But yeah, that fight was interesting.”

Now, the next fight approaches for McGregor (17-2 MMA, 5-0 UFC), who’s set to face champ Jose Aldo (25-1 MMA, 7-0 UFC) in a title unifier on Dec. 12 at UFC 194.

Kavanagh is cautious about how that’s going to go, as well.

“Hopefully, we have the Aldo fight to look forward,” he said, referring to the champ’s withdrawal from UFC 189 that necessitated the short-notice bout with Mendes.

Watch the above video to get Kavanagh’s thoughts on McGregor’s biggest fight to date and the champ’s current turn on “The Ultimate Fighter 21,” which currently films in Las Vegas.

For more on UFC 194, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.