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John Kavanagh has said that he was not too keen on Conor McGregor's rematch with Nate Diaz. McGregor's long-time coach, Kavanagh, wanted Diaz to be "left alone" for a while after the Stockton-based fighter defeated McGregor at UFC 196 in March of 2016.
Kavanagh stated that it wasn't easy for Conor McGregor to adapt his fighting style in the welterweight division, which is why he wanted the rematch against Diaz to happen at the 155-pound weight class. The Notorious One, who was a featherweight at the time, moved up two divisions to fight Diaz in a losing effort.
Speaking to BT Sport, Kavanagh referred to Diaz as a monster and said that he didn't want Conor McGregor to fight Diaz immediately after he suffered his first loss in the UFC.
"I certainly was pushing for the rematch (with Nate Diaz) to be at 155. I was even pushing for to let leave Nate Diaz alone for a while. That guy is a monster," said Kavanagh.
The first fight between Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz was a high-profile bout in which the latter came out on top via second-round submission. The Notorious One fought Diaz for the second time in less than six months and avenged his loss at UFC 202.
Conor McGregor wants a trilogy fight with Nate Diaz
UFC president Dana White recently announced that Nate Diaz is set to make his return to the Octagon. However, this time around, the 35-year-old will compete in the lightweight division.
Upon learning the news of Diaz's return, Conor McGregor expressed his desire to fight Diaz for the third time with the lightweight championship on the line.
"I heard Dana (White) talking on TheMacLife interview also was Nate Diaz coming back to lightweight. I love that. I would love to compete against Diaz. We will compete again if that happens at lightweight for the title. That would be something special... I feel it should be me and Nate if he's gonna do 155, we could possibly do that for the belt. If not, I'll probably just fight Nate at 170 pounds again," McGregor told TheMacLife.
