Conor McGregor’s coach regrets UFC star beating Jose Aldo in 13 seconds
Conor McGregor’s long-time coach John Kavanagh has revealed he “regretted” the Irishman’s 13-second knockout of Jose Aldo back in 2015.
McGregor shocked the MMA world and became a household name after his precise punch stopped the Brazilian inside the first round of their UFC featherweight title fight.
The win propelled McGregor to global stardom as the Notorious went on to make hundreds of millions of dollars, while Aldo’s standing suffered as a result of the humiliating defeat.
And McGregor’s own coach has now revealed he was left gutted at the manner of Aldo’s defeat after claiming “nobody was a bigger fan.”
Speaking to MMA Fighting, Kavanagh said: “I’m sure I spoke about it a lot at the time, but going back, I was a massive WEC fan.
“And if you’re a WEC fan, you’re obsessed with Aldo. Just the way he — he was the first one that I really saw, a striking-based MMA guy that just dismantled grapplers.
"So I was trying to learn a lot from what he did. And even going back further than that, his amazing coach ‘Dede’ [Andre Pederneiras], I watched him back in the Pride days."
He added: “So there was nobody that was a bigger fan of that team and Aldo specifically than me.
"And in the lead up to that [UFC 194] fight, I had many sleepless nights looking at those leg kicks and his takedown defense and his speed and his technique and his experience.
"And I somewhat regretted how the fight went, because I would have loved to see the clash of styles and some more exchanges.”
Aldo, who is renowned as the greatest UFC featherweight ever, went on to lose five of his next eight fights following the McGregor knockout.
The Brazilian is now enjoying a resurgence as a bantamweight in the 135lbs division and is ranked No.3 after winning his last three fights.
Commenting on his newfound success, the coach could not help but be impressed.
Do you think Conor McGregor got lucky against Jose Aldo? Let us know in the comments section.
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Kavanagh said: “He’s come back completely reinvigorated at 135 and he’s looking world-class. He’s looking like a champion beater.
"And if he gets that Dillashaw fight, I think we’ll really see just how far he’s come since then.
“I’m sure Conor would love to see it, and certainly I would love to see him have his hand raised and have that belt at 135.”
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