John Kavanagh, McGregor's trainer, has been an ever-present influence on his career, right from his earliest steps into the martial arts world up until Saturday's $100 million payday against Floyd Mayweather.
McGregor (21-3 MMA, 9-1 UFC) and Kavanagh come across as being inseparable, so much so that the Irishman defied common wisdom by refusing to hire a recognized boxing coach ahead of his showdown with Mayweather (49-0 boxing), which will be a foray from his typical sphere of mixed martial arts and a headlong dive into the sweet science.
There may be no fighter/trainer combo in combat sports that is tighter, yet with the [url=http://www.newyorkjetsauthorizedstore.com/ardarius-stewart-jersey]http://ww... greatest challenge of his career approaching, McGregor reflected that their relationship recently suffered a rocky patch, one which made him appreciate its value even more.
By his own admission, McGregor began to believe his own hype in the aftermath of his extraordinary and dramatic 13-second knockout of Jose Aldo in the main event of UFC 194 in December 2015.
Suddenly catapulted into a role as the face of the Ultimate Fighting [img]http://www.texansonlineofficialstore.com/images/products/nike_nfl_jerseys/n... Championship, McGregor lost his way a little, believing the hype, thinking himself invincible, wallowing in the attention.
"After the Aldo fight, I just became a little above showing up for training," McGregor said. "It came back and bit me in the ass."
It was a wild time for the entire team. The effects of McGregor's newfound [url=http://www.arizonacardinalsauthorizedstore.com/brandon-williams-jersey]Bran... Williams Womens Jersey superstardom brought focus onto the entire group. Kavanagh was now a big name in his own right, his services more in demand than ever, a book - "Win or Learn" - on the shelves.
Kavanagh's time was tight, and McGregor, with publicists, sponsors and television crews all pulling for a piece of him, was in no mood to stick to a tight schedule. The fighter would skip some of Kavanagh's sessions and arrange his own to fit his hours. There was no drastic rift, but going into McGregor's attempt to win the lightweight title against Rafael dos Anjos in early 2016, things were different.
Then dos Anjos pulled out less than two weeks before the fight, to be replaced by Nate Diaz. Then Diaz withstood McGregor's vicious strikes and eventually tapped him out. And then, as he contemplated his first setback since joining the UFC, McGregor [url=http://www.arizonacardinalsauthorizedstore.com/antoine-bethea-jersey]http:/... realized he had made a mistake.