Conor McGregor's coach reveals timeline for UFC comeback, with ex-champ 'moving around quite well'

Conor McGregor is once again on the road to recovery after his ill-fated return bout this summer.

Gone in 69 seconds. That was all it took for McGregor's highly anticipated rematch against Max Holloway to end at UFC 329 in July. The former two-division UFC champion started the fight with a jumping switch kick, then landed awkwardly to tear his ACL. Compromised from that point on, McGregor was finished shortly thereafter.

Speaking on Tuesday's edition of "The Ariel Helwani Show," McGregor's longtime coach at SBG Ireland, John Kavanagh, reflected on the moment and night his fighter succumbed to the devastating injury.

"Conor's always liked to have the first move of a fight down. He's done this for a number of his fights, whether it's going to start off with a flying knee, let's say against 'Cowboy' [Donald Cerrone], but he's always kind of like had a first move just to sort of get the fight going," Kavanagh told Uncrowned.

"This one, he had come up with that kick, and he had done it a thousand times, basically. He did a lot of sparring for this fight, and he started every spar with this move, and it always went really well, whether it was a good shot that was landing or at least throwing the opponent off. Then he gets into the fight, and he starts doing his thing.

"So on this one, I'm basically just getting back to my corner when the fights are kind of already started. And he's, as I'm sort of putting the bucket down and I'm looking forward, he's already out there falling," Kavanagh continued. "I didn't know what had happened. I wasn't sure it was a slip or what had gone on, but it was obvious when he stood up there was something had gone terribly wrong. Then I think there was another slip, and that was basically it."

Kavanagh, 49, has been by McGregor's side for nearly every moment of the Irishman’s MMA career. As he's seen in past wins and losses, McGregor’s latest fight only further highlighted the sport's extreme nature, whether positive or negative.

"I've always said with MMA, it's the highest highs and the lowest lows," Kavanagh said. "That was certainly one of those moments where I just couldn't believe it. The amount that had gone into that preparation and fight — basically, six months of all our lives had been put on hold between him training in Dublin and living in the gym and me going to his house. Then all of us going out to the States twice a day, every day.

"We went in for it at 1000%, and him walking in, for the conspiracy theorists out there, no injury, zero injury. I'll ask you to try and put on a pair of runners with a hundred million people watching you. You might stumble a bit, but there was absolutely no injury."

The loss marked McGregor's first fight in five years. He suffered a gruesome injury in his prior fight as well, breaking his leg at the end of Round 1 in his Dustin Poirier trilogy bout at UFC 264 in July 2021.

The leg-break was a unique injury that few fighters have ever successfully returned from to compete at the same level. Anderson Silva and Chris Weidman are the two common examples, both of whom slipped from either top contender or champion status and ultimately failed to string together UFC win streaks upon their returns to the cage.

Ultimately, Kavanagh says McGregor is recovering well more than three months since the UFC 329 injury. Fights with Holloway, however, might be cursed at this point, considering how McGregor’s first went in 2013, when he scored a unanimous decision win over a young Holloway but blew out his other knee in the process.

"Right away he was talking about, 'Well, what's the surgery options? What's the recovery time?'" Kavanagh said of McGregor’s latest.

"I think from doing his ACL to fighting, he's done it in the past in nine months, from injury to returning to the Octagon. I also felt it was somewhat strange that on their first fight, Holloway managed to do his ACL on his right leg. Then, in the second fight, does the ACL on the left leg. So maybe we just have to stay away from Holloway. It's bad for our knees."

McGregor has made a handful of public comments in the aftermath of UFC 329, especially in the early days that followed. He's been adamant that another UFC return fight will happen, and still hopes get him back on track after not having his hand raised in victory since his knockout of Donald Cerrone in January 2020.

Kavanagh refuses to doubt McGregor after going through their journey together. To push his expectations further, he won't be surprised if McGregor's potential return extends beyond the UFC, with so many options available.

"I'm just too long around him. I think we're now 22 years around each other, and I've just seen him do too many things that seem to be impossible, and he does them repeatedly," Kavanagh said.

"So if he says he [fights again], I'm not going to doubt him. We'll see. I guess it'll be next year before he can start returning to obviously MMA-type training. He's going through his rehab now, and he looks pretty good to me. He looks to be moving around quite well. So he's been very aggressive with his therapy and his recovery. Then I guess we wait to see what happens next year, and who knows, maybe I'm back talking to you next summer.

"I just don't feel he's done with competition just yet. What does that look like? I don't know. I think he's got one left now with the UFC, but maybe that could be the last UFC fight. He obviously has his own promotion, which is doing great. Who knows? Maybe Ki MMA, we can sign him."

Kavanagh teased the latter option with Ki MMA, Scott Coker's latest venture and return to the MMA world, which is set to launch in 2027.

The promotion's first year will focus on a large featherweight tournament, but Coker has said it will also hold noteworthy fights in other weight classes. Kavanagh announced Tuesday on the show that he'll also be part of the promotion in an ambassador-type role.

A possible role for Kavanagh coincidentally came about when McGregor was in camp, said Kavanagh, and Coker came to visit with matchmaker Rich Chou.

"They offered me a type of ambassador role, if you will. Basically, whatever needs to be done, I get done," Kavanagh said.

"Over these last couple of decades, I've built up a good network, especially in Europe, but really around the world, too. Whether it's helping out with getting fighters, helping out with venues, whatever needs to be done, I'm there to help.

"I was really excited to be part of it. I've been involved in this game for a long time, and Scott is one of the few guys that really built up shows that were able to rival the big ones."

Obviously, McGregor has to return to action and get out of his UFC contract before anything like a fight in Ki MMA or elsewhere is possible. But Kavanagh's inclusion in the operation certainly adds intrigue to the overall McGregor puzzle.