Kavanagh talks McGregor’s reaction: He opened one eye and said “They’re all the same”

SBG Ireland head coach John Kavanagh has had his say on this week’s injury mayhem in his The42 column.

Reports of Jose Aldo’s injury put Conor McGregor’s title bid on July 11 in doubt but the latest news indicating that Jose Aldo is willing to compete and Chad Mendes has been put on stand-by has been met calmly inside the SBG camp.

“It was UFC president Dana White who called me and asked how we felt about Chad Mendes stepping in to fight Conor for the belt. Conor was sleeping at the time so I walked into his room and told him it could be Mendes instead. He opened one eye, said ‘They’re all the same’ and then went back to sleep. That’s as far as any negotiation went.” said Kavanagh

Gunnar Nelson also reacted calmly to a switch of opponent according to Kavanagh “His fight was actually changed while he was asleep. He woke up late that day, I told him he had a new opponent and instead of asking who it was (Brandon Thatch), he just said ‘Oh, okay’ and then went about making his breakfast.”

John Kavanagh and SBG have always maintained that the opponent doesn’t matter and they train to better themselves and this week’s news has certainly reinforced this. “We never tailor our preparations based on opponents and this is sort of like the most extreme version of that you can think of.” He said.

Kavanagh went on to discuss the recent addition of Cathal Pendred to the UFC 189 card where he will meet John Howard. Kavanagh praised Pendred’s persistence in trying to secure a fight and told readers “he’ll be arriving in Vegas in the next couple of days.”