Conor McGregor's coach John Kavanagh on why UFC fighters are grateful to the former double Champion

There is no denying that Conor McGregor changed the game in MMA. He's transcended the sport and become the biggest megastar to come out of it - reaching popularity levels never seen before in the sport and becoming among the biggest box office draws in Combat Sports history.

Every fighter wants to get on a Conor McGregor card and his last fight against Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone proved that he's far bigger than any Championship. The undisputed #1 box office draw in UFC, the organization makes sure to have relatively "weaker" cards whenever he fights to help promote younger fighters.

The "Conor McGregor effect" is when the revenue he brings in pours onto other fighters. His head coach John Kavanagh responded to Dustin Poirier's comment about how losing to Conor McGregor changed his career.

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Really enjoyed today’s chat with him. (Link in bio.)

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Kavanagh revealed in a tweet that he's had multiple UFC fighters come up to him and express their gratitude towards Conor McGregor - even those who don't like him:

I've a had a few UFC fighters pull me aside fight week and say something along the lines of "I might not like your boy but we should all be sending him 5%. He's changed the game for all of us." Be grateful and you'll receive more to be grateful for. https://t.co/reJZ1gnHrG
— Coach Kavanagh (@John_Kavanagh) July 2, 2020

Conor McGregor's retirement

It's hard to deny the effect that he's had and the revenue he brings in. However, Dana White has openly stated on many occasions that the UFC has to move forward with the assumption that he's retired.

After his 40-second win over Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone (his first win since 2016), he stated that he wants to have a "fight season" with multiple fights in 2020. However, the COVID-19 pandemic changed all of that and it's hard to imagine UFC booking Conor McGregor for an empty arena show with no live gate - especially since they'll likely have to pay him the same amount, if not more.

However, most fans don't seem to buy the fact that Conor McGregor is legitimately retired. He's mentioned retirement a few times before but it seems like he could still come back at some point.