UFC flyweight Dan Ige offers sharp reply to Conor McGregor's coach John Kavanagh
UFC Featherweight Dan Ige gave a blunt answer to SBG Ireland head coach and Conor McGregor's mentor, John Kavanagh after his comments that the UFC 257 main event should be for the Lightweight title.
Earlier this week, Kavanagh told The MacLife in an interview that he believes the bout between his trainee McGregor and Dustin Poirier in UFC 257 should be for the Lightweight title.
Ige, who currently sits at the eleventh position in the UFC Featherweight rankings, contradicted Kavanagh's questioning about why the UFC 257 main event is not for the belt in an acute message posted on his social media.
"Because Khabib [Nurmagomedov] is the champion."
The UFC Lightweight division is probably the most disputed weight class in the promotion right now. These four strong candidates who can stake a claim to the championship at the moment.
While it is uncertain if the reigning champion Nurmagomedov will return to defend his UFC title or not, the other contenders start to mobilize towards a call to be on top of the division.
Charles Oliveira was the first contender to make the demand to UFC, followed by Dustin Poirier, and now McGregor's coach joins in on the act.
"I don't really get why this one isn't for the title if I'm being 100 percent honest," Kavanagh declared to TheMacLife. "Maybe it is [UFC president] Dana [White]'s little carrot towards Khabib. I don't know. I know there are types of games that go on that don't involve myself, but this, for me, feels like it is for the belt. I guess at the very least, the winner of this will be offered a title fight, but who would that be against? It is a bit of a strange scene where we have in front of us, which makes it interesting."
Dan Ige had three UFC fights in 2020
UFC Featherweight Dan Ige was one of the most active fighters in the promotion during the year that saw the world come to a halt because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
UFC was the first sports promotion to resume its activities after the pandemic started. UFC President Dana White took on critics and doubters by defying the odds during the coronavirus outbreak with 'UFC Fight Island.'
White made a deal with the UAE government to host UFC events in Yas Island, located in Abu Dhabi.
There, many fighters had their only bout of the year in a reduced schedule. Ige was one of the competitors to perform in the UFC striking venue.
At Fight Island, Ige suffered his first defeat after a six consecutive wins. The UFC Featherweight contender could not convince the judges that he was the best in his fight with Calvin Kattar.
Ige's other two fights in 2020 happened in January and May and he won both of them via split decision. The first was against Mirsad Bektic in UFC 247 and the second one saw him trump Edson Barbosa.
Dan Ige's next fight is yet to be announced by UFC.