"Where is all this hate coming from?" - Malki Kawa defends Conor McGregor's coach John Kavanagh against fan criticism
Malki Kawa has come to the aid of SBG Ireland and Conor McGregor's head coach John Kavanagh. Kavanagh recently drew flak online for apparently not being good at his job.
Although McGregor is a former two-division world champion, the Irishman has suffered a dip in form recently. He has lost three of his last four fights inside the octagon. Kavanagh also coaches UFC light heavyweight Johnny Walker, who most recently succumbed to a first-round KO loss to Jamahal Hill at a Fight Night event this past weekend.
Following Walker's loss, some fans online began to blame the recent failures of both Walker and 'The Notorious' on Kavanagh. Some even suggested that McGregor should switch teams if he wants to remain relevant as a world-class fighter. Others hailed the southpaw for achieving success despite apparently not having a great coach.
Check out some of the scathing tweets directed at Kavanagh below:
@eviltill2021 @ConorMcPoirier @John_Kavanagh lmao, Johns entire legacy as a coach is because of Mcgregors success and he held him back from becoming great. https://t.co/xm6oZSebQp
Look at that piss drinking jerk @John_Kavanagh soo happy and cheerful after his midiocre fighter lost via KO 😂😂😂😂 @JohnnyWalker getting worse day by day after joining @SBG_Ireland
There’s level to this sport and they are on the lowest level. twitter.com/kpetersonufc/s…
Kawa was surprised to see so much criticism coming Kavanagh's way and took to Twitter to show his support for the Irishman. He tweeted:
"Where is all this hate coming from? Second or third tweet I see going at Kavanagh"
Where is all this hate coming from? Second or third tweet I see going at Kavanaugh twitter.com/danielbhervey/…
John Kavanagh's assessment of Conor McGregor's UFC 264 performance might raise a few questions
John Kavanagh has coached Conor McGregor throughout his UFC career. The duo enjoyed massive success as McGregor went on to become a two-division UFC champion. This begs the question: does the spark still exist now that they've achieved so many incredible feats in the world of combat sports?
Kavanagh's recent assessment of McGregor's performance against Dustin Poirier in their trilogy fight at UFC 264 last year might come as a surprise to some. According to him, the Irishman was outstriking Poirier on the feet and would have gone on to win the fight in the later rounds had he not ended up breaking his leg.
In an interview with Fox Sports, he said:
"Just look at how the first round was going in terms of shots landed. Conor was like, I believe, almost two to one in the shots landed standing, went for guillotine ended up on his back to defend himself well on the ground. I thought if we went into the second round, it would continue how it was looking on the stand-up portion of the fight, which was Conor landing quite well. And when Conor tends to land, people tend to fall. So I was fairly confident how it would play out in the second round or maybe the third round."
Watch John Kavanagh discuss Dustin Poirier vs. Conor McGregor 3 in the video below:
Let's just say some of us remember the fight playing out a bit differently compared to how John Kavanagh described it. With Conor McGregor reportedly set to return to the octagon later this year, Kavanagh will be hoping to silence his critics.