Conor McGregor’s coach John Kavanagh has some advice for Tony Ferguson in regards to UFC 249.
Ferguson was expected to challenge Khabib Nurmagomedov for the UFC lightweight title on April 18. That is no longer the case as Nurmagomedov is stuck in Russia due to a travel ban. While Nurmagoemdov says he’d take a private jet if the UFC gives him a location, the promotion is already trying to book Ferguson against Justin Gaethje.
John Kavanagh Gives Advice To Tony Ferguson
Speaking to ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, McGregor’s head coach John Kavanagh said that whether or not Ferguson should still fight on April 18 depends on what his situation is (h/t BJPenn.com).
“I think the answer to that would come down to finances a little bit,” Kavanagh said. “I would like to think that Tony doesn’t have to fight to feed himself for the next six months. You always want to think that about such a long-time professional like this, but I don’t know, I don’t know his financial situation. But I would say that if I was his friend or whatever, that would be the only reason I would encourage him to do it. If he was saying, ‘Hey bro I need to pay rent, I need to eat, maybe this fight is not ’til the end o the year,’ then I would say, ‘Yeah, of course, it’s your job at the end of the day. There are front line workers doing a lot more dangerous stuff than MMA fighters are doing. So hey, it’s your job, go ahead and do your job.”
“But I don’t see why (the UFC) doesn’t say, ‘Let’s take April, May, and June, that’s a three month period, and we’re just going to say say that didn’t happen.’ So April 18 becomes July 18. In a weird way, you press pause on the world for three months,” Kavanagh said.
UFC president Dana White has been adamant about pushing through with plans for the April 18 date. White claimed he had a location locked up. Nurmagomedov revealed the plan was for Abu Dhabi. Once Dubai imposed a lockdown, that idea blew up in smoke. White went on to say that he has four or five potential locations but it’s become clear that running an event during the COVID-19 crisis is a daunting task.
