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Conor McGregor vs Khabib: John Kavanagh reveals the one mistake that cost Irishman UFC title fight

McGregor was soundly beaten by Nurmagomedov in the early hours of Sunday morning, losing the first two rounds before eventually tapping out in the fourth

Tuesday 09 October 2018 11:41 BST
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UFC- Khabib Nurmagomedov apologies for post-fight melee after defeating Conor McGregor

Conor McGregor’s coach has revealed the one significant mistake that cost the Irishman in his UFC lightweight title fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov.

McGregor was soundly beaten by Nurmagomedov in the early hours of Sunday morning, losing the first two rounds before eventually tapping out in the fourth.

It was a sloppy display from McGregor, who looked uncharacteristically flat-footed and slow throughout, failing to maintain the distance and land his famous overhand left.

And his coach, John Kavanagh, has admitted that they spent far too much of his fight camp focusing on defence.

“If there's one thing I could change it would be that I was too defensive in my mindset for this training camp,” he admitted.

“But, Khabib has very specific types of take downs depending on where he is, whether it's shooting on the low single in the middle and on the fence.

“Long before Conor was due to fight him I loved watching him, that's kind of my area is the fence, I just love right from the Randy Couture days, how to use the fence and Khabib does it to a new level.”

“[McGregor] is screaming and shouting for the rematch within minutes. I do think round three showed promise. I would've liked to have changed things up a little bit, specifically a more offensive mindset. I thought defensively we did quite well.”

And Kavanagh freely admitted that ring rust may have played a part in McGregor’s humbling defeat.

John Kavanagh has revealed where it all went wrong

“Absolutely, of course, of course,” he added.

“We tried to mimic as close as we could in the gym, I brought in guys that he didn't know and I would say this is fight day,

“He would do exactly what he would do on fight day to get that feel, but it's still the gym.”

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