Conor McGregor won’t be back doing real MMA training until 2027, according to the man who has cornered him for most of his career. John Kavanagh, McGregor’s longtime coach at SBG Ireland, laid out the timeline Tuesday on The Ariel Helwani Show, saying the former two-division UFC champion is still in rehab for the knee he wrecked at UFC 329 in July.
“I guess it’ll be next year before he can start returning to obviously MMA-type training,” Kavanagh said. He added that McGregor has been attacking the recovery process: “He’s been very aggressive with his therapy and his recovery.” Kavanagh also said McGregor looks good to him right now, and that “He looks to be moving around quite well.”
The injury itself was brutal and fast. McGregor opened his rematch with Max Holloway with a jumping switch kick, landed awkwardly and tore his ACL. The whole thing was over in 69 seconds. Kavanagh explained that McGregor likes to script his first move of a fight (he pointed to the flying knee opener against Donald Cerrone as an example), and said McGregor had started every sparring session in camp with that same kick. Kavanagh said he was still setting the bucket down in the corner when he looked up and saw his fighter falling.
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He also went after the internet sleuths who think McGregor walked in hurt. Kavanagh insisted McGregor entered the Octagon with “no injury, zero injury,” and posted on X by Helwani, he went further, saying McGregor was probably healthier for this fight than for his last few. Kavanagh said he saw nothing unusual in McGregor’s confidence beforehand, and that McGregor told him privately he felt supremely confident going in.
Now the context, which is rough. UFC 329 was McGregor’s first fight in five years. His previous outing ended with a broken leg at the end of Round 1 against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in July 2021. He hasn’t won since knocking out Cerrone in January 2020. And the Holloway history is cursed in both directions: McGregor beat a young Holloway by unanimous decision in 2013 but blew out his other knee doing it. Kavanagh noted McGregor has previously gone from an ACL injury to fighting in nine months, then joked about the pattern. “So maybe we just have to stay away from Holloway. It’s bad for our knees.”
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As for what comes after rehab, Kavanagh isn’t ready to call it. “I think he’s got one left now with the UFC, but maybe that could be the last UFC fight,” he said, before adding a grenade: “Who knows? Maybe Ki MMA, we can sign him.” That’s Scott Coker’s new promotion, which launches in 2027 with a big featherweight tournament, and Kavanagh announced on the same show that he’s joining it in an ambassador role. McGregor would still need to fight out his UFC deal before any of that is possible.
My take? I love a fighter who calls his shot, and I love a coach who has watched him do the impossible for 22 years and refuses to bet against him. Kavanagh’s line was “If anybody can, he can,” and I believe he means it. But we’ve now had two straight McGregor fights end with a limb giving out, and the next real data point lands sometime in 2027 when he steps back on the mats in Dublin. The Ki MMA tease is the most interesting thing said all week. Coker getting McGregor’s coach in the building is how you start a recruitment pitch.
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