John Kavanagh said he was left “heartbroken” by Conor McGregor’s recent brushes with the law, one of which saw the star fined for striking a man in a pub.
The UFC legend’s coach described the Notorious as his “kid brother” and said he was worried he would live up to the stereotype of world champion fighters who spiral out of control.
Kavanagh said: “It was heartbreaking. You fear the worst.
“You fear that they’re going to become that age old stereotype – someone getting it all and then losing it all. Everyone around him was worried.” McGregor was convicted of the assault at the Marble Arch pub in Dublin last year and fined €1,000.
The former two-weight champ apologised in court, adding: “Nothing of this nature will happen again.”
However, Kavanagh now claims McGregor is now in the best shape of his career ahead of his comeback fight against Donald Cerrone in Las Vegas on Saturday.
He told Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show: “This is who he is. It’s him at his healthiest, physically and mentally, when he’s in training camp.
“The motivations are healthy. That’s him at his best. What else was he going to do?
“He’s not going to take up golf and sit around all day. He’s obsessed with this sport, this lifestyle.
“It keeps him on track.”
The Straight Blast Gym coach also said McGregor’s training camp in the lead up to his defeat to Khabib Nurmagomedov was motivated by all the wrong reasons. He added: “It was not good. The whole training camp was driven by revenge and by venom.”
