MMA coach John Kavanagh said that he was left "heartbroken" by Conor McGregor’s recent brushes with the law, one of which saw the star fined €1,000 for striking a man in a pub.
Kavanagh, who was speaking on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show, described McGregor as his "kid brother" and said that he was worried that 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 were all worried.”
The Notorious was convicted of assualt in the Marble Arch pub in Dublin last year and fined €1,000.
The fighter, who pleaded guilty, apologised in court, adding: “Nothing of this nature will happen again.”
McGregor, however, is now in the best shape of his career ahead of his comeback fight against Donald Cerrone in Las Vegas on Saturday, according to Kavanagh, and he believes that it is imperative for the Notorious’ mental wellbeing.
“This is who he is. It’s him at his healthiest, physically and mentally, when he’s in training camp,” Kavanagh said.
“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’s good for him to be in the professional element of MMA. It keeps him on track.”
Kavanagh said that he feared that his journey with the former two-weight world champion was nearing its end after McGregor had beaten Eddie Alvarez and conquered the lightweight division in November 2016.
“I found it hard to see a reason [to fight again]. I’m glad he did find his reason, but I just didn’t see it at the time. I’ll be honest, I started focusing on the next wave of guys.”
The Straight Blast Gym coach also said that McGregor’s previous training camp in the lead up to his grudge match with Khabib Nurmagomedov was driven by all the wrong reasons.
“It was not good. The whole training camp was driven by revenge and by venom,” Kavanagh said.
