John Kavanagh is one of the most mild-mannered men you will ever meet but he has been thrust right back into the ongoing feud between Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Kavanagh never really has an interest in pre-fight hype or trash-talking. He leaves that to McGregor, his marquee fighter.
The Straight Blast Gym Ireland head coach was eager to break up the post-fight brawl that broke out between the respective teams after last weekend's UFC 229 main event.
In his appearance on the
Joe Rogan Experience less than two days after the lightweight title fight and subsequent brawl, Kavanagh
played down the significance of Nurmagomedov's decision to jump out of the Octagon in an attempt to confront McGregor's team.
McGregor's long-time trainer also insisted that he didn't hear Danis say anything to provoke Nurmagomedov, as was initially suggested.
But Kavanagh has now been called out by Nurmagomedov's controversial manager, Ali Abdelaziz, for his comments about Islam in the lead-up to the fight.
https://twitter.com/AliAbdelaziz00/status/1050177934361673729
Abdelaziz quote-retweeted an exchange between Kavanagh and Nurmagomedov in April, when the former said: "Jesus loves knockouts but Mohammed wasn't a fan of summertime MMA? - Choose your religion wisely young fighters!"
Nurmagomedov, a devout Muslim, took umbrage with that remark, which was made in jest, and warned Kavanagh to steer clear of joking about religion.
Abdelaziz has also taken aim at SBG featherweight Artem Lobov, who was scheduled to fight Zubaira Tukhugov later this month, for
urging UFC President Dana White to allow the bout to go ahead.
https://twitter.com/AliAbdelaziz00/status/1050606805863157760
White insisted that any UFC-contracted fighters involved in attacking McGregor on Saturday night would never fight in the Octagon again, meaning that Lobov vs. Tukhugov would be scrapped from the Moncton card on October 27.
Lobov is
one of the main reasons for the rivalry between Team McGregor and Team Khabib as it was he who was cornered and slapped by Nurmagomedov in Brooklyn before 'The Notorious' jumped on a plane to New York City and laid siege to a bus that was carrying the Russian and UFC 223's red corner fighters.
Nurmagomedov insists that he will walk away from his UFC contract if White stays true to his promise of cutting Tukhugov from the roster.
In an Instagram statement on Thursday, the lightweight champ said: "If you decide to fire him, you should know that you’ll lose me too. We never give up on our brothers in Russia and I will go to the end for my Brother. If you still decide to fire him, don’t forget to send me my broken contract, otherwise I'll break it myself.
"And one more thing, you can keep my money that you are withholding. You are pretty busy with that, I hope it won’t get stuck in your throat. We have defended our honor and this is the most important thing. We intend to go to the end."
