John Kavanagh had no faith in Johnny Walker

That was one of the most unimpressive main events put on by the UFC.

Kavanaugh did his job in coaching Walker to a Loss, without taking much damage. Both fighters played it safe -- and stunk up the show. They were signed to fight -- not play it safe, and the dance spinning kung fu theater crappola was not worthy of a Prelim. imho
 
Walker's biggest weaknesses have been his recklessness and his chin, I'm pretty sure the SBG camp was trying to reign that in, but probably made him too cautious, hopefully he finds a middle ground as his explosiveness and recklessness has also lead to some of his best wins, so it's more about finding the right time for that.
 
HHJ said:
Walker did whatever Kavanaugh told him to do. But though he was better evasive,but not offensive enough.
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Yeah I agree, but what I am saying is that the Walker from 1 fight ago would have gotten KO'd. This is ultimately a good move for his health and longevity. Although, he most definitely went way too much to the opposite side of the pendulum, and now he needs to find a better middle ground between aggressiveness and passivity.
 
LouisBolanos said:
Kavanagh literally said Conor has more MMA knowledge than him and the rest of the SBG coaches combined. He's just Irish coach Edmund with a better hairline. Ireland will be erased from the global MMA map of relevance soon now that Conor is done, just like Canada did when GSP retired.
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So you are saying conor became 2 weight champ without coach? Damn
 
Carrotman23 said:
Was not impressed by his new style as it will not give him consistent wins at the highest level but I agree with the first part . The Spann fight was hilarious, walking forward with no defense while having a seemingly glass jaw .
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I agree with that, but at least instead of losing by brutal KO he will be losing by boring decision.
Worse for us as fans, but better for him long term.

And yeah, the Spann fight was one of the funniest fights I've ever watched, the sheer absurdity of Walker getting dropped multiple times and then finishing via downwards elbows of all things. Both being very athletic, but having some of the funniest worst technique out there.
 
Kinda feel for guys like Kev Lee and Walker, you have all the tools, but you got no camp you really connect with while everyone thinks they know what you need. So many different directions and the window of opportunity for your career is shrinking.

I hope Walker finds what he needs.

That said, I'm also gonna pretend like I know what he needs: there's a line of thought in mastery of any skill that you should go all in on your strengths. So don't try to learn a whole new wrestling skill in one camp when set to face a wrestler, instead go full in on striking if that's your strength. Your strength being your best bet. And if you go by this, Walker was dominating when he came in like a mad man. Cory tooled him and he suddenly started questioning himself, but that overwhelming chaos might've just been his best bet. So now he's avoiding bad losses, but he's probably avoiding great wins as well. Or wins in general.
 
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HoeBrogan said:
So you are saying conor became 2 weight champ without coach? Damn
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Nobody can become champion without coaching, that doesn't mean all champions have good coaches, wtf kind of strawman is that? Conor and Ronda could have done what they did and more with any number of coaches, Kavanagh and Edmund are non-factors, they just got lucky that those 2 decided to train with them. Take a look at GFC and SBG Ireland's recent UFC W/L record.
 
LouisBolanos said:
Nobody can become champion without coaching, that doesn't mean all champions have good coaches, wtf kind of strawman is that? Conor and Ronda could have done what they did and more with any number of coaches, Kavanagh and Edmund are non-factors, they just got lucky that those 2 decided to train with them. Take a look at GFC and SBG Ireland's recent UFC W/L record.
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Just saying that connie must be pretty good then imagine him going to matt hume or somebody like that years ago
 
Kav gets tons of crap here because people have these weird expectations/frustrations about Conor, but Conor was in his own right a super over achiever and wildly successful. Go watch his early fights when he was getting choked out by journeymen feather weights to his progression to a champion - who do you think taught him that stuff?

Guy like Javier Mendez live in the US (pop 300 million) and get these insane wrestlers, then those top fighters attract their high level friends, so people consider him a great coach. Meanwhile, Kav lives in Ireland (pop 4 million), turned Cathal fookin' Pendred into a winning UFC fighter and got Paddy freakin' Holigan in the top 10! Any of us could corner Ngannou to beat Stipe, but being able to turn a low level fighters from incredibly small talent pool into winning fighters in the big league is very impressive. And unlike Edmond, Kav actually is a very good black belt in BJJ and was a real MMA fighter - not many coaches can even say they ever stepped in the cage.
 
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GeneTunney7 said:
Kav gets tons of crap here because people have these weird expectations/frustrations about Conor, but Conor was in his own right a super over achiever and wildly successful. Go watch his early fights when he was getting choked out by journeymen feather weights to his progression to a champion - who do you think taught him that stuff?

Guy like Javier Mendez live in the US (pop 300 million) and get these insane wrestlers, then those top fighters attract their high level friends, so people consider him a great coach. Meanwhile, Kav lives in Ireland (pop 4 million), turned Cathal fookin' Pendred into a winning UFC fighter and got Paddy freakin' Holigan in the top 10! Any of us could corner Ngannou to beat Stipe, but being able to turn a low level fighters from incredibly small talent pool into winning fighters in the big league is very impressive. And unlike Edmond, Kav actually is a very good black belt in BJJ and was a real MMA fighter - not many coaches can even say they ever stepped in the cage.
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I personally never ragged on Kavanagh that much, I really like that someone is pioneering MMA in a smaller country without a real native wrestling culture. I just think he didn’t trust Johnny to not get himself knocked out if he turned up the offensive output
 
HoeBrogan said:
Just saying that connie must be pretty good then imagine him going to matt hume or somebody like that years ago
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Conor did better with his wrestling and BJJ vs Khabib than D1 wrestler Gaethje did. Conor is a featherweight - could even make bantamweight according to Lockhart - but he just does not give AF so takes on these crazy challenges and does whatever he wants at this point. Yes, he and his talent were most responsible for his success, but Kav played a huge part in his development and Conor admits this - skill wise, mental wise and a brother like role model when he needed it. It is not like Conor is Kav's only professional fighter either, or that Ireland is some massive country ripe with talent. Kav did not want Conor to return after a two year lay off vs Khabib, he did not want him partying, and he even begged him to retire post Eddie. What happens with Conor now is on him. Do people expect Kav to air dirty laundry in public and admit Conor has Deontay Wilder ego brain now and does whatever he wants?

You dont judge a coach by just one good fighter they have, or how they do when proven top fighters come to them, you judge them by how well they do with talentless fighters and how well they improve their game (i.e. Cathal Pendred, Peter Queally, Charlie Ward, Sinead Kavanagh, etc).
 
The Chosen said:
I personally never ragged on Kavanagh that much, I really like that someone is pioneering MMA in a smaller country without a real native wrestling culture. I just think he didn’t trust Johnny to not get himself knocked out if he turned up the offensive output
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People that compare him to Edmund are just living in an alternate timeline or panning for likes from the simps.

Here is the difference between the two.



Conor could lose a close fought decision to Ngannou and people would still find a way to blame "iRiSh eDmUnD".
 
Paolo Delutis said:
Santos is washed??!..

Since when?..

Walker needed to do more...but he went 5 rounds with a killer and survived and showed he could be relaxed in there...

IMO i think walker is in the wrong division...he should take his new game to HW....hes more then tall enough ..i think a more aggressive HW walker gets shit done at HW
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I'd like to know how Santos is washed too.
 
LouisBolanos said:
Kavanagh literally said Conor has more MMA knowledge than him and the rest of the SBG coaches combined. He's just Irish coach Edmund with a better hairline. Ireland will be erased from the global MMA map of relevance soon now that Conor is done, just like Canada did when GSP retired.
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MMA is an individual sport, Conor would have made it far no matter which camp he trained with, Kavanagh just hit the jackpot with him. There's lots of great boxers in Ireland and a lot of interest in MMA so it's only a matter of time before another great fighter comes through.
 
I think Johnmund was telling him that he was up on the scorecards after the 4th round... true Irish Edmond.
 
I'd be surprised if anyone had any faith in John Kavanagh to be honest.
 
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