Conor McGregor's long-time trainer John Kavanagh would like to see him fight Justin Gaethje in the UFC next, but would not be surprised if he competed in boxing 12 months after that.
"Top of the list for me would be Justin Gaethje," he told the combat sports reporter Gareth A. Davies on his YouTube channel.
McGregor returned to the UFC in January with a 40-second destruction of Donald Cerrone at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
After the event, at a press conference Insider attended, Dana White told the media that he wanted to book Khabib Nurmagomedov against McGregor.
Between Nurmagomedov's UFC lightweight title defense against Tony Ferguson on April 18, and McGregor's determination to compete three times in 2020, a window was left open for him to fight in the summer.
Insider previously reported that there were two frontrunners to land a lucrative showdown with McGregor — Gaethje, or Nate Diaz, who beat McGregor before losing a rematch in 2016.
Though Kavanagh has previously spoken highly of a Diaz trilogy, he told Davies that Gaethje provides an "interesting stylistic match-up."
He said: "Justin really believes in his striking ability and his power. I think there would be great exchanges and a lot of forward pressure from Justin. Conor thrives under forward pressure. That, maybe, in the summer would be … that's what I'd like to see."
While Kavanagh said a Gaethje fight would be great, he added he did not actually know who the opponent would be.
"I'm just waiting for the call. I hope they [the UFC] match him sooner rather than later. Who it's going to be, I don't know … you know the same names I know."
Kavanagh expects McGregor to compete in boxing once again
McGregor grew up training at the Crumlin Boxing Club near Dublin but pursued a career in mixed martial arts and was guided through every fight by Kavanagh.
Regardless, McGregor did cross over into boxing for a landmark 2017 bout against one of the sport's greatest defensive fighters of all time, Floyd Mayweather, in a bout which generated hundreds of millions of dollars.
McGregor lost, but it whet his appetite for more. Before he fought Cerrone this year, he even said at a Las Vegas media event which Insider attended that he had held discussions about a second boxing fight, this time against Manny Pacquiao, a fight which could be worth $250 million.
Davies asked whether fans could expect to see McGregor box in 12 to 18 months: "I'd be surprised if he doesn't. He loves boxing. He loved training for the Mayweather fight." Kavanagh said.
Though Kavanagh did not get drawn into who McGregor could box, or, specifically, whether the opponent could be Pacquiao, he said McGregor would relish the challenge.
"Whoever the name is, it has to be big. He's always looking at the next step up."
Read more:
Conor McGregor told to fight Justin Gaethje if he wants a second shot at Khabib Nurmagomedov
