Conor McGregor's Coach Would 'Love Him Just to Do MMA,' Avoid Return to Boxing

Conor McGregor's coach, John Kavanagh, said Saturday his preference is for McGregor to stick with MMA rather than dabbling in boxing again in the future.

Prior to McGregor's fight against Dustin Poirier at UFC 257, Kavanagh told reporters that while he wouldn't stand in the way of McGregor, he would rather McGregor put all his focus on MMA:

"Just between us, yes, I would of course love him just to do MMA. I'm an MMA fanatic. I enjoy watching the odd boxing fight, but just the fact that I'm so involved in MMA, it seems so incomplete now. But I of course still have massive amount of admiration for them. I think they're the toughest athletes in the world. Cuz I think wrestling does something to you endurance wise, which is just sickening, anybody who's done some hard wrestling rounds. It's that while being punched in the face. It's incredible what the guys do.

"That being said, I love MMA. I love Conor doing MMA. It's just so much more interesting to me."

After a brief retirement, McGregor is making his return to MMA, as he will face Poirier with the winner perhaps being in the driver's seat to become the next UFC Lightweight Champion.

McGregor is one of the UFC's all-time greats, having reigned as the simultaneous lightweight and featherweight champion, and he has a career record of 22-4.

The allure of boxing has been present for McGregor, though, as the Irishman stepped into the ring with Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2017. He lost by 10th-round technical knockout, but he didn't look out of place.

He also received a huge payday for that fight, as he earned roughly $85 million, per Kurt Badenhausen of Forbes.

McGregor hasn't closed the door on boxing again, and it wouldn't be surprising to see him back inside the ring.

Prior to agreeing to the Poirier fight, McGregor said he was set to box Manny Pacquiao in the Middle East, though no particulars have been announced.

YouTuber Jake Paul has also called out McGregor, challenging him to a fight on multiple occasions.

While the UFC is McGregor's bread and butter and where he thrives, boxing remains on the table, especially if there is big money to be made.