While reigning UFC 145-pound champion “The Notorious” Conor McGregor prepares for his 170-pound rematch against Nate Diaz at UFC 202 in August, the 145-pound division will crown an interim champion, as former champion Jose Aldo takes on Frankie Edgar in a rematch at UFC 200 in July.
Ahead of both pairs of fights, McGregor’s SBG Ireland coach John Kavanagh spoke with Jonathan Shrager of MMA Underground (via Jonathan Bradley of FOX Sports) about whether or not he sees McGregor returning to the UFC’s 145-pound division after his fight with Diaz in August.
“The short answer is I don’t know,” Kavanagh said. “I’m very intrigued to see the Aldo and Edgar fight.”
Kavanagh continued, “I hope Aldo is fully recovered from the bad knockout. I thought (Chad) Mendes went back in there really quick after the knockout against Conor. People don’t realize the damage it does — it takes a long time to recover, and I think Mendes went down quicker in that fight because of that. Maybe if he’d let himself rest a bit more he might have had more fight for Edgar.”
As Kavanagh continued, he explained that he hopes to see the best of both Aldo and Edgar at UFC 200, before acknowledging that rising contender Max Holloway is also in the mix.
“I hope that’s not the case for Aldo, (I hope) we get to see a solid version of Aldo and a new kind of improved Edgar, and see what different from the first fight. So yea, let’s see that, and assess after the rematch. It’s kind of those two names and (Max) Holloway kind of in the mix, so it’s an interesting time.”
H/T: BloodyElbow.com
