John Kavanagh projects date and opponent for Conor McGregor’s next fight

John Kavanagh reckons that Conor McGregor's next fight won't be a rematch with Jose Aldo.

The SBG head coach revealed to Breakfast Republic on 2FM that the newly crowned featherweight champion could become the first fighter to hold two belts simultaneously in the promotion as early as March 2016. Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone takes on Rafael dos Anjos for the lightweight belt on Saturday, and Kavanagh predicts that the winner of the contest will be getting their very own "red panty night" courtesy of the Notorious.

"I think we're looking at late March or mid-April and the lightweight belt. That's what I think is next. That's being contested Saturday night so whoever the unfortunate winner of that belt is faces Conor."

Kavanagh also gave his thoughts on Aldo's mental strength in relation to the bout. The former champion had been subjected to endless mental warfare before being knocked out in just 13 seconds at UFC 194, but Kavanagh admitted he didn't know whether it affected the result of the fight.

"Conor has an ability to get under people's skin, I'm not sure how much it affected Aldo... only he knows the truth." "He seemed kind of wound up and tense. I doesn't do any harm and it pushes those pay-per-view ratings. Maybe it's a Dublin thing, Conor would give a guy in the gym a hard time but it's a playful thing."