Perfect event for Conor McGregor’s return is staring us right in the face

At the Dublin premiere of 'The Notorious', John Kavanagh revealed Conor McGregor had returned to his SBG gym and had proceeded to make his coach tap out.

Two months out from his professional boxing debut against Floyd Mayweather Jr. and McGregor was dipping his toes back in the water. Kavanagh told SportsJOE:

"Conor came in last week and said, 'Let's do a couple of rounds'. I rolled with him and I hadn't done that in quite a while. I'm a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, I'm pretty decent at it, and he tapped me out. I was really, really upset by that. I wanted to tap him out to say, 'What are you, just a boxer now?!' But he choked me and I was very upset. For my own ego, I'm sad that there was not much rustiness there. As a coach, I'm glad that he's still sharp."

Getting McGregor to give up his first Christmas as a father to head off to Las Vegas for at least a month was always going to be a tough ask for the UFC. It was no great surprise, then, to learn the 'champ champ' would not be returning to take on interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson at UFC 219 on December 30. If the Dubliner does want to headline a major event in the coming months, UFC 220 in Boston would be his best bet. Track back to January 2016 and, ahead of a lightweight title bout with Rafael Dos Anjos [later cancelled after RDA injured his foot], McGregor was calling shots on where he wanted to fight in the future. Tired of the long hauls to Las Vegas, McGregor told Severe MMA:

"F**k Vegas. F**k Vegas, serious. I want East Coast next. If they don't give me Ireland, give me East Coast next. I'll go back to Boston, I know they're lobbying for New York, we had a great time when we went to Boston and the East coast, it's not as far, it's a five hour flight."

As we type, UFC 220 looks set to feature light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier taking on Volkan Oezdemir but there could yet be issues stemming from a second-degree felony charge hanging over the Swiss fighter. Even so, a Cormier-headlined pay-per-view may not shake much money from the trees. UFC commentator Joe Rogan has claimed Dana White, the promotion's president, will want to pull out a big name to headline the PPV event in his hometown and who bigger than McGregor. We put the possibility, to Kavanagh, of McGregor fighting at the TD Gardens for the first time since he beat Denis Siver there in January 2015. He commented:

"I think that's a little bit early but if he rocks in tonight and says, 'January 20th, we're fighting', I'll be ready. I'm in the gym in the morning."

If UFC 220 passes without McGregor's participation, it is highly unliklely he would feature at 221 in Perth, Australia. UFC 22 and 223 [March and April] are both expected to be in Las Vegas. Despite Max Hollow and McGregor ribbing each other on social media, a lightweight belt against Ferguson is the odds-on favourite to be the 155lb champ's comeback bout. Kavanagh believes his fighter's Jiu Jitsu is "comparable" to Ferguson's. "I don't fear them being on the ground together. "I do know Conor is light years ahead of Tony on the feet. But if it goes to the ground, I know Conor will be very well adapted there."