John Kavanagh Reveals Never Heard Before Story About Conor McGregor's UFC Debut

John Kavanagh has revealed a never heard before story about Conor McGregor's UFC debut.

'The Notorious' made his Octagon bow on this day seven years ago when he destroyed Marcus Brimage in 67 seconds at UFC on Fuel TV.

And his coach has explained the details leading up to his UFC clash in Stockholm, Sweden.

Kavanagh says McGregor refused to answer his calls after growing frustrated with the UFC, assuming they had rejected him.

But he finally picked up the phone after reading a message saying the promotion had been in touch.

"He picked the phone only after reading a message saying the UFC has been in touch," he said.

"Conor is very calm and calculated, doesn't get hyper, doesn't get excited."

Despite McGregor's calm nature, he screamed in delight and asked about the date of the bout not the opponent, something which Kavanagh liked as he feels a fighter should trust their team to pick a suitable fight.

"There are two types of fighters. One type just bothers about the when and are fine with it. The other type wants to know who the opponent will be," he added.

On fight week, McGregor was prescribed antibiotics following a severe wisdom tooth which got infected. But he fought through the pain to beat Brimage in emphatic style.

And speaking after the bout, he said: "I couldn't close or open my mouth past a certain bit and the gum was coming over the wisdom tooth in the most horrible pain ever."

After putting Brimage away, the Irishman went backstage and had a meeting with Dana White.

They immediately embraced with the UFC boss welcoming him to the promotion before showering the MMA star with special praise.

"So, there's been a lot of hype. I guess the hype is real," White said to which a jubilant McGregor replied by saying "yeah" a few times.

McGregor, draped in an Irish flag, and White continued to talk about the fight before changing the subject to his next fight.

White, a Boston native, mapped out McGregor's future which included a fight in Boston and an Ireland homecoming - two things which eventually happened.

McGregor returned to action by facing Max Holloway in Boston. He won the bout but suffered a serious knee injury which kept him out of action for 10 months, though he made his UFC comeback on home soil by headlining a massive card in Dublin.

And the rest is history.

Topics: Conor Mcgregor, UFC News, John Kavanagh, Fight News, UFC, MMA

Nasir Jabbar

Nasir Jabbar is a journalist at SPORTbible. He graduated from Bath Spa University with a BA in Media Communications. He's a combat sport aficionado, and has contributed to MMA websites AddictedMMA and CagePotato. Nasir has covered some of the biggest fights, while interviewing the likes of Conor McGregor, Darren Till, Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. He's also an avid Bristol City fan.

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