John Kavanagh Claims Conor McGregor Was Offered $5 Million To Fight Chinese Kickboxer

Conor McGregor and John Kavanagh

Floyd Mayweather recent couldn’t resist accepting a money-spinning exhibition bout with Japanese kickboxing turned MMA star Tenshin Nasukawa in the Rizin promotion, but according to Conor McGregor’s long-time coach John Kavanagh, ‘The Notorious’ has also beem made a similar offer to go up against an unnamed Chinese fighter.

“I had a guy message me just a few days ago — a Chinese kickboxer [who] wanted to do three rounds with Conor for $5 million,” Kavanagh told The True Geordie Podcast. “And he was going to put it in escrow. It wasn’t like he was just [joking]. Because again, I get a million messages like that a day, but you just don’t pay attention [to them]. But this guy was connected and it was a legitimate offer. But I know he wouldn’t [do it].”

There’s virtually no chance the UFC would have signed off on that anyway, not to mention the fact that McGregor still has to go before the Nevada State Athletic Commission before he can fight again due to the brawl that took place after UFC 229, but nontheless it shows just how in-demand the Irish superstar remains despite his losses to Khabib Nurmagomedov and the aforementioned Mayweather.

“You get the odd funny message like that. And like I said, it was a genuine [offer],” Kavanagh said. “I know the boxing promoter well and he’s very well known. So he wasn’t going to come with an offer that wasn’t legitimate.”

Ross launched MMA Insight (previously FightOfTheNight.com) in 2009 as a way to channel his passion for the sport of mixed martial arts. He's since penned countless news stories and live fight reports along with dozens of feature articles as the lead writer for the site, reaching millions of fans in the process.