Coach Kavanagh claims that a few UFC fighters have pulled him aside at events to send their appreciation to his ‘boy’ Conor McGregor for “changing the game”.

John Kavanagh’s claim came shortly after Dustin Poirier suggested that he credited his defeat to McGregor as the reason for his career resurgence.

“That was that start of it.” Poirier acknowledged following his thrilling victory over Dan Hooker this past weekend.

Kavanagh caught wind of Poirier’s remarks and proceeded to send out the following statement on Twitter.

I've a had a few UFC fighters pull me aside fight week and say something along the lines of "I might not like your boy but we should all be sending him 5%. He's changed the game for all of us." Be grateful and you'll receive more to be grateful for. https://t.co/reJZ1gnHrG

— Coach Kavanagh (@John_Kavanagh) July 2, 2020

“I’ve had a few UFC fighters pull me aside fight week and say something along the lines of ‘I might not like your boy, but we should all be sending him 5%. He’s changed the game for all of us.’ Be grateful and you’ll receive more to be grateful for.

Conor McGregor undoubtedly started to “change the game” when he entered the UFC in April of 2013 with a stunning first round knockout of Marcus Brimage.

Four wins and a ton of entertaining trash talk later and the Irishman was already fight for a promotional title when he squared off with Chad Mendes for the interim featherweight championship at UFC 189.

Conor McGregor would end up scoring a second round TKO victory over ‘Money’ that evening in Las Vegas, setting up a title unification bout with long time featherweight kingpin Jose Aldo.

‘Notorious’ would square off with Aldo at UFC 194 and needed just 13-seconds to finish off the Brazilian legend.

From there, McGregor’s meteoric rise would only continue with a pair of blockbuster fights with Nate Diaz. After exacting revenge on the Stockton native at UFC 202, Conor McGregor would challenge Eddie Alvarez for the promotions undisputed lightweight title at UFC 205. The Irish superstar would go on to dominate the Philadelphia native that evening, scoring a second round TKO victory and thus becoming the first fighter in UFC history to hold two division titles simultaneously.

Conor McGregor most recently competed at January’s UFC 246 event in Las Vegas, where he needed just 46-seconds to dispose of perennial contender Donald Cerrone.

Despite his emphatic comeback, McGregor recently announced that he was retiring from fighting, news which was later confirmed by his coach John Kavanagh.

What do you think of some UFC fighters telling John Kavanagh that they should be sending Conor McGregor 5% of their pay? Share your thoughts in the comments section PENN Nation!

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on July 3, 2020