Coach John Kavanagh rose to recognition in the MMA community thanks to the pivotal role he played in what is now arguably the sport's defining story. When he opened SBG Ireland in 2001, it was the country’s first mixed martial arts gym. The nascent sport was almost unheard of in Ireland, and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was a struggling outfit, its reach confined to remote broadcasting slots on late-night television.
All this began to change when a young Conor McGregor enlisted Kavanagh's coaching services in 2008. Once the UFC signed him in 2013, the Dublin fighter would quickly redefine the world of combat sports.
McGregor's outrageous public persona and knack for stinging one-liners, as well as his explosive punching power, proved a big attraction for viewers. As the Irishman's profile grew, so too did the UFC's value; it sold for $4 billion in 2016, having teetered on the brink of bankruptcy in the early 2000s. Analysts give McGregor a lot of credit for expanding the brand; considering the fact that he’s participated in 6 of the organization’s 10 most valuable pay-per-view events, it’s not hard to see why.
While there is more to John Kavanagh's story than Conor McGregor, it's hard to imagine Win or Learn being so entertaining without him. Some of the book's most engaging passages are the reflections on McGregor's everyday life and training habits, especially when read in the context of his current superstardom. It is interesting, for example, to note that Kavanagh often had a hard time rousing McGregor from his bed, and that his loss to Nate Diaz in 2016 was caused partly by his fondness for cheesecake.
Along with McGregor, Kavanagh has coached most of the rest of the recognizable names in Irish mixed martial arts. Cathal Pendred, Owen Roddy, and Paddy Holohan (who has claimed a seat on the South Dublin County Council since his retirement from fighting) all appear in the book.
Another of the book's selling points is John Kavanagh's own story, which is characterized by enormous resolve in the face of adversity. It was after receiving a severe beating as a teenager that he first turned to martial arts, quickly becoming proficient in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, a now-ubiquitous grappling discipline that was largely unknown in Ireland at the time. SBG Ireland flirted with collapse on several occasions in earlier years, and Kavanagh was forced to relocate his Dublin gym twice. The rising tide that came with his most celebrated apprentice gave Kavanagh’s boat a considerable lift as well, but while Conor McGregor was still weighing up a career as a plumber, John Kavanagh was fighting tooth and nail to keep his business alive.
A series of brushes with the law and other controversies have soured Ireland's relationship with the man who is now perhaps its most famous son. McGregor is not the national darling he once was, and his recent attempts to repair his image will only get him so far. However, none of this changes the extent to which his compelling story is intertwined with the meteoric rise of mixed martial arts and the UFC. Kavanagh's unique relationship to all this is what ultimately makes Win or Learn a worthwhile book club pick.
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