John Kavanagh reveals old email of UFC rejecting Conor McGregor

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There was a time when the UFC wasn’t interested in signing Conor McGregor.

Back in 2012, Conor McGregor was struggling to make a living competing on local circuits in Dublin, Ireland. Today, he’s the biggest star in the UFC and one of the most popular athletes in the world.

Coach John Kavanagh has stood by McGregor through the ups and downs of the Irishman’s tumultuous career and, in a recent Instagram post, the SBG Ireland head treated fans to an old email exchange with UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby.

Shelby actually rejected McGregor’s offer in 2012, just a couple of weeks before ‘The Notorious’ went on to KO Ivan Buchinger to capture the Cage Warriors lightweight championship at Cage Warriors: 51.

“Thanks for the email,” Shelby wrote to Kavanagh. “If I can use any of your fighters, especially Conor, I will contact you. At the moment, the featherweight division is terribly impacted from so many UFC lightweights moving down in weight. So, I’m not looking to sign anyone else for a while, but hopefully, it will clear up soon and guys like Conor will get the opportunity.”

The UFC went on to sign McGregor the following year and the Irishman lived up to all expectations in his UFC on Fuel 9 debut, KO’ing Marcus Brimmage with a barrage of uppercuts and ground-and-pound in the first round. The rest, as they say, is history.