Conor McGregor has been known to make a prediction or two in his time -- and so has his coach John Kavanagh.
On a recent Periscope Q&A with fans, the SBG Ireland head honcho called his shot for UFC 202, predicting that McGregor will score a fourth-round finish over Nate Diaz in the Aug. 20 rematch.
Kavanagh added that McGregor's preparation for Diaz has been "100 times more serious" this time around and reiterated that McGregor "got tired" early in the first fight by throwing "too many power shots."
Diaz famously beat McGregor at UFC 196, stunning the UFC featherweight champion by submitting McGregor with a second-round rear-naked choke on less than two weeks' notice.
Diaz and McGregor are scheduled to run things back next month at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV in the headlining bout of UFC 202. The pay-per-view will likely be one of the biggest of 2016, with the UFC hoping it eclipses the stellar mark of 1.5 million pay-per-view buys set by UFC 196.
Kavanagh noted that McGregor is also "hoping" to fight at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 12 at UFC 205, an event which marks the UFC's historic entry into New York.
At a recent press conference for UFC 202, McGregor said that he intends to defeat Diaz then return to 145 pounds to defend his UFC featherweight belt. That title defense would assumedly be against interim UFC champion Jose Aldo, who captured the interim title with a vintage win over Frankie Edgar at UFC 200.
Aldo recently told Brazilian media that a McGregor rematch at Madison Square Garden was "highly likely," as long as McGregor loses to Diaz at UFC 202. McGregor previously defeated Aldo via 13-second knockout at UFC 194.
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