Eddie Alvarez’s coach Mark Henry doesn’t believe John Kavanagh has done much for featherweight champion Conor McGregor and says he’s not sure what Eddie Alvarez’s next move will be, but insists the champion will be ready for anyone the UFC want him to fight.

Speaking on this week’s Talking Brawls podcast on Severe MMA the New Jersey based Henry was very complimentary of McGregor’s striking but says he’s not sure what John Kavanagh has brought to Conor McGregor’s game.

“I don’t even know what this coach has done. He’s a ground guy, right? I think he should give all the proceeds of his book over to his striking coach. So, maybe that’s what he needs to do.”

The acclaimed striking coach complimented McGregor’s ability on the feet, and compared the I45lbs champion’s personality to that of the great Muhammad Ali, but says he’s not happy with the way John Kavanagh has disrespected Frankie Edgar in the past.

“I feel he’s an amazing striker but he’s definitely not the Muhammad Ali of MMA, but in other ways he is like Muhammad Ali. I’m just not down with the way his coach has talked about Frankie in the past, which tees me off. I’m not down with Conor talking about Jesus, I’m not down with his coach talking about Muslims, I’m not down with Conor talking about people’s families or kids. So, that’s probably why I’m on the sour side with him. Other than that, as an entertainer, I think he’s hilarious.

Speculation has been rife that McGregor will move up to 155lbs and challenge UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez. The lightweight champion stated after winning the belt he would welcome an “easier fight” next, stating Conor McGregor as that opponent. Henry says that Alvarez will be ready for anybody the promotion put in his way.

“Just being through this thing with Conor before, with him making promises and saying he was going to do so many ‘Conor things’ that he says he’ll do, like saying; I’m not going to bring people from outside my gym into my gym, he’s done that.

“All these statements he’s made like saying he’s going to fight Frankie if he beats Mendes, he’s going to have one fight at 155 and come down. Anything this guy says is a lie.

“He has zero face value. You can’t lean on this guy, he’s a wildcard. We’ve been through this before, so we’re just concentrating on Eddie defending the title against whoever it is, and just getting him better himself. If it is Conor, it would be nice because we wanted Frankie to fight him. Whatever it is, we’ll be ready, and Eddie will definitely be ready for it, but we definitely don’t want to put all our eggs on that dude.”

Photo: Zuffa

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You can listen to the full interview on this week’s Talking Brawls on Severe MMA below:

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Niall McGrath and Petesy Carroll are joined by Coach Mark Henry and Ryan Curtis on this week’s episode of Talking Brawls

• Mark Henry Interview starts at 16:05
• Ryan Curtis Interview starts at 59:35

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Be sure to follow @TalkingBrawls, @NiallMcGrath4, @PetesyCarroll and @SevereMMA on Twitter.

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