Michael Bisping raves about 'really special' fighter as undefeated prospects clash at UFC Macau
11/23/2024 05:31 AM
Michael Bisping is excited to see another English prospect in MMA’s premier league.
The former middleweight champion was on commentary duty alongside Laura Sanko and John Gooden when 7-0 flyweight fighter Lone’er Kavanagh made his company debut at UFC Macau on Saturday morning.
Kavanagh earned his UFC contract by scoring a spectacular one-punch knockout in front of Dana White on the Contender Series in August – but he had to rely on the judges to get the job done against fellow prospect Jose Ochoa.
Still, he did enough to impress Michael Bisping, move to 8-0 and announce himself as a future contender.
Michael Bisping is excited about English flyweight prospect
Lone’er Kavanagh had a ton of hype surrounding him heading into UFC Macau, but he wasn’t given an easy opponent for his UFC debut. Jose Ochoa boasted a 7-0 (1NC) record, despite being two years younger than his 25-year-old opponent.
It was a close and competitive fight, but Kavanagh appeared to get the better of things in round one.
A similar story unfolded in the second frame and Bisping predicted Kavanagh ‘could be really special’.
The UFC Hall of Famer added that the same praise could be applied to Ochoa just before he seemingly hurt his opponent to the body and began swarming in pursuit of an upset finish.
Ochoa jumped on Kavanagh’s back and began squeezing for a rear-naked choke, but the GB Top Team star was able to hang tough until the end of the round.
Kavanagh looked unfazed in the final frame as he continued to impress with his striking, which saw him nail Ochoa with a spinning back kick to the jaw at the very end of their 15-minute scrap.
Ultimately, the UFC Macau judges scored the fight 30–27, 29–28, and 29–28 in his favor.
Kavanagh certainly seems like a prospect to keep an eye on in 2025 and beyond.
Lone’er Kavanagh lost his first two MMA fights
Lone’er Kavanagh has come a long way since making his amateur MMA debut at just 14 years old.
In September 2013, Festus Ahorlu edged a decision against the UFC prospect at Fury MMA.
Two years later, Kavanagh returned to the sport and lost again. In October 2015, he suffered a rear-naked choke submission defeat against Jawany Scott at Rise Of Champions.
Kavanagh ended his amateur career with an unimpressive 3-2-2 record, but ever since he turned pro in 2019, he's looked close to perfect.
He told the Irish Star ahead of his UFC debut: “I had my first-ever amateur fight when I was like 14-years-old and obviously building myself up through the ranks, making mistakes and learning from them I feel like have made me the fighter that I am today.
“For me, you have to make mistakes in order to learn. Through my amateur career, I made a couple mistakes, getting into the pro ranks… I feel like I’ve just tried to refine myself through my teammates and through everything else, through my coaches, and just keep getting better and better every time.”
“Of course losing sucks, but me going through those losses made me realize that I never want to lose again. I do whatever I can, I train my a*** off. I do whatever I can to make sure I never feel those feelings again.”
