Mexico City, on short notice, against a former champion, in the main event. That was the offer made to Lone’er Kavanagh when Asu Almabayev dropped out of his UFC Mexico City headliner opposite Brandon Moreno.
Coming off a loss but still a hot prospect in the flyweight division, Kavanagh didn’t hesitate in accepting the fight with the always dangerous Moreno.
“No, definitely not. I’m here for legendary moments, and I feel like this is a legendary moment,” Kavanagh told media outlets in Mexico City during the card’s media day this week.
A hostile Mexico crowd doesn’t intimidate him either. “I live for these moments. This is stuff I get to do, so I’m excited.”
Kavanagh would later call Mexico the “home of fighting,” adding that “the fighting culture is so big here.”
In Mexico for a week ahead of Wednesday’s media day, Lone’er Kavanagh feels he’s acclimated well to the altitude. “Yeah, everything feels good. I feel like I’ve adjusted well. I’m excited to get it going.” We won’t have to worry about Sea Level Kavanagh, in other words.
Under other circumstances, you might not see a fighter coming off a loss get booked into such a high-profile fight. The UFC wanted to keep Moreno, a Mexican fighting hero, on the card this Saturday however. A body was needed, and Lone’er raised his hand, said yes. As for his loss to Charles Johnson, Kavanagh feels the issues have been addressed, though there are more lessons to be had from the setback.
“It’s taught me a lot, you know? Not taking away from Charles Johnson, but I made a few mistakes. Me and my team, we took it back. We learned from it, and we’re going to continue to learn from it.”
Watch the full UFC Mexico City media day appearance by Lone’er Kavanagh above.