His students include fighters such as Conor McGregor, Makwan Amirkhani, and Gunnar Nelson.

[3] Kavanagh was inspired to take up mixed martial arts after watching footage of the UFC tournament in 1993.

[4] A pioneer of MMA in Ireland, he competed in some of the earliest local circuit MMA events in Ireland and the UK and is the first Irish man to receive a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

[8] Kavanagh is also the promoter of a mixed martial arts organization Euro Fight Night which held their inaugural event in October 2019.

[9] John Kavanagh is the current president of the Irish Amateur MMA Organisation, IMMMA.