Conor McGregor put his money where his mouth is, backing up his characteristic trash talk and showboating by knocking out Chad Mendes Saturday night late in the second round of UFC 189 to win the interim featherweight title.
Despite spending most of the second and final round on his back, the swift-moving Irishman slipped out of a submission attempt with just seconds left in the round. The accumulation of blows that Mendes sustained throughout the opening nine minutes inevitably wore him down, as he left himself open for a brutal left hook.
Referee Herb Dean stepped in to end the fight as McGregor pounced on his back, finally setting into motion a long-awaited reign of the 26-year-old phenom atop the featherweight division. He obviously still has titleholder Jose Aldo to face, but his hype was validated Saturday in a way it never has been before.
Let’s take a look at the biggest talking points and storylines brewing from the end of UFC 189.
Wrestler? No Problem, Sort of
For all of the dominance of McGregor over the years that now includes 14 straight victories and 16 of 18 wins by knockout, he’s maintained one blemish on his resume—he’s virtually never taken down a fighter who can truly punish McGregor on the ground.
And for the majority of Saturday’s bout, there remained reason to question the Irishman. McGregor landed well in the opening round, but he got taken down early in Round 2 and spent almost the whole round fighting off Mendes‘ powerful strikes and elbows off his back.
When standing, McGregor utilized his reach advantage to punish Mendes with body shots and head kicks. On the ground was more of a survival test, but he inevitably proved himself in the end, as MMAFighting.com noted:
It ended in triumph, but Saturday was expected to be McGregor‘s toughest test of his career in fighting a brutally powerful striker with innate ground ability. It turned out to be just that, as Mendes landed big hits on McGregor in ground-and-pound and made it look like the Irishman would have to sweat out a Round 2 bell.
Although he got back on his feet to end the fight, worrying signs cropped up in his ground game as MMAFighting.com’s Luke Thomas noted:
That being said, getting into tough situations on the ground is all about minimizing the damage and escaping the position. When it comes down to it, McGregor did that, eating Mendes‘ elbows and finding the ability to wear down his opponent at the same time.
When they got back on their feet after minutes of ground work, somehow McGregor emerged as the one capable of ending the fight despite spending the entire round on his back. Regardless of how it got there, that’s a tribute to his greatness.
Mendes Running on Fumes
Take a star-studded bout between one fighter with an eight-inch reach advantage and pair him up against a much shorter, muscular wrestling type, and stamina would figure to make a big impact—especially as the fight wears along. After that, take the second fighter and give him just two weeks of preparation time.
Then, throw in the crazy demeanor and style of McGregor as his opponent. Suffice to say, Mendes had his hands full (literally) dealing with the accumulation of those disadvantages.
The American attacked well on the front foot early, but his defense struggled from the onset as he left himself susceptible to strong body blows and occasional jabs. McGregor found the area where he could punish Mendes without much retaliation, and it ended up wearing down the opponent rather quickly.
After Mendes jostled with him on the ground for four minutes and had a submission attempt stuffed, he got on his feet visibly gassed. And it may have been in no small part due to the short turnaround, as Bill Barnwell of Grantland noted:
Of course, the lack of preparation time wasn’t the only thing holding Mendes back from taking down McGregor. His exhaustion didn’t come by accident, as McGregor constantly attacked his body and got better at preventing the takedowns, as MMATorch.com noted:
Mendes‘ ability to put his best foot forward against the very best fighters in the featherweight division has undoubtedly proven his place near the top, but lately that conversation has also started with McGregor‘s name.
He may have nearly taken McGregor down throughout stretches of Saturday’s fight, but by the end of the night, the distance between the two fighters seemed much larger than that.
Who’s Next?
When the headline act of UFC 189 took on a major change just two weeks before the fight, it became apparent that the fight that everyone had been waiting for would have to wait. But after Saturday’s result, it appears to be back on.
While the match between McGregor and current titleholder Aldo was canceled due to a rib injury that the champion picked up in sparring, Mendes filled in to keep the fight going, still with great anticipation. But the wrestling expert couldn’t make it happen on short rest, and McGregor defended his win streak.
That means arguably the biggest event in UFC history will be on the cards very soon, as MMAFighting.com noted:
As tends to be the case in marketable fights, the media had no issue asking McGregor over and over about the impending matchup with Aldo. He made his opinion clear that Aldo should have still stepped into the Octagon, and he left no doubt that it was his night, per Ariel Helwani of Fox Sports:
Of course, there also remain dangerous featherweight contenders more than hungry to have a shot at McGregor and the title. A bout with Aldo is no sure thing due to his injury issues, which prompted the thought of a bout between McGregor and Frankie Edgar.
The No. 2-ranked featherweight fighter is the only one not named Aldo and Mendes whom McGregor trails in the rankings, and he got up close and personal with McGregor in the minutes after the fight, per USA Today:
There are options out there for McGregor to prove his worth next in the featherweight class, but it’s no secret that Aldo will be the guy if he’s able. After all, he’s the only featherweight champion that the UFC has ever seen, at least if you don’t count McGregor‘s interim tag.
But now that McGregor has at least a share of the title and virtually all of the hype in the division, one can bet he’ll get his chance to hoist the real belt.
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