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“I believe the Conor McGregor that fought Eddie Alvarez to possibly be the greatest talent that I’ve ever seen.”
Conor McGregor didn’t look great in his last outing against Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229, but there’s no denying that ‘The Notorious’ has put on some spectacular shows over the years.
One particular fight that stands out is McGregor’s lightweight title bout with Eddie Alvarez at UFC 229, which saw the Irishman drop and finish ‘The Underground King’ in the second round with a beautiful four-punch combination. McGregor beat Alvarez to become the promotion’s first ever simultaneous featherweight and lightweight champion, cementing his position as one of the best pound-for-pound in the world.
Former UFC title challenger turned podcast host and ESPN analyst Chael Sonnen was so impressed with McGregor’s win over Alvarez that ‘The American Gangster’ said it was one of the greatest displays of talent he’s ever seen.
“I believe the Conor McGregor that fought Eddie Alvarez to possibly be the greatest talent that I’ve ever seen,” Sonnen said on his podcast, per BJPenn.com. “Possibly. The way he approached that [with] the pressure that he had on him… It was the biggest gate in MMA history, it stands to this day as the biggest gate in MMA history. It was in [Madison Square Garden] in New York for the first time ever. I mean the pressure that was on Conor McGregor. He moved up weight classes, it was champion versus champion… the whole bit going in it. But then the actual performance…
“Guys, nobody kicks Eddie Alvarez’s ass. Nobody has ever kicked Eddie Alvarez’s ass, before or since. It was one of those nights where Conor came out and he just couldn’t miss. He just couldn’t miss. Anything he tried, any showboating he performed, any defences or offences he did, he just couldn’t miss.”
After a tumultuous 2019, McGregor is expected to return to the Octagon in 2020 to take on Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone. McGregor vs. Cerrone is slated to headline the upcoming UFC 246 on Jan. 18 at T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas.