LAS VEGAS — Many are already calling Robbie Lawler’s sublime rematch against Rory MacDonald on Saturday night one of the greatest fights in the history of the welterweight division, and UFC President Dana White echoed those cries at UFC 189’s post-fight press conference.
“If you look at Rory MacDonald, his nose was broken in that first round,” White said. “He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t see, continued to fight, and it’s looking like a one-sided clinic. Then he hurts Robbie Lawler, then he follows up with like 10 head kicks and doesn’t finish Lawler. Lawler hangs in there and makes it through that.
“Robbie Lawler’s lip, if you could’ve been in the Octagon and saw this lip, he would talk and this part of the lip would move and the other part wouldn’t. [Rory MacDonald’s] nose was broken. They asked him, when Rory got out back, they said, ‘what year is it?’ He didn’t know what year it was. First of all, it was a war. And a complete display of chin, heart, grit, dogged determination, and the will to win from both guys. When you talk about (the best) fights ever, that’s what I’m talking about.”
In an unbelievable spectacle, Lawler and MacDonald spent the better part of five rounds painting the Octagon crimson with each other’s blood before Lawler completed an awe-inspiring comeback and delivered a crippling blow to the young Canadian, seizing the TKO win to defend his UFC welterweight title. MacDonald was ahead on all three of the judges’ scorecards by 39-37 scores at the time of the finish.
“That Robbie and Rory fight was absolutely phenomenal,” UFC 189 headliner Conor McGregor said. “I must pay my respect to that. Two absolute warriors took every shot and still came forward. This is what this sport is about. What a night of fighting.”
Both men ended up in the hospital afterward, but MacDonald was clearly worse for the wear. The 25-year-old suffered a fractured right foot and nose, according to his coach Firas Zahabi.
Heading into Saturday night, Johny Hendricks was believed the be the next man in line to fight for the welterweight title. But after witnessing Lawler and MacDonald’s all-time classic bout, White was non-committal about where division’s pecking order stood.
“Guys who know the fight business and have been around a long time, a fight like tonight can change you,” White said. “We’ll see what Rory’s got when he comes back, but right now he’s the second baddest dude in the world in the 170-pound division.”
LAS VEGAS — Many are already calling Robbie Lawler’s sublime rematch against Rory MacDonald on Saturday night one of the greatest fights in the history of the welterweight division, and UFC President Dana White echoed those cries at UFC 189’s post-fight press conference.
“If you look at Rory MacDonald, his nose was broken in that first round,” White said. “He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t see, continued to fight, and it’s looking like a one-sided clinic. Then he hurts Robbie Lawler, then he follows up with like 10 head kicks and doesn’t finish Lawler. Lawler hangs in there and makes it through that.
“Robbie Lawler’s lip, if you could’ve been in the Octagon and saw this lip, he would talk and this part of the lip would move and the other part wouldn’t. [Rory MacDonald’s] nose was broken. They asked him, when Rory got out back, they said, ‘what year is it?’ He didn’t know what year it was. First of all, it was a war. And a complete display of chin, heart, grit, dogged determination, and the will to win from both guys. When you talk about (the best) fights ever, that’s what I’m talking about.”
In an unbelievable spectacle, Lawler and MacDonald spent the better part of five rounds painting the Octagon crimson with each other’s blood before Lawler completed an awe-inspiring comeback and delivered a crippling blow to the young Canadian, seizing the TKO win to defend his UFC welterweight title. MacDonald was ahead on all three of the judges’ scorecards by 39-37 scores at the time of the finish.
“That Robbie and Rory fight was absolutely phenomenal,” UFC 189 headliner Conor McGregor said. “I must pay my respect to that. Two absolute warriors took every shot and still came forward. This is what this sport is about. What a night of fighting.”
Both men ended up in the hospital afterward, but MacDonald was clearly worse for the wear. The 25-year-old suffered a fractured right foot and nose, according to his coach Firas Zahabi.
Heading into Saturday night, Johny Hendricks was believed the be the next man in line to fight for the welterweight title. But after witnessing Lawler and MacDonald’s all-time classic bout, White was non-committal about where division’s pecking order stood.
“Guys who know the fight business and have been around a long time, a fight like tonight can change you,” White said. “We’ll see what Rory’s got when he comes back, but right now he’s the second baddest dude in the world in the 170-pound division.”
LAS VEGAS — Chad Mendes dropped the hammer on Conor McGregor more than any of the Irishman’s previous opponents, but in the end, the song remained the same. McGregor met Mendes’ best shots with a sneer, then put away the wrestler with a volley of punches in the closing moments of the second round to capture the UFC interim featherweight title at UFC 189.
“He has heavy shots, he’s put people away, but I didn’t feel nothing,” McGregor said of Mendes at UFC 189’s post-fight press conference. “I don’t feel anything when these featherweights hit me. I feel like a concrete block.”
As we’ve come to expect from McGregor (18-2), the fight was pure theater from start to finish.
Mendes (17-3) looked to test McGregor’s wrestling and did so successfully, taking the fight to the mat four times and controlling large portions of the fight from top position. It was all for naught though, as McGregor settled the pair’s rivalry by doing exactly what he vowed to do, Mystic Mac style.
“I have no ill feelings against Chad,” McGregor said.
“When we left the stage [on Friday], I was thinking in my head, you know, he’s playing the game here. He thinks it’s a game, but really, this is no game here. I said to myself after the weigh-ins, ‘tomorrow night there will be no bouncing around. We’re going to be face to face and we’ll see then.’ So when we came face to face [on Saturday], I said to him, ‘let’s see who takes a back-step now. Let’s see who takes the first back-step now.’ So I marched forward, and he took the first back-step. Then that was the fight.”
While McGregor’s self-confidence is unshakable, many wondered in the lead-up to the bout whether McGregor had the defensive chops to fend off a wrestler as accomplished as Mendes. But McGregor not only silenced one the division’s most decorated mat workers, he managed to do so while unloading a steady barrage of in-fight trash talk.
“[Mendes] secured one or two takedowns, but again, I knew the efficient man prevails,” McGregor said. “In a fight to the death, where there is no clock or no time limit, the man who is efficient is the man who prevails. So when I was on the mat, I was patient. I landed shots when I could, I stayed safe.
“He might have thrown an overhand. He threw an elbow that split me on the eye. That was one. But then every other one was glancing, and every shot I was like, ‘eh-eh.’ That’s what I kept saying. ‘Nope. Nope. Eh-eh.’ So I felt I was preserving energy, being efficient. Then when the opportunity arose to go back to the feet, I attacked the gut.
“Them teeps to the gut, them side kicks to the gut, they don’t look like much,” McGregor continued. “To the naked eye, they don’t look like much. Only me and him know about it. Only me and the opponent know about it. But they suck rounds out of you. So that’s what happened. His body, he was searching for his gas tank, and I was stabbing him in the gas tank. Then the straight shots landed, the roundhouse, the spinning kicks. I felt the fight went exactly as I said it would, like they usually do.”
LAS VEGAS — Chad Mendes dropped the hammer on Conor McGregor more than any of the Irishman’s previous opponents, but in the end, the song remained the same. McGregor met Mendes’ best shots with a sneer, then put away the wrestler with a volley of punches in the closing moments of the second round to capture the UFC interim featherweight title at UFC 189.
“He has heavy shots, he’s put people away, but I didn’t feel nothing,” McGregor said of Mendes at UFC 189’s post-fight press conference. “I don’t feel anything when these featherweights hit me. I feel like a concrete block.”
As we’ve come to expect from McGregor (18-2), the fight was pure theater from start to finish.
Mendes (17-3) looked to test McGregor’s wrestling and did so successfully, taking the fight to the mat four times and controlling large portions of the fight from top position. It was all for naught though, as McGregor settled the pair’s rivalry by doing exactly what he vowed to do, Mystic Mac style.
“I have no ill feelings against Chad,” McGregor said.
“When we left the stage [on Friday], I was thinking in my head, you know, he’s playing the game here. He thinks it’s a game, but really, this is no game here. I said to myself after the weigh-ins, ‘tomorrow night there will be no bouncing around. We’re going to be face to face and we’ll see then.’ So when we came face to face [on Saturday], I said to him, ‘let’s see who takes a back-step now. Let’s see who takes the first back-step now.’ So I marched forward, and he took the first back-step. Then that was the fight.”
While McGregor’s self-confidence is unshakable, many wondered in the lead-up to the bout whether McGregor had the defensive chops to fend off a wrestler as accomplished as Mendes. But McGregor not only silenced one the division’s most decorated mat workers, he managed to do so while unloading a steady barrage of in-fight trash talk.
“[Mendes] secured one or two takedowns, but again, I knew the efficient man prevails,” McGregor said. “In a fight to the death, where there is no clock or no time limit, the man who is efficient is the man who prevails. So when I was on the mat, I was patient. I landed shots when I could, I stayed safe.
“He might have thrown an overhand. He threw an elbow that split me on the eye. That was one. But then every other one was glancing, and every shot I was like, ‘eh-eh.’ That’s what I kept saying. ‘Nope. Nope. Eh-eh.’ So I felt I was preserving energy, being efficient. Then when the opportunity arose to go back to the feet, I attacked the gut.
“Them teeps to the gut, them side kicks to the gut, they don’t look like much,” McGregor continued. “To the naked eye, they don’t look like much. Only me and him know about it. Only me and the opponent know about it. But they suck rounds out of you. So that’s what happened. His body, he was searching for his gas tank, and I was stabbing him in the gas tank. Then the straight shots landed, the roundhouse, the spinning kicks. I felt the fight went exactly as I said it would, like they usually do.”
This is the UFC 189 undercard blog for the UFC 189 event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night.There will be six fights on the UFC 189 undercard. Matt Brown vs. Tim Means, Mike Swick vs. Alex Garcia, Cathal Pendred vs….
This is the UFC 189 undercard blog for the UFC 189 event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
LAS VEGAS — The UFC Hall of Fame gained four new inductees on Saturday. Seminal figures B.J. Penn, Bas Rutten, and Jeff Blatnick, along with the classic 2005 fight between Matt Hughes and Frank Trigg, were honored at a lively ceremony in front of a packed house at the UFC Fan Expo. The quartet entered the Hall of Fame in the Modern Era wing, the Pioneer wing, the Contributor wing, and the Fight wing, respectively.
The highlight of the day was Penn (16-10-2), a beloved figure who remains the most decorated and dominant UFC lightweight champion of all-time, and one of the only two-division champions in UFC history alongside Randy Couture. Penn’s ascent up the sport was the stuff of legends. Despite having no prior experience in MMA, he debuted in 2001 as a 22-year-old destructive force, racking up a trio of first-round knockouts and validating the moniker with which he became synonymous, “The Prodigy.”
“All I wanted to do was become the lightweight champion, beat Jens Pulver, and retire,” an emotional Penn said. “I always knew the UFC would get this big. But I’m a small town guy, so I just wanted to become the champion, prove to myself that I could do it, go back to a normal life, and if anybody ever talked to me about the UFC, I could say, ‘hey yeah, I know about that. I used to be the champ once. Here’s my belt.’ That was my whole dream.”
It was Penn’s total disregard for weight divisions that became his true calling card. Over the course of his career, the 5-foot-9 Hawaiian fought everywhere and anywhere, competing from 155 pounds all the way to an openweight contest against future UFC champion Lyoto Machida.
In 2004, Penn stunned the mixed martial arts world by moving up to welterweight and capturing the UFC welterweight strap from then-champion Matt Hughes. Three years later, he returned to his home at lightweight, won the vacant UFC 155-pound title, then set out on a path of destruction in a memorable slew of victories that saw him defend his belt a record three times, all by way of stoppage.
Despite the rough run that ended his career, Penn is widely considered to be the greatest lightweight to ever compete in mixed martial arts.
“Fans ask me all the time, ‘B.J., do you think you did enough with the time that you had?'” Penn said. “To them I answer, no I didn’t do enough. I did way too much, more than I ever wanted to do.”
Rutten (28-4-1) is a former UFC heavyweight champion, having won the title with a split decision over Kevin Randleman in 1999, although it’s his accomplishments outside of the UFC that he’ll be most remembered for. In the early days of the sport, the Netherland native was one of the most devastating forces in the heavyweight division, racking up a remarkable 22-fight unbeaten streak from 1995 to 2006, a majority of which was fought under the Pancrase banner, and all but one of which was ended inside of the first round.
Rutten most notably beat Frank Shamrock twice during his run. An infamous proponent of the liver shot, “El Guapo” captured the King of Pancrase title with a guillotine choke over Minoru Suzuki in 1995, then never relinquished the mantle until his retirement due to injuries in 1999. That would not be the end though, as Rutten reemerged in 2006 to compete one last time, defeating Ruben Villareal via leg kicks in less that four minutes before departing back to the broadcast booth, where he remains to this day.
“When fighters ask me, ‘what is your greatest motivation for becoming a fighter?’ I always say the same line,” Rutten said. “Henry IV came up with it, and it applies to anything, any person, any job. Just ask yourself, how do you want to be remembered when die? That’s it. And when you really think about that line, that should be all the motivation for you. Trust me, I made a lot of mistakes, but it is what you do with those mistakes that makes you who you are. So how am I going to be remembered?
“Just a decent guy. And a guy who can kick ass and has some crazy barfight stories.”
Though he never competed, Blatnick stands today as one of the most influential and instrumental figures in helping the sport climb out of its dark era. An Olympic gold medalist, Blatnick first joined the UFC as an announcer in 1994. He was raised to the position of UFC commissioner four years later, and he immediately set out to make his mark, helping establish the rule book and judging criteria that would ultimately gain the sport sanctioning from state commissions.
He also coined the phrase “mixed martial arts,” ushering a shift away from the notoriety associated with the sport’s previous name, “No Holds Barred.” Blatnick passed away in 2012 at the age of 55, having seen the sport he helped mold rise to heights that once seemed impossible.
“Even though Jeff would’ve never said it, I know that he would’ve been very proud today,” said Blatnick’s wife, Lori Blatnick, who accepted the award in his honor.
“I miss him terribly, and I thank any and all involved in granting him this deserved award,” said Blatick’s longtime friend, New Jersey commissioner Nick Lembo.. “From the bottom of my hearts, from his friends and family, thank you all.”
Rounding out the class of 2015 was the classic rematch between then-UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes and challenger Frank Trigg. The two veterans first met in 2003, with Hughes winning the heated fight with a first-round submission. Though the bout was memorable, it was nothing compared to their second meeting two years later.
In an unbelievable sequence, Hughes recovered from a harrowing beating that began with an unchecked low blow, broke free from a rear-naked choke, hoisted Trigg high into the air, sprinted across the cage then slammed him hard onto the mat. Trigg could never recover, ultimately succumbing to a rear-naked choke at 3:54 of the opening round.
“It was the most epic battle that I have ever been a part of,” Trigg said.
LAS VEGAS — The UFC Hall of Fame gained four new inductees on Saturday. Seminal figures B.J. Penn, Bas Rutten, and Jeff Blatnick, along with the classic 2005 fight between Matt Hughes and Frank Trigg, were honored at a lively ceremony in front of a packed house at the UFC Fan Expo. The quartet entered the Hall of Fame in the Modern Era wing, the Pioneer wing, the Contributor wing, and the Fight wing, respectively.
The highlight of the day was Penn (16-10-2), a beloved figure who remains the most decorated and dominant UFC lightweight champion of all-time, and one of the only two-division champions in UFC history alongside Randy Couture. Penn’s ascent up the sport was the stuff of legends. Despite having no prior experience in MMA, he debuted in 2001 as a 22-year-old destructive force, racking up a trio of first-round knockouts and validating the moniker with which he became synonymous, “The Prodigy.”
“All I wanted to do was become the lightweight champion, beat Jens Pulver, and retire,” an emotional Penn said. “I always knew the UFC would get this big. But I’m a small town guy, so I just wanted to become the champion, prove to myself that I could do it, go back to a normal life, and if anybody ever talked to me about the UFC, I could say, ‘hey yeah, I know about that. I used to be the champ once. Here’s my belt.’ That was my whole dream.”
It was Penn’s total disregard for weight divisions that became his true calling card. Over the course of his career, the 5-foot-9 Hawaiian fought everywhere and anywhere, competing from 155 pounds all the way to an openweight contest against future UFC champion Lyoto Machida.
In 2004, Penn stunned the mixed martial arts world by moving up to welterweight and capturing the UFC welterweight strap from then-champion Matt Hughes. Three years later, he returned to his home at lightweight, won the vacant UFC 155-pound title, then set out on a path of destruction in a memorable slew of victories that saw him defend his belt a record three times, all by way of stoppage.
Despite the rough run that ended his career, Penn is widely considered to be the greatest lightweight to ever compete in mixed martial arts.
“Fans ask me all the time, ‘B.J., do you think you did enough with the time that you had?'” Penn said. “To them I answer, no I didn’t do enough. I did way too much, more than I ever wanted to do.”
Rutten (28-4-1) is a former UFC heavyweight champion, having won the title with a split decision over Kevin Randleman in 1999, although it’s his accomplishments outside of the UFC that he’ll be most remembered for. In the early days of the sport, the Netherland native was one of the most devastating forces in the heavyweight division, racking up a remarkable 22-fight unbeaten streak from 1995 to 2006, a majority of which was fought under the Pancrase banner, and all but one of which was ended inside of the first round.
Rutten most notably beat Frank Shamrock twice during his run. An infamous proponent of the liver shot, “El Guapo” captured the King of Pancrase title with a guillotine choke over Minoru Suzuki in 1995, then never relinquished the mantle until his retirement due to injuries in 1999. That would not be the end though, as Rutten reemerged in 2006 to compete one last time, defeating Ruben Villareal via leg kicks in less that four minutes before departing back to the broadcast booth, where he remains to this day.
“When fighters ask me, ‘what is your greatest motivation for becoming a fighter?’ I always say the same line,” Rutten said. “Henry IV came up with it, and it applies to anything, any person, any job. Just ask yourself, how do you want to be remembered when die? That’s it. And when you really think about that line, that should be all the motivation for you. Trust me, I made a lot of mistakes, but it is what you do with those mistakes that makes you who you are. So how am I going to be remembered?
“Just a decent guy. And a guy who can kick ass and has some crazy barfight stories.”
Though he never competed, Blatnick stands today as one of the most influential and instrumental figures in helping the sport climb out of its dark era. An Olympic gold medalist, Blatnick first joined the UFC as an announcer in 1994. He was raised to the position of UFC commissioner four years later, and he immediately set out to make his mark, helping establish the rule book and judging criteria that would ultimately gain the sport sanctioning from state commissions.
He also coined the phrase “mixed martial arts,” ushering a shift away from the notoriety associated with the sport’s previous name, “No Holds Barred.” Blatnick passed away in 2012 at the age of 55, having seen the sport he helped mold rise to heights that once seemed impossible.
“Even though Jeff would’ve never said it, I know that he would’ve been very proud today,” said Blatnick’s wife, Lori Blatnick, who accepted the award in his honor.
“I miss him terribly, and I thank any and all involved in granting him this deserved award,” said Blatick’s longtime friend, New Jersey commissioner Nick Lembo.. “From the bottom of my hearts, from his friends and family, thank you all.”
Rounding out the class of 2015 was the classic rematch between then-UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes and challenger Frank Trigg. The two veterans first met in 2003, with Hughes winning the heated fight with a first-round submission. Though the bout was memorable, it was nothing compared to their second meeting two years later.
In an unbelievable sequence, Hughes recovered from a harrowing beating that began with an unchecked low blow, broke free from a rear-naked choke, hoisted Trigg high into the air, sprinted across the cage then slammed him hard onto the mat. Trigg could never recover, ultimately succumbing to a rear-naked choke at 3:54 of the opening round.
“It was the most epic battle that I have ever been a part of,” Trigg said.
LAS VEGAS — Matt Brown isn’t pleased with the UFC’s recent changes to its drug testing policy, though not for the reasons you’d expect.
“We found out that it was a two-year ban instead of a four-year, which to me is complete bulls–t,” Brow…
LAS VEGAS — Matt Brown isn’t pleased with the UFC’s recent changes to its drug testing policy, though not for the reasons you’d expect.
“We found out that it was a two-year ban instead of a four-year, which to me is complete bulls–t,” Brown fumed at Thursday’s media day. “I’m thinking maybe I’ll start a petition for the UFC fighters. Maybe we can all band together and ask for a petition to ask to get a minimum four-year ban. Why would you not sign the petition? Unless you’re juicing. I think it should be a lifetime ban.”
The UFC’s revamped testing procedures officially went into effect on July 1, giving UFC 189 the distinction of being the first event to be held under the watchful eye of UFC drug czar Jeff Novitzy. The new measures include random, year-round testing, as well as a sweeping crackdown on penalties for first-time and serial offenders.
In Brown’s eyes though, allowing first-time cheats to skirt away with a two-year suspension rather than WADA’s infamous four-year suspension sets a dangerous precedent, and it’s one which could have dire consequences in the future.
“I find it ludicrous that they have a f–king standard for every other sport except for the one where you can get f–king murdered in a cage,” Brown said. “People do die doing this s–t, just not in the UFC people haven’t yet fortunately. The day is going to come when it happens. We all know that. If it happens to someone who got beat by a known juicer, is that not gonna be more of an issue? I don’t want to be the dead one, because a motherf–ker was sticking needles in himself all day.”
While he may not be satisfied with the lengths the UFC is taking, Brown is at least happy to see the organization actively fighting the sport’s PED crisis in a visible way. And besides, he has bigger things to worry about — come Saturday night, he’s slated to dance with Tim Means on UFC 189’s preliminary card in a fight “The Immortal” freely acknowledges was booked to be a “bloodbath.”
It’s a pivotal bout, and one that could go a long way towards establishing where Brown sits in the welterweight pecking order.
After losing consecutive bouts to Robbie Lawler and Johny Hendricks, the seven-fight path of destruction that once made Brown the division’s darling suddenly seems like a distant memory. Now, with a third straight setback staring him straight in the face, Brown admits it’s hard to shake the feeling of the 1-4 run in 2010-2011 that nearly landed him on the unemployment line.
“It does feel uncomfortably familiar,” Brown said. “I remember a lot of the feelings that I had when I was on that three-fight losing streak before, and I see where they come from. So hopefully, seeing that I’ve been through that, I’ve learned lessons and that can equate to a victory on Saturday. That’s not always enough, but I believe my mind is in the right place. I think I’m looking at this the right way, and I think that I’m going to be happy with my performance win or lose.”
Brown at least takes some solace in knowing that of the two men he lost to, one is the former UFC welterweight champion and the other is the man who currently holds that strap. But Brown also pays attention to the MMA bubble more than most fighters. He hears the vocal contingent of fans who have already relegated him to the role of gatekeeper simply because of two disappointing performances, and he’s determined to prove them wrong.
“It takes some mental fortitude to not let that kind of stuff affect you,” Brown said. “I read the forums probably way more than I should, your guys’ forum too, or the comments at least. I probably read that stuff way too much. When you do, you can start letting that get into your head and believe it a little bit.
“You’ve just got to have the mental fortitude and intelligence to be able to separate the truth from fiction.”
LAS VEGAS — Two weeks. That’s how long it took to mold a replacement fight into a massively anticipated pay-per-view event. If you’re anywhere within a five-mile radius of the MGM Grand, you won’t have to strain too hard to hear the rollicking refrains of the Irish faithful carrying on deep through the day, their devotion dying this neon desert the tri-color’s shade of spring green.
It was true before, and it’s never been more true now: no fighter travels quite like Conor McGregor.
But fights are won with skills rather than weigh-in spectacles, no matter how spectacular those spectacles may be. So in that regard, we turn back to the pros. Will the wrestler question ring true? Is Chad Mendes the man to spoil Ireland’s grand party? Or is McGregor really a man of destiny, a mouth from the Eire sent to swallow the featherweight division whole? All will be known soon enough.
Ben Rothwell: Being 50-percent Irish, I gotta go for my guy McGregor. Like him or hate him, I don’t give a f–k. He’s Irish, these Irish fans are awesome. A lot of them are going to be in that arena, and when you got that energy, man, when you got that crowd behind you, it makes you a different animal. He’s going to bring a hell of a fight. Mendes is a very, very tough fight for him, but when he beats this guy, he’s going to silence a s–tload of critics.
Michelle Waterson: I think Conor McGregor is going to take it. His confidence is just through the roof, and there’s just something to be said about that belief in yourself. I think fighting is 80-percent mental. If you can break your opponent down before they even step in the cage, the majority of the battle is already won. He gets under people’s skin so easy.
He’s doing it on purpose. It’s that mental warfare. And I always wanted these two to fight before McGregor was able to fight Aldo because I feel like the chain wrestling would get McGregor down. But with only a couple weeks’ notice, it’s kind of hard to get your mind wrapped around a championship fight.
Daniel Cormier: Tough fight to pick. I thought Conor matched up better against Jose Aldo. I think Aldo was the fight for McGregor. I’ve seen Chad Mendes dominate the best that this division has to offer, and I just think that wrestling is going to be very difficult for Conor.
But in 11 days, you don’t get ready to fight 25 minutes. I mean, let’s just be honest with each other. If Chad can push for 25 minutes, that’ll be a will and determination that most people have never seen in their lives. We’ll see on Saturday. Conor has the advantage in the cardio, obviously. But hey, Anthony Johnson trained much longer than I did, and when he had to wrestle as much as he did, he got tired. So if Chad can make Conor wrestle, that cardio will start to even itself out because Chad will be more comfortable in the wrestling situations than Conor will.
Jeremy Stephens: Honestly, I don’t know. I want Chad to win. I don’t really like Conor’s brash mentality and how he approaches the game. He could win, but I like Chad Mendes.
Jorge Masvidal: I got my money on Chad. I think Chad stylistically takes it. The only thing I’m worried about is he took the fight, obviously, on short notice. Five rounds, that’s big. Just to take a short notice fight for three rounds is tough. But a short notice fight for five rounds is real tough, you know? So that’s the only thing I’m worried about. But even that, I got my money on Chad. I got a couple thousand bucks on him.
Rose Namajunas: I picked McGregor when he was fighting Aldo, and I’m kind of leaning towards that as well versus Chad Mendes. I don’t know, I just feel like he’s on fire, but I’m really bad at predictions so I’m probably wrong. It’s just a feeling that I have. Just how he carries himself, he’s just the whole package. He’s just something special.
Dustin Poirier: Mendes. All the way. Of course Conor can catch him and knock him out, but I just think the wrestling matters. Everybody’s talking about how Mendes took this fight on short notice, but man, this guy is always in shape. He’s been competing his whole life, he knows how to perform and compete, and I’m leaning toward him. Styles make fights. I was picking Conor in the Aldo fight, but you know styles make fights, and now I’m picking Mendes.
Kevin Lee: A lot of people, they get their emotions in it. They look at, ‘oh, I hate Conor,’ stuff like that. I don’t see why a lot of fighters hate Conor anyway. He brings more attention to the sport. It’s better for all of us, you know?
And I think Conor wins it. Easy decision. I think Chad can be broken. I think that distance, Conor being a southpaw, those kicks, those spins kicks and those side kicks are going to keep him at distance, make him hesitant, and he will be broken. I think Chad is somebody who doesn’t mind being No. 2. I think he’s tough enough to where he won’t get finished, he’s got too much pride, but he’ll lose a decision.
Brad Pickett: Well the winner is definitely the fans, because it’s going to be a great fight. But I’m with everyone here, there’s that big question mark. Can Conor stop a wrestler? No one knows because he hasn’t fought one. Conor has everyone believing that it’s going to be no problem, so everyone’s like ‘yeah, I believe in Conor.’ But I’m a bit of a skeptic. Chad is no joke. No joke. When it comes to wrestling in MMA, I think he’s one of the best. So I’m intrigued.
Conor is really big for that weight class too. Very tall and lanky. Back in the day, 100-percent, I’d be leaning towards Chad Mendes. Now, a little bit, I don’t know… Conor’s got me believing. I’m aboard the hype train a little bit. Skills are skills, but when you have the self-belief that Conor has, that’s a powerful thing. If you believe so much in something, if you visualize it, you can make extraordinary things happen.
Cezar Ferreira: I expect a great fight. A tough fight. But I believe that Chad Mendes is going to beat him. He’s a much more technical guy and he has good wrestling. We’ve never seen McGregor with his back on the ground, so it’s going to be hard for him. I think Chad Mendes is going to win.
Cathal Pendred: I think a lot of people have the question of Conor, can he wrestle? Can he defend wrestling? People don’t know. I know. I’m pretty good at takedowns myself. He’s one of the hardest guys I’ve ever come across to take down. And in the eventuality that you do actually get him down, he’s straight back up, which is even worse because you waste your energy and then he’s popping you shots in the face.
I think that’s what’s going to happen Saturday night. Chad is going to have a few failed attempts, waste a lot of energy trying to get him down. With that wasted energy, he’s going to be getting popped in the face, and Conor hits hard for a featherweight. He’s the hardest hitting featherweight going and Chad won’t take too many of those. So I’ll say second-round stoppage by strikes.
Joseph Benavidez: Chad, obviously. Chad is one of my best friends and main training partners, so I know what he’s capable of in the gym. But even not seeing that, as a fighter looking from the outside, you’ve got to give Chad the advantage. He’s fought for the title twice. Conor hasn’t fought a wrestler like him with the punching power that he has, so he hasn’t stepped this high up in class yet. Chad just has more ways to win the fight. He can knock people out. As you’ve seen, he’s knocked people out who never have gotten knocked out before, then obviously he can take people down whenever he wants. Conor basically has one way to win. So even just looking at it like that, even if Chad wasn’t my best friend, I didn’t love him dearly, I would pick him.
Stipe Miocic: Chad. He’s explosive. Super athletic. He’s been there, done that. He fought the best in the world, man. I think if he does what he does, he takes him down, he grounds and pounds him, he’s such a good wrestler, I think he’s got that.
John Howard: That’s a hard fight to call. I’m leaning towards Mendes because he’s a wrestler. We’ve never seen Conor against as great a wrestler as Mendes, so I’m definitely leaning towards Mendes. But the thing is, the reason why it’s hard to call is because this is two weeks’ out. When you’re training for a fight for a whole camp, it’s different. If Mendes had a whole camp, Mendes wins. But because Mendes didn’t have a whole camp, only had two weeks to get ready, even though he’s always in shape, that’s why I can’t call it. But if I had to guess and put my money on it, I’m going to say Mendes.
Brandon Thatch: Mendes in under three rounds. If it goes to the fourth or fifth, I’d say McGregor, because Conor’s had time to prepare for those fourth and fifth rounds. Chad is very dangerous, very explosive, but I feel like the conditioning may be a part of it. There’s only so much you can do in a couple weeks. I was absolutely prepared for a three-round fight (in my last fight), and had that fight gone three rounds, I would’ve won.
Frank Mir: Mendes, just because of his wrestling ability. I think he hits extremely hard, he’s one of the best grapplers in the division, and I think, really, McGregor hasn’t shown his ability to defend that takedown. Pretty much nobody has beside Jose Aldo, and Mendes has still taken Jose down. Once the fight does go to the ground, I don’t know how McGregor is going to be a threat.
Matt Brown: I’m going to take Chad. I think Chad is a better athlete, he’s more experienced, and here’s what it comes down to in all reality: we don’t know what Conor can do at this level. He’s never fought anybody anywhere near the level of Chad Mendes, so we don’t know what he’s capable of.
We do know what Chad is capable of. I know how good of a wrestler he is. I’ve wrestled with Jack Jaggers, who Chad lost to barely in the NCAA finals, so I know how good of a wrestler he is. We see how good of athlete he is. We’ve seen what we can do with his knockout power. We know Chad. We don’t know Conor. Maybe Conor comes in and he’s the next Anderson Silva, he defends his title 15 times. But we have no real indication that he’s going to do that, so in terms of picking intelligently, you have to pick the man Mendes.
Dennis Bermudez: I got Chad Mendes just because they both are good strikers, but Chad’s got that element of wrestling. For someone to hit hard, they have to plant their feet. And if you plant your feet, it’s easy for a wrestler to take you down. So a few takedowns, then guys start second guessing throwing very hard.
Tim Means: I’m going to go with McGregor. I’ve just seen Mendes already fight Aldo a couple of times. I want to see something new, to see someone different at the top of that list. McGregor, I was signing posters with him the other day. He’s funny. He has that cool accent. He catches your attention. All of that is good, man, and I definitely think the skill is there. His skill backs up his mouth, so I would like to see McGregor win that fight.
Gunnar Nelson: Conor’s ability to defend the takedown and scramble to his feet is so good that it’s going to wear Chad down. He’s super accurate on the feet, very elusive, he stays in there, and he’s got a lot of reach on Chad as well, so I think that’s going to get him the victory. Third-round TKO.
Kenny Florian: This is a tough one. I think that Conor McGregor is a brilliant, elite striker. We just haven’t seen him against the elite wrestlers and grapplers of the division. He finally gets that in Chad Mendes, and you know the only thing I can really go on when I’m predicting fights is what we’ve seen up to this point. There’s a big question mark of how Conor can deal with countering the wrestling skills of Chad Mendes. And Chad Mendes is more than just a wrestler. He can knock you out as well. Having that double threat will pose some problems for Conor. I’m picking Chad Mendes to win by decision.
Johny Hendricks: I’m leaning towards Chad Mendes because of the wrestling. He’s got striking, he’s got powerful hands, and he’s got wrestling. So when you’re looking at those three things, McGregor hasn’t fought that. He’s fought only good strikers. Can he withstand that? If he can, then he’s going to hold the belt for a very long time and people won’t give him crap for talking so much trash. I was telling somebody earlier, it’s a double-edged sword. When you’re like McGregor, they’re going to love you when you win, they’re going to hate you when you lose.
Anthony Johnson: I see Mendes winning. I really respect the guys who’ve been through the fire, dude. The only person he’s lost to is obviously the champ, and he’s faced everybody basically there is to face to get where he is now. I just feel like McGregor just hasn’t done that. He hasn’t been through that fire yet to get where he is.
He’s definitely talked his way there. Nobody’s knocking his style of fighting or anything. I think he’s a talented fighter, for sure, and he truly believes in his style of fighting. But dude, you gotta call somebody out besides the champ. You can’t be 2-0 and saying ‘I want the champ next,’ you know what I’m saying? He should’ve called out Mendes first or something like that. Ricardo Lamas or whatever. But he’s in the situation that he’s in and I’m happy for him. Not many people can do the things he does, because he’s helping out not just himself, but he’s helping out UFC and he’s helping out MMA. He helping me out. He’s bringing exposure to all of us.
LAS VEGAS — Two weeks. That’s how long it took to mold a replacement fight into a massively anticipated pay-per-view event. If you’re anywhere within a five-mile radius of the MGM Grand, you won’t have to strain too hard to hear the rollicking refrains of the Irish faithful carrying on deep through the day, their devotion dying this neon desert the tri-color’s shade of spring green.
It was true before, and it’s never been more true now: no fighter travels quite like Conor McGregor.
But fights are won with skills rather than weigh-in spectacles, no matter how spectacular those spectacles may be. So in that regard, we turn back to the pros. Will the wrestler question ring true? Is Chad Mendes the man to spoil Ireland’s grand party? Or is McGregor really a man of destiny, a mouth from the Eire sent to swallow the featherweight division whole? All will be known soon enough.
Ben Rothwell: Being 50-percent Irish, I gotta go for my guy McGregor. Like him or hate him, I don’t give a f–k. He’s Irish, these Irish fans are awesome. A lot of them are going to be in that arena, and when you got that energy, man, when you got that crowd behind you, it makes you a different animal. He’s going to bring a hell of a fight. Mendes is a very, very tough fight for him, but when he beats this guy, he’s going to silence a s–tload of critics.
Michelle Waterson: I think Conor McGregor is going to take it. His confidence is just through the roof, and there’s just something to be said about that belief in yourself. I think fighting is 80-percent mental. If you can break your opponent down before they even step in the cage, the majority of the battle is already won. He gets under people’s skin so easy.
He’s doing it on purpose. It’s that mental warfare. And I always wanted these two to fight before McGregor was able to fight Aldo because I feel like the chain wrestling would get McGregor down. But with only a couple weeks’ notice, it’s kind of hard to get your mind wrapped around a championship fight.
Daniel Cormier: Tough fight to pick. I thought Conor matched up better against Jose Aldo. I think Aldo was the fight for McGregor. I’ve seen Chad Mendes dominate the best that this division has to offer, and I just think that wrestling is going to be very difficult for Conor.
But in 11 days, you don’t get ready to fight 25 minutes. I mean, let’s just be honest with each other. If Chad can push for 25 minutes, that’ll be a will and determination that most people have never seen in their lives. We’ll see on Saturday. Conor has the advantage in the cardio, obviously. But hey, Anthony Johnson trained much longer than I did, and when he had to wrestle as much as he did, he got tired. So if Chad can make Conor wrestle, that cardio will start to even itself out because Chad will be more comfortable in the wrestling situations than Conor will.
Jeremy Stephens: Honestly, I don’t know. I want Chad to win. I don’t really like Conor’s brash mentality and how he approaches the game. He could win, but I like Chad Mendes.
Jorge Masvidal: I got my money on Chad. I think Chad stylistically takes it. The only thing I’m worried about is he took the fight, obviously, on short notice. Five rounds, that’s big. Just to take a short notice fight for three rounds is tough. But a short notice fight for five rounds is real tough, you know? So that’s the only thing I’m worried about. But even that, I got my money on Chad. I got a couple thousand bucks on him.
Rose Namajunas: I picked McGregor when he was fighting Aldo, and I’m kind of leaning towards that as well versus Chad Mendes. I don’t know, I just feel like he’s on fire, but I’m really bad at predictions so I’m probably wrong. It’s just a feeling that I have. Just how he carries himself, he’s just the whole package. He’s just something special.
Dustin Poirier: Mendes. All the way. Of course Conor can catch him and knock him out, but I just think the wrestling matters. Everybody’s talking about how Mendes took this fight on short notice, but man, this guy is always in shape. He’s been competing his whole life, he knows how to perform and compete, and I’m leaning toward him. Styles make fights. I was picking Conor in the Aldo fight, but you know styles make fights, and now I’m picking Mendes.
Kevin Lee: A lot of people, they get their emotions in it. They look at, ‘oh, I hate Conor,’ stuff like that. I don’t see why a lot of fighters hate Conor anyway. He brings more attention to the sport. It’s better for all of us, you know?
And I think Conor wins it. Easy decision. I think Chad can be broken. I think that distance, Conor being a southpaw, those kicks, those spins kicks and those side kicks are going to keep him at distance, make him hesitant, and he will be broken. I think Chad is somebody who doesn’t mind being No. 2. I think he’s tough enough to where he won’t get finished, he’s got too much pride, but he’ll lose a decision.
Brad Pickett: Well the winner is definitely the fans, because it’s going to be a great fight. But I’m with everyone here, there’s that big question mark. Can Conor stop a wrestler? No one knows because he hasn’t fought one. Conor has everyone believing that it’s going to be no problem, so everyone’s like ‘yeah, I believe in Conor.’ But I’m a bit of a skeptic. Chad is no joke. No joke. When it comes to wrestling in MMA, I think he’s one of the best. So I’m intrigued.
Conor is really big for that weight class too. Very tall and lanky. Back in the day, 100-percent, I’d be leaning towards Chad Mendes. Now, a little bit, I don’t know… Conor’s got me believing. I’m aboard the hype train a little bit. Skills are skills, but when you have the self-belief that Conor has, that’s a powerful thing. If you believe so much in something, if you visualize it, you can make extraordinary things happen.
Cezar Ferreira: I expect a great fight. A tough fight. But I believe that Chad Mendes is going to beat him. He’s a much more technical guy and he has good wrestling. We’ve never seen McGregor with his back on the ground, so it’s going to be hard for him. I think Chad Mendes is going to win.
Cathal Pendred: I think a lot of people have the question of Conor, can he wrestle? Can he defend wrestling? People don’t know. I know. I’m pretty good at takedowns myself. He’s one of the hardest guys I’ve ever come across to take down. And in the eventuality that you do actually get him down, he’s straight back up, which is even worse because you waste your energy and then he’s popping you shots in the face.
I think that’s what’s going to happen Saturday night. Chad is going to have a few failed attempts, waste a lot of energy trying to get him down. With that wasted energy, he’s going to be getting popped in the face, and Conor hits hard for a featherweight. He’s the hardest hitting featherweight going and Chad won’t take too many of those. So I’ll say second-round stoppage by strikes.
Joseph Benavidez: Chad, obviously. Chad is one of my best friends and main training partners, so I know what he’s capable of in the gym. But even not seeing that, as a fighter looking from the outside, you’ve got to give Chad the advantage. He’s fought for the title twice. Conor hasn’t fought a wrestler like him with the punching power that he has, so he hasn’t stepped this high up in class yet. Chad just has more ways to win the fight. He can knock people out. As you’ve seen, he’s knocked people out who never have gotten knocked out before, then obviously he can take people down whenever he wants. Conor basically has one way to win. So even just looking at it like that, even if Chad wasn’t my best friend, I didn’t love him dearly, I would pick him.
Stipe Miocic: Chad. He’s explosive. Super athletic. He’s been there, done that. He fought the best in the world, man. I think if he does what he does, he takes him down, he grounds and pounds him, he’s such a good wrestler, I think he’s got that.
John Howard: That’s a hard fight to call. I’m leaning towards Mendes because he’s a wrestler. We’ve never seen Conor against as great a wrestler as Mendes, so I’m definitely leaning towards Mendes. But the thing is, the reason why it’s hard to call is because this is two weeks’ out. When you’re training for a fight for a whole camp, it’s different. If Mendes had a whole camp, Mendes wins. But because Mendes didn’t have a whole camp, only had two weeks to get ready, even though he’s always in shape, that’s why I can’t call it. But if I had to guess and put my money on it, I’m going to say Mendes.
Brandon Thatch: Mendes in under three rounds. If it goes to the fourth or fifth, I’d say McGregor, because Conor’s had time to prepare for those fourth and fifth rounds. Chad is very dangerous, very explosive, but I feel like the conditioning may be a part of it. There’s only so much you can do in a couple weeks. I was absolutely prepared for a three-round fight (in my last fight), and had that fight gone three rounds, I would’ve won.
Frank Mir: Mendes, just because of his wrestling ability. I think he hits extremely hard, he’s one of the best grapplers in the division, and I think, really, McGregor hasn’t shown his ability to defend that takedown. Pretty much nobody has beside Jose Aldo, and Mendes has still taken Jose down. Once the fight does go to the ground, I don’t know how McGregor is going to be a threat.
Matt Brown: I’m going to take Chad. I think Chad is a better athlete, he’s more experienced, and here’s what it comes down to in all reality: we don’t know what Conor can do at this level. He’s never fought anybody anywhere near the level of Chad Mendes, so we don’t know what he’s capable of.
We do know what Chad is capable of. I know how good of a wrestler he is. I’ve wrestled with Jack Jaggers, who Chad lost to barely in the NCAA finals, so I know how good of a wrestler he is. We see how good of athlete he is. We’ve seen what we can do with his knockout power. We know Chad. We don’t know Conor. Maybe Conor comes in and he’s the next Anderson Silva, he defends his title 15 times. But we have no real indication that he’s going to do that, so in terms of picking intelligently, you have to pick the man Mendes.
Dennis Bermudez: I got Chad Mendes just because they both are good strikers, but Chad’s got that element of wrestling. For someone to hit hard, they have to plant their feet. And if you plant your feet, it’s easy for a wrestler to take you down. So a few takedowns, then guys start second guessing throwing very hard.
Tim Means: I’m going to go with McGregor. I’ve just seen Mendes already fight Aldo a couple of times. I want to see something new, to see someone different at the top of that list. McGregor, I was signing posters with him the other day. He’s funny. He has that cool accent. He catches your attention. All of that is good, man, and I definitely think the skill is there. His skill backs up his mouth, so I would like to see McGregor win that fight.
Gunnar Nelson: Conor’s ability to defend the takedown and scramble to his feet is so good that it’s going to wear Chad down. He’s super accurate on the feet, very elusive, he stays in there, and he’s got a lot of reach on Chad as well, so I think that’s going to get him the victory. Third-round TKO.
Kenny Florian: This is a tough one. I think that Conor McGregor is a brilliant, elite striker. We just haven’t seen him against the elite wrestlers and grapplers of the division. He finally gets that in Chad Mendes, and you know the only thing I can really go on when I’m predicting fights is what we’ve seen up to this point. There’s a big question mark of how Conor can deal with countering the wrestling skills of Chad Mendes. And Chad Mendes is more than just a wrestler. He can knock you out as well. Having that double threat will pose some problems for Conor. I’m picking Chad Mendes to win by decision.
Johny Hendricks: I’m leaning towards Chad Mendes because of the wrestling. He’s got striking, he’s got powerful hands, and he’s got wrestling. So when you’re looking at those three things, McGregor hasn’t fought that. He’s fought only good strikers. Can he withstand that? If he can, then he’s going to hold the belt for a very long time and people won’t give him crap for talking so much trash. I was telling somebody earlier, it’s a double-edged sword. When you’re like McGregor, they’re going to love you when you win, they’re going to hate you when you lose.
Anthony Johnson: I see Mendes winning. I really respect the guys who’ve been through the fire, dude. The only person he’s lost to is obviously the champ, and he’s faced everybody basically there is to face to get where he is now. I just feel like McGregor just hasn’t done that. He hasn’t been through that fire yet to get where he is.
He’s definitely talked his way there. Nobody’s knocking his style of fighting or anything. I think he’s a talented fighter, for sure, and he truly believes in his style of fighting. But dude, you gotta call somebody out besides the champ. You can’t be 2-0 and saying ‘I want the champ next,’ you know what I’m saying? He should’ve called out Mendes first or something like that. Ricardo Lamas or whatever. But he’s in the situation that he’s in and I’m happy for him. Not many people can do the things he does, because he’s helping out not just himself, but he’s helping out UFC and he’s helping out MMA. He helping me out. He’s bringing exposure to all of us.
