Both “The Notorious” Conor McGregor and Chad “Money” Mendes made weight for the main event scrap at UFC 189. Mendes was half a pound under the featherweight limit at 144.5 pounds, and McGregor was right on the money (no pun intended) at 145.
In case you missed it, here’s a look at the weigh-ins for the entire card:
Dale Jordan of MMA Mad tweeted this image of McGregor on the scales in front of a pro-Notorious crowd in Las Vegas:
Every fighter scheduled to compete on the card made weight with the exception of Jeremy “Lil’ Heathen” Stephens. He was three-and-a-half pounds over the featherweight limit of 146 pounds. Here’s a look at the full weigh-in results:
- Chad Mendes (144.5) vs. Conor McGregor (145)
- Robbie Lawler (169.5) vs. Rory MacDonald (170)
- Dennis Bermudez (146) vs. Jeremy Stephens (*149.5)
- Gunnar Nelson (169.5) vs. Brandon Thatch (170.5)
- Brad Pickett (136) vs. Thomas Almeida (136)
- Matt Brown (171) vs. Tim Means (171)
- Mike Swick (170.5) vs. Alex Garcia (171)
- Cathal Pendred (171) vs. John Howard (170.5)
- Cody Garbrandt (136) vs. Enrique Briones (136)
- Neil Seery (125.5) vs. Louis Smolka (126)
- Yosdenis Cedeno (155) vs. Cody Pfister (156)
Per Shaheen Al-Shatti of MMA Fighting, Stephens did not attempt to cut the excess three pounds, which can be very dangerous. Instead, he elected to forfeit 20 percent of his purse to his opponent Dennis Bermudez.
Without question, the card lost a little bit of its luster when Jose Aldo was forced to back out because of a rib injury, but McGregor has proven to be such a magnetic presence, fans still packed the joint to capacity, per UFC president Dana White:
McGregor made weight, but he didn’t exactly look healthy. In fact, he looked frail and cranky. Once he got off the scales, McGregor ran into Mendes‘ stablemate and UFC featherweight contender Urijah Faber. The latter looked to be in the mood for a little horseplay, but an ill-looking McGregor just wanted to get to the bathroom. Take a look at the Instagram video Faber posted:
I’d picked Mendes to win the moment he stepped in for Aldo, but seeing how tough McGregor‘s weight cut appears to have been, I’m even more confident Money wins. A tough weight cut and an opponent with a non-complementary skill set is a bad combination for McGregor.
Mendes will take McGregor down and pound him out by the second round.
None of the other fights figure to be swayed by the weigh-ins. Here’s a look at all of the predictions for the fights on the card:
Other Fighters Who Will Make Biggest Impact
Rory MacDonald
The welterweight title is about to change hands on Saturday night. Rory MacDonald has seemingly been groomed for this title the last five years. The time has finally come for him to walk in his mentor Georges St-Pierre’s footsteps.
MacDonald lost to Lawler in their initial meeting back in November 2013. A late knockdown sealed the deal for Lawler. This time a stronger and more confident MacDonald will use his length, accurate striking and dominant ground game to earn a unanimous-decision win and the 170-pound championship.
Thomas Almeida
There’s a superstar on the rise in the bantamweight division and his name is Thomas Almeida. No matter who’s there when he gets in range of a title shot, they will likely be in serious trouble against the 23-year-old Brazilian.
His striking is diversified, controlled and vicious. His ground game is underrated and serves as another weapon in his back pocket should an opponent avoid his punches, elbows, knees and kicks. Almeida is the total package and the best MMA prospect since Jon Jones made the climb through the light heavyweight ranks.
On Saturday, he’s going to thrash the 36-year-old Brad Pickett in what will serve as the major coming-out party for a future champion.
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