Per Odds Shark, Chad "Money" Mendes is the underdog heading into his clash with "The Notorious" Conor McGregor at UFC 189 on Saturday. The most recent odds have McGregor as a 27-50 favorite. As a late replacement for Jose Aldo, it seems only natural that Mendes would be an underdog.
Heading into the final hours of hype before the fight, there doesn't seem to be much of a letdown of emotion. The pre-fight press conference wasn't lacking fireworks. Mendes and McGregor delivered a seemingly unlimited amount of quotable one-liners.
The UFC Twitter account captured the best of the best:
Confidence doesn't appear to be a problem for either man.
McGregor is clearly at his best on his feet. He does have a 100 percent takedown defense rating, per FightMetric, but he's only faced five takedown attempts in the UFC. None of those five were attempted by a wrestler on Mendes' level.
Mendes is obviously at a height and reach disadvantage. He stands 5'6" with a 66" reach, while McGregor is 5'9" and measures 74" from armpit to knuckle.
However, Mendes has the speed and head movement to close the distance. Because of his opponent's massive punching power, McGregor must be wary of the big right hand. It's the punch that can stop anyone in the division—including McGregor.
Bleacher Report's Riley Kontek thinks Mendes will stop McGregor:
I feel like a lot of people are going with McGregor here, but he just simply has not been tested by a wrestler, especially one of this caliber. Mendes is also not bad on the feet, but he needs to beat McGregor up early, or the Irishman will get comfortable and pick at him from a distance.
It may not be a popular opinion, but I also expect Mendes to stop McGregor. If Money can take McGregor down early in the first round, it'll set the tone of the bout. He'll take away some of the Irishman's confidence and get him on his heels—literally and figuratively.
After inflicting some notable damage, he'll finish McGregor via ground-and-pound in the second round. The UFC will then be charged with finding a way to rebuild McGregor's invincible image.
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