Just two days out from the highly anticipated UFC 189 headliner between Conor McGregor and Chad Mendes, the pre-fight buildup has grown to a roar.
The question on everyone's mind? Is McGregor everything he claims he is?
The 26-year-old Notorious One is, well, notorious for being a great promoter as well as a striker in the cage. When he talks, people listen. Apparently that even includes the oddsmakers.
After UFC President Dana White told The Jim Rome Show (h/t MMAFighting.com) that McGregor said he'd bet him $3 million he would finish Chad Mendes in the second-round, Kevin Bradley, who works for online sportsbook Bovada, took notice.
“There was plenty of hype around this fight already and this proposed wager by McGregor just adds fuel to the UFC 189 odds fire,” Bradley said, per Jack Randall of Odds Shark. “When he called a second-round KO, we looked to see what the odds would be. Mendes is a formidable foe, but McGregor has been correct in the past and we believe 5-1 odds is correct here.”
When oddsmakers are legitimately considering what a fighter is saying to hype his own fight, that's some serious charisma.
But charisma alone won't beat Mendes. There's no doubt that the Team Alpha Male product is the best wrestler and overall fighter McGregor has seen in his career. Here's a look at how the two stack up statistically and the latest odds from Odds Shark:
What They're Saying
McGregor isn't the only one sounding off about this fight, though. As Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting noted, these two have been engaged in a war of words for much longer than the few weeks since the fight announcement:
Mendes himself referenced the Irishman's taunts about his height in the past as something that makes this fight personal. “I’ve been short my whole life,” Mendes said, per Michael Martinez of UFC.com. “For me, it was when we had to do an interview before my Aldo fight and he’s talking about putting b-lls on my head and being very unprofessional. I made it personal."
The 5'6" Mendes does come into the bout much smaller than McGregor (5'9"), but it's something he thinks he can make up for with his skills in the cage. “I have the athleticism, the strength, the power, the speed, and I have the wrestling to put him on his back and finish this fight. This fight is mine,” Mendes said, according to Martinez.
Although Jose Aldo had to pull out of the fight with a rib injury, he'll also be pulling for Mendes. He took to Twitter to voice his support for the man he's already beaten twice:
One thing is clear: Regardless of who wins, McGregor has ruffled the feathers of the top fighters in his division. With the bad blood still alive between himself and the champion, he isn't going away anytime soon.
Fight Prediction
When the cage door shuts on Saturday, July 11, the talk won't matter anymore. All that will be left is to see whether McGregor's skills are as good as he claims.
However, one aspect of the talk could play a huge role in the fight—McGregor's size. As Reed Kuhn of Fightnomics illustrated, McGregor is among the most rangy featherweights in the UFC:
McGregor could also be one of the heaviest featherweights in the sport. Chael Sonnen recently told The Jim Rome Show (h/t LowkickMMA.com) that the 26-year-old weighed 172 pounds just eight days before weigh-ins for the bout. Assuming McGregor is able to effectively shed that weight and put a lot of it back on in his rehydration, we could see a massive size difference in the Octagon on Saturday night.
The wrestling of Mendes is still a serious threat. We've never seen McGregor take on elite wrestling before, so that's going to be a question until he proves otherwise in the cage. Considering the amount of time that Mendes spends controlling his opponents on the mat, there's danger in this fight for the Notorious One.
However, even if Mendes is able to score a takedown or two throughout the fight, each round begins on the feet. McGregor's movement, versatility and cage IQ all seem to set him apart. It won't be surprising if those are the very traits he uses to eventually end the fight and hold up his first UFC belt.
Prediction: McGregor in second-round TKO.
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