That's what it boils down to.
It's really hard to say how hard Malinaggi was forced to push his own limits, or whether the sparring was mostly centered around Paulie putting himself in harms way to help McGregor learn.
The only thing conclusive is the video and there's no way they're going to release anything that contradicts this image they're trying to sell.
I think this godly image is going to backfire horrendously though. When that bell rings, people are going to be expecting an actual competition, but it won't be. It's going to be a whitewash from start to finish and fans will feel angry because they'll feel like they've been duped. Conor will take a beating and a lot of heat from the fans.