Just rewatched the fight... If Chad Mendes had been in shape, and had a proper camp, there is no doubt in my mind that he would have submitted or decisioned Conor.
Besides Diaz, Chad was really the only fighter to make McGregor seem beatable. Whats interesting is that Chad is a wrestler, and was able to connect very strong shots on McGregor on the ground, and a very nasty cut via elbow.
Chad also attempted a few submissions, and its clear to me on the final seconds of the fight, he emptied the tank on a final guillotine attempt, knowing that he didnt have any gas left. McGregor was able to scramble, and as soon as they got up, Chad knew he was done.
After the ko you can see Conors reaction, sorta still shocked and surprised of the final outcome, he has very little gas left and can barely celebrate the victory, you can clearly see he wasnt too comfortable with how things were going.
This has really been an eye opener for me, Khabib is much bigger and stronger than mendes, though he doesnt have a great single leg. His ground control and GnP are a lot better than mendes', and his cardio will surely be way better than 2 week Chad.
Conor will also go through that conditioning dip after round 2, and Conors chances of finishing Khabib after round 2 diminish considerably. IMO if Khabib doesnt end up KOd in round 1 or 2, Khabib will humiliate Conor. We could well be in for another episode of El Tapo.
