does not make you a genius. Conor is an extremely impressive fighter and athlete with elite skills and is entertaining in the octagon. Saying that someone in the Top 4 will eventually beat him isn't impressive, it is extremely difficult for any fighter to remain undefeated.
McGregor is an impressive fighter with amazing standup. But if he's such an obvious GOAT, why is the UFC protecting him from facing a top-flight wrestler in the division?
someones feeling a little defensive today, Your almighty MCGOAT won, don't be upset not everyone likes him. Most of the people that don't really just hate his fans anyway.
He's literally not undefeated so anyone who claims he is is a dummy. Read what I said as though you're Dana White and it sounds better.
Simple.. because Jose has beat all the guys in the top 5. Secondly the UFC isn't stupid enough to put him up against a wrestler who will (possibly) hump him for 5 rounds and kill all the hype thats with him. Aldo vs McGregor. Striker vs Striker. Match made in heaven
The natural progression after McGregor beat Poirier was to have the Irish fighter take on one of the division's best grapplers - Mendes, Frankie, or even Lentz. Siver was almost a step back for McGregor, even though the German lasted longer than Dustin. I think the UFC brass recognizes McGregor is promotion gold. He's really the first guy to come along since BJ Penn who has the ability to generate serious fan interest in the lighter divisions. That's something that even stars like Aldo, Frankie, Mighty Mouse, and Urijah have all failed to do. And so they didn't want one of the division's best grapplers to grind out a victory against McGregor and strangle their golden goose before he had a chance to lay a few golden eggs.
I agree it's a great matchup, but McGregor hasn't shown he can handle a wrestler, which is something we know Aldo can do quite easily. So while it's a great match, McGregor is being given a leg up to a favorable championship fight that he really hasn't earned through competition. The UFC has carefully managed his fights to ensure he gets it.
I don't care who wins or loses, I'm not emotionally invested in fights. It just makes me smh at all the people that are like "mark my words Conor will lose". You know they are waiting for that to happen, to say "haha see I told you so". It's just pathetic. He is a striker with improving grappling. If he gets out grappled by a better grappler on paper, it won't make you Nostradamus.
Pack that shit up. McGregor is fighting the champion next, not these "wrestlers" that the champion has already beaten. Those guys can wrestle themselves back into relevance if they're any good at MMA.
As far as earning a championship fight, it's pretty par for the course. Most of the time, we don't get true title eliminators. The current champions' runs prior to title shot: Cain Velasquez: Run about the same as McGregor's. Jon Jones: Run about the same as McGregor's Chris Weidman: Run about the same as Mcgregor's Robbie Lawler: Tougher run than McGregor for first shot. Anthony Pettis: Run about the same as McGregor's Aldo: Was handed the UFC belt without fighting anyone T.J. Dillashaw: Run worse than McGregor's. Had lost a fight in his last 3 Might Mouse: beat top guys on his road to the title fight, because the belt was decided in a tournament.
Nobody's bitching. If McGregor beats Aldo - and I don't think that will happen - both Frankie and Mendes will be waiting in the wings to make sure the Irishman's championship reign is as short as Hendrick's.
What a bunch of malarkey. Cain was fighting in what was, and still is, a depleted HW division. Cain still fought six times in the UFC before he got that championship fight against Brock - and Cain never took a step back in competition like Conor did. Jones fought seven times in the UFC before he got his chance for a title fight. Weidman only fought five times before his title shot (just like Conor) but there was really no fighter left in the division for Silva to face. And knowledgable fans back then still complained that Weidman hadn't earn his title shot - which is one reason why Silva got an immediate rematch after he was knocked out. The rest of your comparisons are similarly flawed.
I find it crazy that people bitch and moan about Conor not fighting Mendes or Edgar... He is fighting Jose fucking Aldo, the champion, a man who beat both of those guys, one of them twice.
The problem is that he hasn't even faced a wrestler. At all. Forget Frankie and Mendes. How about Nik Lentz or Dennis Bermudez instead of Dennis Siver?
It doesn't mean anything anymore. He's earned his title shot. He's proven himself an elite fighter. Who gives a shit whether or not one or two guys can beat him. That's pretty damn serious company already.
