Ok, so McGregor survived last night. He took a beating from Chad Mendes and pretty much got taken down at will, but give him credit, he kept fighting, even while on his back.
However let's be honest: McGregor's mouth ran far ahead of what he actually did. There were many more times during the fight when it appeared that Mendes was on the verge of a embarrassing upset.
Again, give McGregor credit for coming thru with the win. A win is a win no matter how it comes. But please lets not act like he is now the greatest star in the UFC or that he put on some brilliant spectacular Luke Rockhold dismantling of an opponent.
I still have no taste for his cockadoo and bluster but I was very happy to see that Mendes seemed to slap some humility into the schtick and it was good to see McGregor raise Mendes' hand in appreciation after the fight.
I think he wins far more fans if he now just slightly dials down the Chael Sonnen shtick and not alienate every other fan with even more arrogance.
Look at Robbie Lawler who is proving that you can be champion, bring the unforgettable game and still have respect for your opponents. You don't have to be a douche to be top dog.
And most of all, please do not pretend that a performance like last night would have been enough to defeat the UFC's sole undisputed Champion: Jose Aldo.
yes
Connor still showed some holes but aldo is not mendes and vice versa.
But with the domination in such quick fashion, its clear he can beat aldo.
I thought Conor was tagging chad with those straights pretty consistently. This post gave the impression that Conor got lucky when it never really looked like Conor was hurt, chad was hurt at least twice. 
"Look at Robbie Lawler who is proving that you can be champion, bring the unforgettable game and still have respect for your opponents. You don't have to be a douche to be top dog."
Robbie is the champion in a higher weight class yet was co-main to McGregor. Obviously McGregor is doing something right.
I think Aldo is a better match up for Conor then Mendes was. Mendes is a beast who went 5 rounds with Aldo and even dropped him, he's a small notch below Aldo but what makes him so dangerous to Conor is his strong wrestling background which we saw how much trouble he gave Conor last night. With Aldo, Conor won't have to worry about getting taken down. With that in mind, Aldo is better on the feet then Mendes so will be fun to watch the exchanges they have. Both have power and are quick.
I really don't know who will win when they fight, I think the smart bet is Aldo based on history but you just can't rule out Conor as he's proven he's the real deal.
Aldo has a better TD success rate than Mendes (78% vs 55%) and is more strategic, choosing to win rounds on points rather than go for sloppy sub attempts.
Aldo has a better top control game than Mendes. Chad may be the wrestler but Aldo has always shown maybe the best top control in the division - or maybe second only to Frankie.
Aldo has better striking attack than Mendes, and Mendes was noticeably the quicker guy on the feet and hit Conor plenty.
Aldo has better striking defense than Mendes.
Mendes won the first round against Conor. All 3 Sherdog guys plus John Morgan from MMA Junkie plus Chuck Mindenhall from MMA Fighting gave R1 to Mendes.
Until he decided to give Conor the chance to get up Mendes was taking R2 with ease. Aldo - who has better TD success than Mendes and better top game - won't give Conor that chance.
So Mendes, until he ran out of gas, was already on his way to taking more rounds off Conor in less than half a fight than he took off Aldo in 2 fights (Aldo beat him 49-46 on every judge's card and on 13/16 media cards).
Aldo won't be coming in with only 2 weeks worth of cardio prep.
I hear you buddy and I agree those are all good points, however call me skeptic but I was not impressed last night. McGregor said pre fight that he would not only finish Mendes in 3 minutes but that he could beat both Mendes and Jose Aldo on the same night. And then he goes out there and gets taken down 3 times in the first and nearly finished.
Mendes was so gassed at the end, he could barely move his head out the way of McGregor's punches.
My impression is that McGregor was very lucky to have come out with the win, rather than a dominant and definite victory.
Trust me, Jose Aldo isn't losing any sleep.
Bucho - Aldo has a better TD success rate than Mendes (78% vs 55%) and is more strategic, choosing to win rounds on points rather than go for sloppy sub attempts.
Aldo has a better top control game than Mendes. Chad may be the wrestler but Aldo has always shown maybe the best top control in the division - or maybe second only to Frankie.
Aldo has better striking attack than Mendes, and Mendes was noticeably the quicker guy on the feet and hit Conor plenty.
Aldo has better striking defense than Mendes.
Mendes won the first round against Conor. All 3 Sherdog guys plus John Morgan from MMA Junkie plus Chuck Mindenhall from MMA Fighting gave R1 to Mendes.
Until he decided to give Conor the chance to get up Mendes was taking R2 with ease. Aldo - who has better TD success than Mendes and better top game - won't give Conor that chance.
So Mendes, until he ran out of gas, was already on his way to taking more rounds off Conor in less than half a fight than he took off Aldo in 2 fights (Aldo beat him 49-46 on every judge's card and on 13/16 media cards).
Aldo won't be coming in with only 2 weeks worth of cardio prep.
Drops mic.
Medusas Weave - will it be another premature stoppage? if aldo so much as slips i am sure herb dean will rescue conor againIt wasn't early.
I wanted nothing more than for Connor to lose but let's not pretend that he was ever in trouble in that fight.
Aldo's a dead man walking. Conor will make short work of him.
Bucho - Aldo has a better TD success rate than Mendes (78% vs 55%) and is more strategic, choosing to win rounds on points rather than go for sloppy sub attempts.
Aldo has a better top control game than Mendes. Chad may be the wrestler but Aldo has always shown maybe the best top control in the division - or maybe second only to Frankie.
Aldo has better striking attack than Mendes, and Mendes was noticeably the quicker guy on the feet and hit Conor plenty.
Aldo has better striking defense than Mendes.
Mendes won the first round against Conor. All 3 Sherdog guys plus John Morgan from MMA Junkie plus Chuck Mindenhall from MMA Fighting gave R1 to Mendes.
Until he decided to give Conor the chance to get up Mendes was taking R2 with ease. Aldo - who has better TD success than Mendes and better top game - won't give Conor that chance.
So Mendes, until he ran out of gas, was already on his way to taking more rounds off Conor in less than half a fight than he took off Aldo in 2 fights (Aldo beat him 49-46 on every judge's card and on 13/16 media cards).
Aldo won't be coming in with only 2 weeks worth of cardio prep.
Cardio will be a different situation, but the styles are different. Conor showed some holes but I'm not sure Aldo would look to exploit those in the way Mendes would.
stainlesssteel - I hear you buddy and I agree those are all good points, however call me skeptic but I was not impressed last night. McGregor said pre fight that he would not only finish Mendes in 3 minutes but that he could beat both Mendes and Jose Aldo on the same night. And then he goes out there and gets taken down 3 times in the first and nearly finished.
Mendes was so gassed at the end, he could barely move his head out the way of McGregor's punches.
My impression is that McGregor was very lucky to have come out with the win, rather than a dominant and definite victory.
Trust me, Jose Aldo isn't losing any sleep.
You do know Conor says most of that stuff to hype the fight yeah? Trust me Conor knew he was in for a very tought fight last night.
You're not impressed because he didn't go out and finish one of the best in the world in the first three minutes?
Of course Chad was gonna get Conor down, he's one of the best wrestlers on the entire roster. Conor knew this and kept his composure until he had his time to get up and do what he does best.
I don't see where luck has come into this at all.
Bucho - Aldo has a better TD success rate than Mendes (78% vs 55%) and is more strategic, choosing to win rounds on points rather than go for sloppy sub attempts.
Aldo has a better top control game than Mendes. Chad may be the wrestler but Aldo has always shown maybe the best top control in the division - or maybe second only to Frankie.
Aldo has better striking attack than Mendes, and Mendes was noticeably the quicker guy on the feet and hit Conor plenty.
Aldo has better striking defense than Mendes.
Mendes won the first round against Conor. All 3 Sherdog guys plus John Morgan from MMA Junkie plus Chuck Mindenhall from MMA Fighting gave R1 to Mendes.
Until he decided to give Conor the chance to get up Mendes was taking R2 with ease. Aldo - who has better TD success than Mendes and better top game - won't give Conor that chance.
So Mendes, until he ran out of gas, was already on his way to taking more rounds off Conor in less than half a fight than he took off Aldo in 2 fights (Aldo beat him 49-46 on every judge's card and on 13/16 media cards).
Aldo won't be coming in with only 2 weeks worth of cardio prep.
All great points...
Absolutely not. Conor's great defense and footwork to set counters was completely missing last night.
He's not nearly as fast or explosive as Jose
His wrestling/BJJ is terrible
Unless Aldo gets into a stupid slugfest, he should be able to win by being the better athlete who dictates where the fight takes place.
But, Last night convinced me that McGregor would KTFO Frankie
Conor took out Chad Mendes within 2 rounds. He hurt him bad enough in the first with those body shot that you could visibly see Mendes taking deep breaths and wilting.
And Mendes was supposed to be one of those fighters that the UFC was protecting Conor from.
McGregor handled him in under 2 minutes.
He is knocking out Aldo. If Mendes was able to connect and hurt Aldo and knock him down, Conor is going to finish him for sure.
I think Aldo and Connor stand up striking will be pretty even although Connor like to kick up higher for targets than Aldo does. But Aldo has that murderous low kick. Hand wise it would pretty good as they also both have good footwork.
On the ground Aldo has to be excited today after seeing that Mendes fight.
Aldo however is not known to have great cardio so you have to think this makes Connor know he has an edge here.
It was obvious that the preferred outcome for both McGregor and the UFC was an absolute domination of Mendes. For McGregor to show superiority in all aspects and finish the fight decisively. Then, the drumbeat for the Aldo fight would have been justifiably even louder and McGregor would have legitimacy in his arrogant claim that Aldo fears him.
However just barely squeaking by a faded Chad Mendes does not exactly equate to a dominant victory. The fight with Aldo will still be huge, but at least some of the McGregor's fans have now come down to reality.
He's not going to run thru anyone in the division, maybe except Poirer and Siver. He's not going to finish Aldo in one round. And unless he somehow repairs that massive hole in his ground game, the only title he'll own is that toy belt he got last night.
I thought the take away from that fight was I really thought McGregor would have better takedown defence. He's got a lot of wrestling style guys in that division but Aldo I just don't know. 