The greatest struggle among fans with Conor McGregor was proving that his motor-mouth is to par with his talent as a martial artist.
Against featherweight champion, Jose Aldo, the ultimate test of his skill would be have been on display at UFC 189. Unfortunately one of the biggest fights in UFC history came to a halt thanks to Aldo pulling out due to a rib injury just two weeks before the scheduled bout.
In the shadows, Chad Mendes awaited at the prospect of a potential void and with one, the featherweight got his wish.
Without having to deal with spitfire from McGregor through media tours and press conferences, Mendes was as clear of mind as he could be against one of the sports most boisterous fighters going into UFC 189.
Once the cage door locked, the fight formed into a true clash of champions, with McGregor prevailing as the interim featherweight champion.
Yet it was not without a great display of vulnerability.
The first round began with McGregor energetic and eager to play mind games with Mendes. He responded with only physical answers. His attempts put McGregor into some fragile positions.
Because of this, the first round felt longer than it really was as a myriad of storylines began to emerge.
First, Mendes came out with a response for many of McGregor's significant strikes, but in actuality, the Irishman landed 15 significant body strikes which can be credited to Mendes' early loss of energy.
Overall in the fight, McGregor landed 74 significant strikes to Mendes' 36, but where Mendes forced most of his damage was during his wrestling attempts as he successfully took the Irishman down four out of seven times.
This is where many felt Mendes would prevail as McGregor's ground game had never really been brought into question in his previous UFC fights. Unfortunately it was not enough last night.
The second storyline was how impressive Mendes was despite only having two weeks notice. Many UFC fighters took to Twitter to comment on this feat, noting that were the Alpha Male star to have a full training camp he could have easily dominated the fight in an even greater way.
Give Chad an immediate rematch, he didn't get out skilled. He fought a guy who was in a 3 month camp and he stepped up on 2 weeks notice.
— Michael Chiesa (@MikeMav22) July 12, 2015
Mendes beats his ass on a full training camp.
— Marcelino Evil (@KCBanditMMA) July 12, 2015
A flurry of combinations were absorbed and delivered in the first by both men and it resulted in both looking exhausted. But only one of those men could bear a fair excuse for that. As Mendes prepared on two weeks notice, the Irishman had a full training camp at his disposal really calling into question why he gassed so early on.
The third story line of the first was McGregor's slow decline in mental stamina when he realized Mendes was not absorbing his attempts at distraction. In the Irishman's last five fights it has been clear to see that McGregor's strong physical assets are paired with a strong mental presence.
Picking apart his opponents inside and outside the Octagon are all apart of the process. Yet with Mendes free of the pre-fight circus and indifferent to his opponents' continuous attempts at distraction - McGregor found one of his strongest suits neutralized.
Needless to say, were Mendes able to have a full training camp designed for the workings of the Irishman, the fight could have been vastly different.
But credit is due to McGregor's championship spirit in the final three seconds of the second round, where he managed to choreograph a brilliant combination and forced a TKO finish. It was McGregor's fifth in the UFC's featherweight division which puts him just behind his greatest rival, Jose Aldo.
Now, with the pressure mounting to even greater heights for the newly appointed champion, he will have to once again look to squash any doubt against Aldo for the true featherweight belt.
Until then, doubt could still be looming, even with the belt on his waist.
All stats were complied thanks to sherdog.com.
