Advertisement
New Face

Aldo's scared for his life, Mendes will be unconscious after 4 minutes - McGregor

‘The opponent is an illusion, it does not matter who is across from me on 11 July’.

Fancy M / YouTube

IRELAND’S CONOR MCGREGOR has predicted a four-minute, first round stoppage when he faces number one challenger Chad Mendes at UFC 189 on 11 July.

McGregor and Mendes will contest the interim featherweight title after reigning champion Jose Aldo last night withdrew from the scheduled bout with McGregor after suffering a bruised rib in training last week.

The Dubliner insists that the change in opponent doesn’t matter, saying

“The opponent is an illusion in there. It’s you versus you.

“It does not matter who’s across from me 11 July, I will charge forward, I will put the pressure on and I will get the victory.”

Conor McGregor

After predicting a four-minute win over the Brazilian champion, McGregor, speaking on SportsCentre, was asked to predict the bout with Mendes.

“I’ll give Mendes – I think the two of them are similar – four minutes of the first round.

“Like I said, the opponent is an illusion. The shots I’ve visualised landing on Jose, I visualise landing on Chad. After four minutes of the first round, Chad will be unconscious.”

I’m gonna demolish him. I’m gonna rip his head off.

UFC president Dana White admitted he was disappointed to see Aldo pull out of the fight – the most expensively marketed in the sport’s history.

“Jose Aldo’s pulled out of five title fights,” White said flatly, “Conor’s ready to go, the number one guy Chad Mendes is ready to go. It makes sense. They’ll fight for the interim title and whenever Jose Aldo is ready, then that fight can happen to unify.”

‘Before I had a chance to beat him physically’

McGregor, ever a case study in positive thinking, did not wish to appear disappointed and instead claimed Aldo’s withdrawal as a mental victory before he and Mendes contest ‘the real belt’ in Las Vegas in 10 days’ time.

“If a man is scared for his life we cannot force him to step in and face me,” said the Irish star, “I feel that he is afraid, the doctors have cleared him to fight. It’s a bruise, but he has still pulled out.

Rightfully so the belt has been taken from him and we will contest the interim belt – in my opinion, the real belt.

McGregor added: “I feel he was beaten mentally before I had a chance to beat him physically, so… I felt during the world tour that he was looking for his way out. Thankfully for him, his coach, his team: they have found their way out.”

The UFC have wasted no time in releasing a promo for McGregor versus Mendes

Here’s what you should know about Conor McGregor’s new opponent

Your Voice
Readers Comments
3
    Submit a report
    Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
    Thank you for the feedback
    Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.