McGregor needs bag of tricks
UFC star way out of his league vs. Floyd
LAS VEGAS — So you’re wheeled into the operating room for a risky and complicated heart procedure.
You’re concerned, naturally, but buoyed by the knowledge that you’re in the care of the finest surgeon in the world.
Except that, just as the procedure is about to begin, a very sternlooking official from the American Medical Association shows up and takes a look at the tray of tools, clamps and other devices that have been laid out.
“OK, so you can use this … and this … and this,” the AMA official tells the finest surgeon in the world. “But you can’t use this … or this … or this.”
That about sums up the disadvantages that’ll be facing UFC megastar Conor McGregor tonight when he steps into the ring — not the octagon — to face Floyd Mayweather Jr., in a boxing match the likes of which the world has never seen. The T-Mobile Arena showdown will be watched by millions via Showtime pay-per-view, partly as sporting event but also as entertainment spectacle.
Look at it this way: McGregor has this crazy-looking stat — (0-0) — listed next to his name. This is because his game is UFC, not boxing; it’s also why anyone who bets on the brash Irishman is banking on an upset of epic proportions.
According to the UFC web site, mixed martial arts is “unarmed combat involving the use, subject to any applicable limitations set forth in these Unified Rules and other regulations of the applicable Commission, of a combination of techniques from different disciplines of the martial arts, including, without limitation, grappling, submission holds, kicking and striking.”
McGregor uses all of those tools, and he uses them well. He is his sport’s biggest star. And in Ireland he’s more than a star; he’s a hero, an icon.
But a lot of what he does so well — the grappling, the submission holds, the kicking — is being removed from the tray of tools. Not by the American Medical Association, but by the Nevada Athletic Commission.
That’s part of the draw for this fight — to see if McGregor’s emotions will get the best of him, if he’ll perhaps forget himself and pull a kick or a submission hold out of his pocket. When I was a kid, certain bad-guy pro wrestlers would break the rules all the time — a guy named Baron Mikel Scicluna, he of the “dreaded foreign object,” turned it into an art form.
The difference is that the professional wrestling referees were clueless dolts who never saw what everyone else in the arena and watching on television could see. But what we’ll be watching tonight is very real, if very contrived, and it’ll cost McGregor a ton of money if he forgets himself and tries to pull a Baron Mikel Scicluna.
That’s why I say McGregor can’t possibly win this fight, despite his trash talk about how Mayweather is a man with a “little head” who hasn’t trained as hard, or as long, or as furiously, as he has.
But if the thunderous, nonstop cheering at the T-Mobile Arena for yesterday’s glitzy weigh-in production counts for anything, there are plenty of people who believe Conor McGregor is going to pound Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s little head.
It appears half of Ireland is here to support their guy. I spoke with three of them about the fight.
Mark O’Reardon of Cork seemed to agree with my point of view.
“Mayweather is a great fighter, there’s no doubt about that,” he said. “I just hope (McGregor) does well, but it’s going to be very difficult for him. But even if he loses, he’s going to make a lot of money.”
He was asked why he’d travel all the way from Ireland to Las Vegas to watch some guy from Dublin “make a lot of money.”
“It’s not just the money,” O’Reardon shot back. “It’s also inspiration. What he’s doing is going to inspire a lot of people.”
But his two boyos didn’t sound as though they’re willing to settle for an exciting evening of inspiration and silver linings. They believe McGregor is going to win.
“If you look at Conor McGregor’s record,” said Fionn McDonagh of Limerick, “he’s never been struck down — never been knocked out. Mayweather’s going to find he’s never faced a challenger as tough as him.”
Brendan McEvoy of Cork put it this way: “Mayweather has trouble with southpaws, and Conor McGregor is a southpaw.”
Trouble with southpaws? OK. But Mayweather has a 49-0 career record. How much “trouble” could southpaws have given him?
“Ahh, but nobody as aggressive as Conor McGregor,” he said. “He’s going to come out hard. He’s going to come out punching, and in a way Mayweather’s never seen before.”
That’s some strong talk there, but it’s nothing compared to what McGregor has been saying all week. He continued the trash talk yesterday, yapping away at his opponent after he weighed in at 153 pounds to Mayweather’s 1491⁄2.
McGregor said Mayweather “is blown-out” and “in the worst shape I’ve ever seen.”
Mayweather countered with, “Weight doesn’t win fights. Fighting wins fights.”
Both these guys can fight. What’ll be needed to win this fight is boxing.
And McGregor is the guy with the 0-0 next to his name.