Conor McGregor is the main attraction of UFC 189, especially now that pound-for-pound king Jose Aldo has withdrawn from the bout because of a rib injury suffered in training. UFC commentator Joe Rogan thinks that McGregor's notoriety is masking what a great fighter Chad Mendes is.
"Mendes easily could be as big a star as Conor McGregor. He wouldn't talk like Conor McGregor did, but neither did [former UFC welterweight champion] Georges St-Pierre. Georges St-Pierre was the biggest pay-per-view star of all time. Because he was a gentleman. Georges St-Pierre got a million pay-per-view buys," Rogan said.
Mendes is one of the best fighters in the UFC, but his path to stardom has been blocked by Aldo. Mendes only has two losses in his career, both of which came vs. Aldo. Rogan pointed out that Mendes' second fight with Aldo was nearly a toss-up, which can't be ignored when he's being stacked up with McGregor.
"The last fight was razor close," said Rogan. "There's an argument that could be made that if they fought in America [Mendes] would have won that decision. There's also an argument to be made that if Jose Aldo didn't land that late punch after the first round that knocked Mendes down and had him very hurt, it could have been a very different fight.
"Let me tell you something, if he goes out and starches Conor, he's a giant."
McGregor's famous trash talking didn't miss a beat when his opponent switched from Aldo to Mendes. Most recently, McGregor lashed out at both men for "buddying up" on Twitter in unity for their dislike for him.
"I think [Mendes] is crumbling already, to be honest," McGregor said Wednesday. "I just, I see forced. I see a forced persona or something. He's just different. And then the little back and forth tweets with Jose, and he's talking in [Portuguese]. 'Can I have your fan support, please,' and all this bull. What is that? That's women s--t. That's not even, that's disrespectful to women. I don't know what that is. That's coward s--t, is what that is."
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