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13th December 2015
07:02am GMT
"I've seen Aldo fight and beat the best of the best at 145 lbs while I've not seen McGregor do that yet. "Until I do, I'm picking what I know. And I know that Aldo is the best featherweight fighter of all time."Yes, I said that. But that was Thursday and I was drunk, probably. And these burly guys had a gun to my head. And they said that if I didn't pick Jose Aldo that they'd take my family. So what was I to do? Pick McGregor and put my family at risk?
OK, none of that happened. I just made an error in judgement but this isn't about me and my obviously drunken, pistol-forced predictions.
This is about Conor McGregor and the fact that he backed up all the hype, he did what he said he'd do and silenced the doubters, of which I must admit I was one.
McGregor made it look easy against Jose Aldo and for all the technical breakdowns, tactical analyses and cynical opinion pieces, he needed just one left hand to put away the man who nobody had put away.
26 fights. Twenty six fights.
Jose Aldo had fought 26 fights without being knocked out but those rumours about McGregor's power must be true as the Brazilian found himself gobbling mat as if it were Acai berries.
Sure, he had been submitted once and rocked on a number of occasions but Aldo never experienced what McGregor put him through on Sunday morning.
What McGregor did, in arguably the biggest fight in UFC history, was remove all caveats.
Interim champion asterisk - gone. Theory that he had only beaten Chad Mendes because of a short training camp - rubbished. Talk of being given a free pass to the title - ridiculous.
The old adage goes "to be the best, you have to beat the best." Jose Aldo was the best, so what does that make Conor McGregor?
Exactly.
Conor McGregor has proven, without a shadow of a doubt, that he's the best 145 lber in the world.
He not only tossed the old best 145 lber in the world to one side with a precisely placed left hand but he essentially took a hammer to Aldo's legacy.
Hadn't lost in 10 years, only featherweight champion in history, iron jaw. Well that's in the past now and the future is very much green, white and gold.
He may not admit it but Dana White would have allowed himself a discreet sigh of relief when he saw Aldo fall to the mat. He needed that show from McGregor, no matter how short and how devastating.
Because in a month that saw Ronda Rousey unceremoniously dethroned and future superstar Paige VanZant dominated, there remains one reliable cash-cow.
Conor McGregor is his name and backing up his trash-talk is his game.
And I'm sorry I didn't back him.Explore more on these topics:
