When it comes to the most dangerous fighters of all time, Conor McGregor is undoubtedly right up there.
With all of the drama surrounding McGregor’s recent civil suit and the ensuing aftermath, it’s sometimes easy to remember that ‘Mystic Mac’ was one of the most exciting athletes to watch inside the Octagon. For one or two rounds, McGregor was essentially MMA’s version of the greatest show on earth.
Unfortunately, rounds 3-5 usually failed to keep fans on the edge of their seat.
While speaking with Derek of the YouTube channel More Plates, More Dates, Joe Rogan addressed the Irishman’s sus cardio throughout his career — especially when compared to fighters like the Diaz brothers who didn’t necessarily have the same explosive power but could piece you up all night long.
“Conor McGregor was lethal for one or two rounds, but then you get into the third, fourth, and fifth — there’s so much fast-twitch muscle fiber engagement,” Rogan said on a recent episode of his JRE podcast. “There’s so much explosion, it’s like constant sprinting. He was so fast in those first couple of rounds. If he didn’t f*cking tune you up in those first couple of rounds… If you were like Nate Diaz, the indestructible zombie. You get into those later rounds and you’re f*cking tired like, ‘How is this guy still here?!’
“And then Nate is just slapping you and beating you up. Nate can push that 50% pace forever. He and his brother (Nick Diaz) were very good at that. They didn’t explode. They’d just touch you all the time and you can’t breathe because you don’t have time to relax. His cardio, Nick Diaz specifically, was insane. He swam back from Alcatraz on five different occasions. In the ocean with great white sharks. Like a mile and a half or something in the f*cking freezing cold Pacific Northwest”
Asked by Derek if McGregor had ever knocked anybody out beyond the second round, Rogan didn’t have an immediate answer. Luckily, we do.
Reviewing the Irish megastar’s combat sports record, it appears that he has never once finished an opponent beyond the second stanza. The latest finish he’s ever scored came against Chad Mendes at UFC 189 in July 215. McGregor put away Mendes via TKO at the 4:57 mark of the round.
A fight Mendes was winning … Until he wasn’t.
8 years ago today, Conor McGregor finished Chad Mendes for the interim featherweight titlepic.twitter.com/09Pl99pLfU
— MMA Mania (@mmamania) July 11, 2023
Joe Rogan Questions Whether We’ll Ever See Conor McGregor Fight Again
McGregor was scheduled to return to the Octagon in June for a long-awaited clash with Michael Chandler. However, the fight never came to fruition after McGregor sustained a broken pinky toe while training. Despite the setback, McGregor has remained insistent that he’ll compete in 2025.
Now that he’s been found liable for the 2018 rape of a woman at a Dublin hotel, Rogan isn’t sure we’ll ever see the former two-division titleholder compete again.
“I don’t know if he’s ever going to fight again,” Rogan said. “I don’t know the real details of that case. I know his version of it and her version and what played out in court, but the reality is that [McGregor] is partying and he’s partying real hard and he talked about it in the court case. He talked about cocaine — that was the whole thing, they were all doing cocaine. He likes coke.”
McGregor was ordered to pay the victim, Nikita Hand, more than $250,000 in damages. Since then, multiple organizations have cut ties with McGregor and properties tied to him. Proper No. 12 announced that McGregor would no longer act as their official spokesman and retailers throughout the UK and Ireland confirmed that they would discontinue selling McGregor’s Forged Irish Stout in all outlets.
Watch the full episode below:
