Top 5 times that "Mystic Mac" Conor McGregor got his predictions wrong
The rise of Conor McGregor in the last few years is unlike anything that has ever been seen in the UFC before. His climb to prominence has been unmistakable and is hard not to pay attention to. There are a variety of reasons for that.
First off, McGregor’s fighting style is incredibly unique. His crisp striking, concise hits and track record of clean knockouts proves just how vicious a striker he is.
Secondly, it’s his boisterous personality that is yet another unique trait he owns and has perhaps single-handedly gained him much of the success and acceleration to prominence that he has attained.
But what makes his personality even more engaging is his use of mental warfare. His ability to dig into the minds of his opponents prior to their clash sometimes wins him fights before he even steps into the cage.
We have seen this over and over from McGregor and the former two-weight world champion earned himself the nickname “Mystic Mac” for correctly predicating the demise of his opponents. For a long period of time, these predictions were freakishly accurate, but how on point has McGregor been in predicting his UFC finishes?
Here are Sportskeeda’s Top 5 times “Mystic Mac” got his predictions wrong.
#1 UFC 189: McGregor vs. Mendes
After Jose Aldo failed to keep the date with the Irishman for the UFC featherweight title, McGregor agreed to square off with late replacement Chad Mendes for the interim title at UFC 189.
Mendes had bickered about McGregor in the media before, criticising his lack of grappling. The Team Alpha Male member felt that he could be the one to expose the future champion.
Also read: Mystic Mac: Why Conor McGregor will go down as one of the best
When promotion began for the fight 11 days out, McGregor made a bold prediction stating that by four minutes into the first round of this interim featherweight title fight, “Chad will be unconscious.”
This part of McGregor’s prediction was wrong, however, since Mendes lasted the entirety of the first round and nearly the second as well. The Irishman finally ended up finishing Mendes via TKO with three seconds left in the second round.
Regardless, Mystic Mac’s predictability meter did end up working in his favour financially. Prior to the bout, he had bet Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta $3 million that he would finish his featherweight opponent in the second round, which he did!