Mania Mailbag: Lesão de McGregor é um 'golpe de caixa pré-planejado'?

I asked and you delivered (again!). This week’s mailbag answers include lots connected to last week’s UFC 329 and nothing regarding this weekend’s UFC Oklahoma City. Is there a hangover effect happening here or is that card just too bad to draw any kind of attention?

Anyways, here’s what we were asked recently and what we had to say about it:

Conspiracy Theories

Question: Lots of folks asked things about McGregor and his ‘fight’ at UFC 329, here are those:

• Conors pain management Dr visit was totally unrelated to the fight ending injury, right? (Lurker2006)
• Do you believe McGregor’s knee was at least partially injured before he even walked? (evidence seems to say so). Well maybe not completely torn, something was not right. (LoneCowboy)
• Was Conor in withdrawal from drugs and I think the whole thing was just pre-planned cash grab (Icedrocket)
• Did Conor blow a bunch of smoke up my ass (The_Citadel)

Andrew Richardson: I think every fighter that enters the cage at age 37 has at least minor injuries. It’s very common. I have a friend who fought his entire season of TUF with a torn meniscus … and won! So, I don’t think Mac pursuing pain relief fight week means anything, otherwise we’d have to investigate every day who shows up in the Octagon with cupping bruises.

Jesse Holland: I don’t believe he was injured heading into the fight. At the same time, I also think he likes keeping it a mystery, painting himself as the wounded warrior who soldiered on to keep the card together and deliver for his fans. He already pulled out with a broken pinky toe, so I’m sure a serious knee injury would have resulted in the similar fight delay. He certainly doesn’t need the money.

Thomas Myers: I don’t think he was seriously injured before he walked into T-Mobile. And I don’t think he’d do such a high-risk, low-reward move straight out of the gate if his knee was even remotely compromised. He’s on the wrong side of 35, hasn’t been in a cage for five years and abused his body for at least four of those five years, if not more. Just a recipe for utter disaster. Or, a simple case of cosmic karma.

Tim Edwards: I don’t buy that McGregor was hurt going into this fight. I know he’s desperate to get out of his deal, but we’ve seen that McGregor doesn’t like to fight when compromised. And the backstage footage of him drilling the kick looked pretty convincing to me that he was — physically — in the right shape for a fight. I do think he was mentally off his game heading into this one, though. I think at his age, coming off that injury, he wasn’t very confident about how he would do in this fight. I think he was looking to recapture that magic he had with Aldo by drilling and going for a quick killing blow (maybe he wanted to see if the titanium in his leg would help him out there). It was a desperate shot and I think that’s because he is a desperate fighter. He’s desperate to repeat his old glories and show the world (and himself) he’s still ‘Notorious’ for all the right reasons. He failed that last week. He’s never getting back what he had before the Mayweather fight. I think he might know that now.

How far can Basharat go?

Q: I thought the smaller Basharat brother was higher up in the pecking order but after watching him struggle at times vs a new comer and late replacement how far from the top 10 do you think he is? (Chucs)

Alex Behunin: I think Farid Basharat is very good and beats several people in the Top 15 rankings. He definitely didn’t look like a -500 favorite against John Garza, but then again, he was taking the fight on short notice, too (with a torn MCL). He isn’t the most exciting fighter to watch at all, but he’s very good.

Andrew Richardson: He’s slick enough to beat some ranked fighters but not dangerous enough that an athletic unranked guy couldn’t potentially spark him. Also, it’s hard to face guys on short-notice when you’ve been preparing for a different kind of challenge.

Thomas Myers: I’m not a fan of either and don’t think they will go near a title, ever.

Tim Edwards: Basharat feels a bit like a throwback to me. The sport used to be full of guys who could just win with their wrestling. But I feel like the base-level of wrestling defense is so much higher now that these wrestlers need very good striking to survive. I don’t think Basharat has the striking to be a real factor at this decision. Those leg kicks just aren’t going to cut it. He also just feels like he’s lacking some X Factor and doesn’t fight with much of a will to finish someone. I think he might break the top ten, but I don’t think he’ll ever break top five or challenge for a title unless he can make people respect his striking.

Whittaker’s future

Q: Sure he won but I didn’t love the way Robert Whittaker looked in that fight. He’s always seemed like one of the more reasonable, realistic and down to earth fighters. Do you think he will be honest with himself and hang it up or do you see him fighting we’ll past his prime and going through the grinder on the way out? (Chucs)

Alex Behunin: Throughout the week, Robert kept saying he only has a few more fights left (I’m guessing 3-4), so I don’t think he’ll stick around way past his prime. I think he’ll get a top Light Heavyweight next to see what’s up. If he wins, shoot him towards a title shot; if he loses, give him a couple of fights against fun fighters, and then he’ll retire in Australia in late 2027 or early 2028.

Andrew Richardson: I agree with Alex. Robert is on a run at the top, and if it ends catastrophically, expect one more fight in Australia to hopefully walk away with a win. War Bobby Knuckles!

Jesse Holland: Fighters are the first ones to know it’s over and the last ones to admit it, so I would expec

Fonte: MMA Mania — leia o original