No matter how things go for Conor McGregor against Chad Mendes on Saturday at UFC 189, we’ll come out of it with a clearer idea of what kind of fighter McGregor can truly be.
Until now, we’ve had to take his word for it. He’s jetted to a 5-0 record in the UFC and has dispatched everyone matchmakers have handed him with extreme prejudice. He had never fought anybody as good as Jose Aldo, however, and—even now that the true featherweight champion is out with an injury—he’s never fought anybody like Mendes, either.
You might say this matchup is going to go a long way toward separating the facts from the fiction about McGregor.