McGregor and the Mandela effect
Not everything seems the same after you see it from a different perspective
4 min readJan 4, 2022
With a slap it all started, ending with a bunch of local police officers escorting both the fighters out of the ring. One can’t describe the true emotions running, you had to be there to feel it. From the run-up of the event till the end, the drama was always high. Fueled by insults and rants, racial slurs, no holds were barred; Conor went on and dragged Khabib’s relations in the Press-Conference. Acts from Conor showed that discipline was never in his dictionary.
The cage doors locked and clenched fists were thrown, towards the end, the Irish fans were heartbroken. The outcome as witnessed by 2.4m eager fans might recall being bitter for some vengeful for others. Some avid watchers might even remember the ever-famous commentary in the 2nd round where Joe and a former Bantamweight champion started arguing on Conor’s strategy. The former arguing that Conor was taking shots on his face to tire Khabib out, seemed like a pretty mind-altering plan! All said and done Conor tapped out to a rear naked choke, and maintained no eye contact as the eagle rose on top him.
Khabib went on to defend his belt for another 2 years and finally retired owing to a promise made to his mom. Some argue that his father’s untimely death had an effect on his motivation to continue in the sport. As far as Conor, it has been a gruelling ride with just 1 win in 5 years. Most agree that Khabib’s beating effected Conor, but taking a closer look at the match gives us a greater depth about his performance. Did he really get rag-dolled, or was it the Mandela effect and misconceptions caused due to the events that followed after the glory match.
Everyone were on the edge of their seats when Khabib landed an overhand right flush on Conor in the second round. Down went the King of Knockouts, he was on the floor to everyone’s surprise. The fight went towards the route that was least expected. I think that this had a dynamo effect on Conor’s stamina, motive, and hopes, the punch was a reality check in sorts. But quite surprisingly Conor’s drills of endless wrestling seemed to have helped him. He defended the takedowns really well considering that he was coming of a two year layoff. One must also remember that Conor had previously been on a Boxing fight with one of the all-time greats Floyd Mayweather Jr., naturally the fight camps training and muscle structure is changed as the format is different in boxing compared to MMA. For comparison his last foe Gaethje, who was considered to be his biggest threat due to his wrestling background, had a lesser takedown defense percentage than Conor’s. In fact Conor managed to defend takedowns 4 times successfully and got up once instantly to reduce ground time effectively. While they might argue that Gaethje’s attack was varied, it isn’t evident as it was just that Conor went for the body and Gaethje invested in the legs. These differences between his Khabib’s last 2 opponents and Conor show that he was the best shot at getting at the formidable russian champion.
However Conor’s promises came back to bite him, as he couldn’t live up to them. This also partially affects the way people view this match.
When asked about the match, most reply that it was a thorough beating. I disagree as they view it in the eyes that it is obvious for Conor to win as he must be having the kryptonite to Khabib’s russian grappling, for he talked so much before the fight. He was perceived as the bad boy, the bully who needs to lose, obviously the majority is happy when the bullies get humbled. Everyone found a villain to hate on after the fight. Ironically, Khabib’s last two fighters, Gaethje and Poirier couldn’t even land more strikes on him combined than Conor did, keep in mind that both of them are elite level strikers. This also leads to the supposition that Conor at least had won one round against Khabib. The third round seemed to favor Conor as he had rocked Khabib once and landed a significantly higher amount of strikes whilst showing greater Octagon control. Conor landed 34 significant strikes whereas Khabib struggled to put up with him. Towards the end, Conor still held the higher strike percentage. Forget winning, Poirier couldn’t even score well on the judge’s scorecards. Dustin lasted just 3 and Gaethje held on for 2 rounds, while Conor defended himself from tricky situations for the most part of 4 rounds. Conor never got the credit he deserved of being the best of the rest, he was came the closest to matching a flawless Khabib. But all he got was hate humiliation and humble speeches from bystanders.
While others gave up Conor threw the kitchen’s sink at this match and for that he is a true hero and an arrogant cocky gladiator who performs to entertain, no matter the circumstances.
