The odds would suggest that Conor McGregor ought to walk away with the interim featherweight title at UFC 189.
Bookmakers more often than not get the event down to a tee but, sometimes, you’re better off going to the fight experts rather than the probability geeks when it comes to fight night.
Opinion is divided across the UFC roster as to who takes the main event of UFC 189 with McGregor v Mendes being the hot topic in any MMA interview you’ve heard over the past fortnight.
Fighters across every single weight division in the UFC have had their say on how they predict the fight will play out and the competitor to whom they’ve nailed their mast makes for interesting reading.
Team McGregor
Those fighters backing The Notorious include four reigning world champions in women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk, women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey, flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson and welterweight champion Robbie Lawler.
The Dubliner’s fellow Irishmen are also represented with both Cathal Pendred and Paul Redmond both telling SportsJOE that they’re confident of a McGregor win.
Team Mendes
Jose Aldo, who was supposed to headline this event, has put his backing behind Chad Mendes as have featherweight contenders Ricardo Lamas and Dustin Poirier.
Unsurprisingly there are a number of wrestlers behind Money with Daniel Cormier, Ben Askren and Johny Hendricks all subscribing to the theory that McGregor isn’t ready for Mendes’ grappling.
