You’d do well to come up with two more dominant performances from a title challenger in recent memory than Conor McGregor’s victories over Jose Aldo and Eddie Alvarez.
The vision of Aldo’s limp body thudding against the mat in the MGM Grand Garden Arena will be played out on highlight reels for years to come as his five year reign atop the UFC’s featherweight division came to an end last December in one fell swoop when he lasted a mere 13 seconds against his fiercest rival.
Similarly, Alvarez now holds the unwanted honour of being the only UFC lightweight champion in history who has failed to defend the title. He was systematically dismantled and proven out of his depth on the feet against ‘The Notorious’ at UFC 205 in spite of the fact that he had seemingly asked for the “gimme fight” with McGregor.
Newly crowned lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez wants "gimme fight" with Conor McGregor https://t.co/gmkEPaZ4nR
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) July 8, 2016
What do Aldo and Alvarez have in common, apart from the fact that they were both steamrolled by the Irishman and had their belts ripped away in the process?
Well they both brought the same sparring partner in to training camp to emulate McGregor.
Jonas Bilharinho was thought to be Aldo’s secret weapon as he prepared for his grudge match with the Dubliner.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zUGHfQ9HpI
A former Jungle Fight champion with a background in karate, capoeira, taekwondo and kickboxing, Bilharinho was thought to be the perfect man to replicate the sensational striking abilities of McGregor.
It was not just the 26-year-old’s technical skills that were believed to be a mirror image of those in the toolbox of McGregor but it was his tendency to trash-talk midway through sparring sessions that was hoped would act as preparation for McGregor’s verbose ways.
So mouthy was Bilharinho that he actually made Aldo lose the plot in one of their training sessions.
Jose Aldo lost the plot when his sparring partner mimicked Conor McGregor's trash-talk http://t.co/CBYoQhMQtW pic.twitter.com/dtefKtd2XD
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) June 23, 2015
McGregor didn’t even get the opportunity to say a word to Aldo when the Octagon door slammed shut last December as the unification bout was over before referee John McCarthy was able to get his gloves properly adjusted.
But some thought that counter left hook was a lucky shot, a fluke that didn’t properly reflect the training put in by Aldo.
Alvarez clearly subscribed to that theory as he also drafted in Bilharinho to help him become accustomed to what it would be like in real combat against McGregor.
Alvarez’s head coach Mark Henry revealed that the Brazilian had been training with his team ahead of UFC 205 as his reputation as a McGregor mimic continued.
AWESOME workout wit Champ @Ealvarezfight & @JonasSpeed!! @andersonfranca. TEAM @RenzoGracieBJJ @Almeidabjj LETS GO! pic.twitter.com/nI2BJUf4dU
— Mark Henry (@MarkCoachmark13) October 24, 2016
UFC 205’s headliner between McGregor and Alvarez may have lasted longer than the Irishman’s demolition job on Aldo but it was no less one-sided.
‘The Notorious’ had his way with the defending 155lbs champion. There’s no other way to describe his history-making victory.
McGregor has had plenty of stunning performances in the UFC but the top two are arguably the wins over Alvarez and Aldo, both of whom felt that they had an ace in the hole in the form of Bilharinho.
Who knows who will be standing opposite McGregor when he makes his return to the Octagon following the birth of his first child?
But we reckon it’s a safe bet that Bilharinho’s phone won’t be ringing off the hook in the build-up.
