Just how ‘Mystic’ has Conor McGregor been with his UFC fight predictions?
Conor McGregor celebrates his 13-second knockout of Jose Aldo to win the UFC featherweight title at UFC 194 in Las Vegas on Dec. 12, 2015. Credit: Newsday/Jeffrey Basinger
UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor has a winning record inside the octagon.
“Mystic Mac” has had less success, but it still doesn’t prevent MMA fans from being entertained when McGregor makes predictions for his fights.
With a fight against lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez coming up Nov. 12 at UFC 205 in New York City, take a look at just how mystic McGregor has been in the past two-plus years.
UFC Fight Night Dublin: Conor McGregor vs. Diego Brandao
Prediction: McGregor said he would put Brandao against the fence quickly, then press him and drop him in the first round.
Result: McGregor pressured Brandao most of the fight, then hit him with a couple of shots that dropped Brandao. McGregor finished Brandao with a series of strikes 4:05 into round one on July 19, 2014.
UFC 178: Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier
Prediction: McGregor predicted he’d jab Poirier hard, then finish him with a first-round knockout.
Result: Right jab, straight left, Poirier falls, a few more hammer fists and there’s “Mystic Mac” with the KO 1:46 into the fight on Sept. 27, 2014.
UFC Fight Night 59: Conor McGregor vs. Dennis Siver
Prediction: McGregor said he didn’t see Siver making beyond two minutes of their fight.
Result: “Mystic Mac” missed on this one. Just over a minute into the second round, McGregor dropped Siver with a left to the body. He mounted Siver and finished him with strikes at the 1:54 mark on Jan. 18, 2015.
UFC 189: Conor McGregor vs. Chad Mendes
Prediction: McGregor predicted that by four minutes into the first round of this interim featherweight title fight, “Chad will be unconscious.” UFC president Dana White also said that McGregor wanted to bet him and then-owner Lorenzo Fertitta $3 million that he would knock out Mendes in the second round.
Result: McGregor beat Mendes, who took the fight on 11 days’ notice after Jose Aldo pulled out with a rib injury, by TKO with three seconds left in the second round on July 11, 2015.
UFC 194: Conor McGregor vs. Jose Aldo
Prediction: McGregor said he expected Aldo to overload with a right hand and that McGregor would side-step it and knock out Aldo in the first round.
Result: Um, yeah, he nailed this one. Aldo came in with a big overhand right, and McGregor popped him with a left hook on the chin and knocked out Aldo 13 seconds into the featherweight title fight on Dec. 12, 2015.
UFC 196: Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz
Prediction: McGregor was supposed to fight Rafael Dos Anjos for his lightweight title, but RDA pulled out with a foot injury. Nate Diaz accepted the fight on two weeks’ notice. McGregor then predicted a first-round knockout.
Result: This was the first time “Mystic Mac” got both the winner and method wrong. Diaz submitted McGregor late in the second round on March 5, 2016.
UFC 202: Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz 2
Prediction: For the rematch, which also was contested at welterweight, McGregor said he’d knock out Diaz in the second round.
Result: Not quite, although McGregor knocked down Diaz twice in the second round. McGregor won a majority decision on Aug. 20, 2015.
UFC 205: Conor McGregor vs. Eddie Alvarez
Prediction: At the UFC 205 news conference in New York City, McGregor said, “Mystic Mac predicts, I’m gonna KO you inside one round.”
Result: We’ll find out Nov. 12
Mark La Monica is a deputy sports editor at Newsday. He also covers mixed martial arts.
