American Kickboxing Academy coach Javier Mendez believes Conor McGregor hasn’t changed since his fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Islam Makhachev recently reversed his previous position and expressed interest in facing McGregor. When asked about why Makhachev was interested in McGregor, Mendes, who coached both Makhachev and Nurmagomedov at AKA, stated the obvious: a huge paycheck and instant stardom.
“Big fights, huge amounts of money. And when you’re a champion, when you’re a prize fighter, at the end of the day you fight for prizes and money,” Mendes told Submission Radio. “So this is a huge fight for Islam and his stock is going to go up a lot. Whether you like him or hate him, Conor definitely brings it to the table.”
Makhachev is open to fighting McGregor, but the lightweight champion is highly dismissive of the Irishman, who believes McGregor is long past his prime. Mendes also believes “Notorious” is not the same since losing his title to Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 in 2018. 2018.
“he [McGregor] “It’s a lottery ticket for a lot of guys,” Mendez said. “Why would a heavier guy call him and say, ‘Oh, he’s heavier now, so let’s give him a shout-out.'” Yes, he changed their lives for the money and fame that came with fighting. That’s a big deal, we all want that award. He has it, he is the prize, he knows it. But the problem is, as Islam said, he doesn’t think he is [McGregor] He’s the same fighter he was when he was beating Jose Aldo, Chad Mendes, guys, Eddie Alvarez. He was that guy and then I met Khabib, the hype guy, and that was the real hype. So I don’t think he’s been the same since. Not really. Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t think I’m wrong. I don’t think he’s been the same since the Khabib fight. ”
After making significant improvements, McGregor challenged Nurmagomedov’s lightweight title in the main event of UFC 229. UFC 229 remains the highest-grossing Ultimate Fighting Championship event in history. McGregor suffered a fourth-round submission loss to the Dagestani icon. The Irishman bounced back with a TKO win over Donald Cerrone, but suffered back-to-back stoppage losses to Dustin Poirier and suffered a broken leg that kept him out for many years. The former two-time UFC champion is set to finally return after a three-year hiatus in the main event of UFC 303 on June 29th against Michael Chandler.
