10 Conor McGregor "What Ifs"

By 2015, McGregor was by far the most popular, exciting and in-form fighter in the featherweight division. His fame had risen so fast that he was granted a title fight against the long-time featherweight champion Jose Aldo who hadn’t suffered a defeat in a decade.

The much-anticipated bout was scheduled for UFC 189 in Las Vegas, however on the 23 June, Aldo withdrew with a fractured rib just 18 days before the fight, leaving the UFC 189 in dismay. UFC veteran Chad Mendes was thrust into the match with McGregor as a last-minute replacement, and the two would compete for an interim title, with the winner going on to face Jose Aldo in a unification bout.

Mendes brought a whole host of new challenges to McGregor with his wrestling and pressure style of fighting. McGregor spent much of the first-round with his back to the mat, and he took a lot of ground-and-pound damage with Mendes raining down elbows and punches onto the Irishman. McGregor survived the barrage of strikes and some submission attempts, to make it to the second round, which saw a tired Mendes succumb to his striking prowess and suffering a second-round knockout defeat.

McGregor wore UFC gold that night, but even in victory, serious questions were raised about his ability to best those fighters that excelled in wrestling and grappling. Mendes dominated him in the first round but emptied the tank in doing so, something which may not have been a problem if he hadn’t been a late replacement, taking the bout without a full camp behind him. The UFC was accused of protecting their Irish cash-cow from the wrestlers in the featherweight division, with Frankie Edgar being touted as the man to bring the McGregor hype train to a clattering halt.