Donald Cerrone will always be seen as a legend of the sport. Walking away with a record number of UFC wins, Cerrone was one of the biggest names in MMA. However, many have often drawn interesting conclusions about his fight against Conor McGregor.
Taking on McGregor in the main event of UFC 246, many were hyped to see two of the biggest names in the sport throw down. Notably, the fight was a welterweight contest which marked McGregor’s return to the sport after a nearly 2-year hiatus. On the night, McGregor dominated the proceedings, finishing the fight within 40 seconds of the very first round.
Whilst the showing was seen as an emphatic return for McGregor, many accused Cerrone of ‘throwing the fight’ for a huge payday. Having been plagued with accusations of taking a dive ever since Cerrone finally broke his silence on the matter. “Everybody thinks the UFC paid me to take a dive, you couldn’t pay me enough money to tarnish my soul. As such, Cerrone believes he was not in the right head space coming into the fight.
“The problem with that fight is, I couldn’t get in the right head space ever. So when they showed me the exit in the cage, I took it.” Thus with some fights, ‘Cowboy’ understood that sometimes you just need to get out. On some occasions, fighters may not feel their best and essentially ‘give up’, in order to limit the damage they take inside the Octagon.
Are the Conor McGregor fights fixed?
For a long time, many fans have accused Conor of cherry-picking his fights. In this case, Cerrone was coming off back-to-back losses to Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje. Safe to say, it was already the beginning of the end of Cowboy’s career.
Thereafter, he was fed to wolves when he took on a returning McGregor. Now, ahead of his return to the Octagon, following a devastating shin fracture during his last fight, McGregor has been presented with an opponent in a similar stage in his career. Michael Chandler, although a tough fight for any lightweight contender, has not had the best record in the UFC so far. Currently 2-3 in the UFC, his record makes for poor reading.
As such, many have accused Chandler of deliberately taking a dive in his previous fights in order to get his showdown with McGregor. After losing to Dustin Poirier at UFC 281, Chandler would be left with more losses than wins in the UFC. However, he remains an entertaining fighter and one that fans will always queue up to watch.
With McGregor needing a win after such a lengthy layoff, Chandler is perfect to get him into the game again. Whilst many will feel that the UFC has put in Chandler to make it easier for McGregor, many insist that Chandler is responsible for getting himself in the position to fight McGregor. Now whether Chandler truly wishes to beat McGregor or simply take home a big payday, only time will tell.
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