Imagine the sensation, the reverberating shock around the world, that would be caused if, on August 26 in their crossover “Super-Fight,” MMA star Conor McGregor “did something crazy;” say perhaps, by deciding to launch, and land, a kick on his opponent Floyd Mayweather Junior!
It would be a cheap shot, but one that would cost McGregor anything but a cheap amount of cash by way of a fine (and of course, Floyd has himself covered for just such an eventuality; a monstrous fine to be issued if McGregor does forget which martial art he is practising in Vegas in August). But as fight fans know, anything – anything – can happen in a ring (or a cage), especially when things get heated and fighter A is so badly getting beaten and/or frustrated by fighter B.
And one man close to the situation, Nate Jones, co-trainer of Mayweather, admits he is “concerned McGregor might do something crazy” during the heavily hyped/much maligned bout.
“One way I can see the fight ending is Floyd outboxing him, beating the crap out of him,” Jones said to The Independent. “Another way I’m gonna be concerned about is when Floyd gets to a point where he frustrates him too much, McGregor’s gonna do something crazy. That’s the only thing I’m worried about. I would be more concerned about this fight because Floyd’s a little older now. He’s 40 years old, McGregor has crazy weird power and he’s got weird shots from weird angles. I’m worried about that.”
Some MMA pundits have suggested that McGregor would achieve “folk hero” status if he were to blast Mayweather into a state of concussion by way of a kick or some other MMA move (even if such an act would cost McGregor big bucks – to the tune of around $500 million). Is McGregor “crazy” enough to adopt some of the fighting tactics he has known for years and years? Might a groggy McGregor fire back with an MMA move out of sheer instinct when hurt?
As much as many fans love to hate Mayweather, it’s possible, very much so, that if something “crazy” did happen on the part of McGregor, with Floyd left in pain or even KO’d, these same fans would actually like it; even celebrate it. Maybe they would even side with McGregor!
Nobody has been able to defeat Mayweather in a fair fight. Might Nate Jones’ concerns prove prophetic and might McGregor’s raw fighting passion reach boiling point on August 26? The thought of seeing something truly shocking might ensure a few hundred thousand extra pay-per-view buys.