Mendez: ‘The old Conor gives anybody challenges,’ the new one not so much
Javier Mendez isn’t high Conor McGregor’s skills anymore.
Six years ago, Conor McGregor was at the top of the mixed martial arts world and one of the biggest stars in all of sports, after becoming the first simultaneous two-division champion in the UFC. He’s still probably the highest PPV draw in MMA today, but his recent record leaves more to be desired as he has been stopped in three of his next four fights.
Javier Mendez, who coached against McGregor in his 2018 title bout with Khabib Nurmagomedov, doesn’t seem too high on the Irishman anymore after those recent losses.
Conor McGregor and Charles Oliveira have both repeatedly asked to fight each other in recent months, but Mendez doesn’t see the Irishman as much of a threat in that match up.
“I think the old Conor gives anybody challenges,” Mendez told Submission Radio. “But the new Conor that I’ve seen within the last three fights, no. No, I don’t.
“I don’t see him doing very much to Charles. The new guy, not the old guy. The old guy, yeah, a hundred percent.”
McGregor’s lone win in over half a decade was against the now retired Donald Cerrone, which marked his third straight TKO loss at the time. Despite Oliveira and McGregor’s desire to make it happen, the Irish star isn’t really in the title picture and has yet to fully recover from his injury.
Islam Makhachev will likely fight for the belt next, and even his coach in Mendez admits that “I see Oliveira as a huge threat” in that match up.