Let’s forget all that for a moment and think about how McGregor can actually beat a behemoth like Lesnar — because it’s possible. This is MMA and in this sport, anything can happen.
McGregor is certainly quicker than Lesnar, unquestionably.
Lesnar has his size and strength, yes, and he could conceivably take McGregor down at will but McGregor has a skill advantage. His striking is way more advanced and if McGregor and Lesnar were both the same size, he’d be the absolute favorite to win.
But they’re not the same size. As the saying goes, it only takes a good big man to beat a great little man. This for the most part is true, although there is another saying that says skill beats size 99 times out of a hundred.
Yet the truth of the matter is, skill does not always beat size.
Look at how ONE Championship’s lightweight titleholder Shinya Aoki fared against the great Fedor Emelianenko. Aoki, a Jiujitsu legend, is leagues better than Emelianenko on the ground, yet ‘The Last Emperor’ submitted ‘The Grandmaster of Flying Submissions’ with ease during an exhibition match in Japan.
This is because Aoki gave up nearly a hundred pounds to Emelianenko. No amount of skill can overcome that much of a weight and strength disadvantage.
Examining a more recent fight, the one which took place between UFC middleweight legend Anderson Silva and UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier, it was a little closer on paper as both men were competing at light heavy.
Yet Silva was simply no match for Cormier’s size and wrestling ability.
In MMA, size is much tougher to overcome than skill. Strength means everything, that’s why a really big guy with ample wrestling skills can really be successful in the cage.
Sorry to disappoint McGregor fans looking for a puff piece on how the great Mystic Mac can pull off the impossible. It’s just not happening, not in fantasy, and not in real life. Lesnar will roll over McGregor with ease.
If Shane Carwin, a man Lesnar’s size couldn’t affect the former heavyweight champ with the nuclear bombs he landed on Lesnar’s chin, I don’t know how McGregor’s pitty-pat punches will.
Truth is, Lesnar is nicknamed ‘The Beast Incarnate’ for a reason. There’s no way McGregor is overcoming that.
Luckily for McGregor, he only has to worry about a guy his own size. In a couple of weeks’ time, McGregor will rematch Nate Diaz at UFC 202, which takes place August 20 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Feature image credit: Paulie on Youtube
