After Winning UFC 189, Conor McGregor Is Dubbed UFC’s New Brock Lesnar — Is There Any Truth To That?

On Saturday, July 11, 2015, MMA fans were given a treat during UFC’s marquee premier event for the month, UFC 189: Mendes vs. McGregor. By all accounts, the pay-per-view was one of the best seen in the sport in quite some time. All the fights on the main card were mostly exciting, with finishes (no decisions). As for both championship fights, they were memorable in some way. It is now debated among the MMA community if UFC 189: Mendes vs. McGregor will go down as the best UFC premier event of all time.

Besides the debate about UFC 189: Mendes vs. McGregor, there are two other arguments following the aftermath of the pay-per-view. The first is if Robbie Lawler and Rory MacDonald will ever be the same again after what they put themselves through. The second, and probably the most peculiar, is if Conor McGregor is the “new” Brock Lesnar after winning the UFC interim featherweight championship.

Though the one pertaining to Robbie Lawler and Rory MacDonald is easy to debate, why would anyone relate Conor McGregor to Brock Lesnar? Thankfully, the comparison has been analyzed and broken down, and it seems the comparison isn’t one of statistics, but career direction and rare star power.

The novella-length analysis was exclusively done by Bleacher Report. As mentioned earlier, Conor McGregor is not called the “new” Brock Lesnar due to statistics. How could it be, when Lesnar is a heavyweight fighter with a past history in amateur wrestling and WWE, while McGregor had a short MMA career prior to his UFC debut. The first is rare star power. Both UFC fighters are charismatic in their own way. Lesnar broke onto the scene by claiming UFC (or MMA in general) became boring and he would liven it up. McGregor, on the other hand, has a bit of an attitude and a mouth to go with it. Nevertheless, what they have done is provide hype and anticipation for their fights just by pitching their personalities.

McGregor is no Lesnar and Lesnar is no McGregor, but MMA hasn’t felt this ‘big’ since Lesnar left. I’ve missed it.

— Luke Thomas (@SBNLukeThomas) July 12, 2015

Apparently, their super stardom isn’t the only similarity between Brock Lesnar and Conor McGregor. Both seem to have a very similar UFC career path. First off, both entered the promotion relatively early in their careers, where both gunned for their respective titles upon entry, and, of course, both have won in their inaugural championship matches. Afterwards, as champions, both were given the task of reviving The Ultimate Fighter. Finally, both managed to become UFC champion, while being almost entirely one-dimensional in the Octagon, with all their flaws on display to such an extent, every fan, analyst, and future opponent could pick them apart.

However, there is one glaring similarity that both Brock Lesnar and Conor McGregor have considered a flaw. Both fighters are lenient on improving in areas they are weak in. For Lesnar, it is his striking (believe it or not). For McGregor, it is his wrestling. Neither of them show any signs of improving in said weak areas, either.

Though it is unknown for now if Conor McGregor’s stubbornness to improve in wrestling will backfire on him, Brock Lesnar’s decision to keep his training one-dimensional did backfire. Lesnar has his own private gym at home, with hand-picked training partners that catered to his style. Though Lesnar had a lot of power, he lacked in technique, as detailed by both Bas Rutten and Shane Carwin. As for McGregor, he is kind of doing the same by calling the age-old improvement of one’s fighting ability by searching the best for a “sign of weakness,” though it could be he is overly loyal to his present team.

“I always believed in my team. I always believed that we were the best, and I was right. You know, people leave their coaches and go to new gyms. It’s a sign of a weak fighter to me. It’s a sign of a weak mind.”

Only time will tell if Conor McGregor will change his ways to remain king of the featherweight hill. However, if he opts to follow the championship regime Brock Lesnar had, McGregor better not be surprised if his reign is a short one.

Now that you know why some people in the MMA community are comparing Conor McGregor to Brock Lesnar, what are your views? Do you think McGregor is just like “The Beast” in terms of super stardom and career path, or are those who think they are similar just way off?

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