Nah, he just came in without a full camp, and he ate a couple kicks that took the wind out of him. McGregor landed an excellent cross on him to finish the fight.
McGregor spent his entire camp preparing for a striker, not a power wrestler... Mendes had fought less than 2 months prior, and was in fighting shape. He had a few weeks notice, so it's not like he came into the fight with zero prep.
Most stoppages come from a fighter mentally giving in. Mendes did gas but when the take down didn't dominate McGregor he folded mentally. McGregor is beating fighters mentally much like Ali did. Like Ali, McGregor needs to find his Norton/Frazier, not just stylistically but mentally. Where nothing he says will faze his opponent. We'll find out if Aldo is that man.
No he just gassed out. Mendes was pushing a hard pace with the wrestling but he simply wasn't in the proper shape to maintain it without folding. I thought Mendes was going to stop the overhyped joke and if he gets a full camp he'll do just that. Can't wait for Aldo to teach this ***** as lesson.
At first I thought it was dive but the more I look at it McGregor did land a good one before Mendez went down.