Conor McGregor forced into embarrassing move after Alexander Volkanovski loss at UFC 298
The UFC icon deleted his incorrect UFC 298 predictions after Alexander Volkanovski was dethroned by Illia Topuria.
Conor McGregor's days of correctly predicting how fights will play out are seemingly behind him, after being wide of the mark in some of his UFC 298 predictions. The self-appointed 'Mystic Mac' took to social media ahead of the stellar UFC event to forecast how the main fights on the card would end.
Despite having not fought for two-and-a-half years following a technical knockout defeat to Dustin Poirier, the 35-year-old continues to make headlines as he flirts with a return to the Octagon. In the meantime, out of the cage, the Irish megastar posts his takes on upcoming fights and takes potshots at rivals.
'Cocky': Alexander Volkanovski's brutal slap down of Ilia Topuria move
OH MY GOSH: Adesanya left stunned after 'biggest' upset in UFC history
Before UFC 298, McGregor made a host of predictions about how the event would pan out on social media. "Awesome night of UFC fights tonight. Garry is going to run through Geoff in the first round. Volk will get hurt early but come back and KO Ilia. Over in 2 rounds. Costa and Whittaker will have a good three-round exchange as will Merab and Henry. Have a good evening everyone," McGregor wrote on X, in a post that has since been deleted.
But things played out a little differently. Alexander Volkanovski was brutally stopped in the second round by Ilia Topuria and while he correctly forecasted that the fights between Robert Whittaker and Paulo Costa and Merab Dvalishvili and Henry Cejudo would go the distance, his prediction about fellow countryman Ian Garry was also incorrect.
Garry's fight with Geoff Neal went all three rounds, with the Irishman managing to get his hand raised by way of a split decision. While McGregor's predictions weren't a complete disaster, the MMA star was clearly embarrassed by them, wiping them off all social media platforms after Topuria claimed the featherweight title.
It is not the first time McGregor has deleted his tweets after an incorrect statement. Last year he announced he was making a return to the UFC in December against Michael Chandler and claimed he would knock him out in the third round. But December came and went, as did the tweet, and as it stands McGregor is still yet to have a fight booked in the UFC.
Illia Topuria calls out Conor McGregor after winning the featherweight title
After a monumental win against Volkanovski, Topuria immediately called out the Irishman for a fight. Despite it being many years since McGregor has fought at lightweight, the Spaniard was keen to tee up a showdown between the two power punchers.
"Dana (White), it's showtime, it’s time to take the UFC to Spain," Topuria declared in his Octagon interview. "Conor McGregor, if you still have some balls, I will be waiting for you in Spain!" The Irishman promptly replied on Instagram: "I have huge balls, I’ve four kids."
While post-fight Garry also mentioned the Irishman and put his hand up to be on a UFC card with him. "There's a certain superstar called Conor McGregor, he's looking to fight in July in international fight week against Michael Chandler," Garry said. "That's a huge fight, you have the biggest superstar of all time in the sport, but he's also Irish. What's the perfect way to represent the Irish? To put me in the co-main event, fighting 'Chaos' Colby Covington.
"So you've got Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler main event, co-main, Ian Machado Garry vs. Colby 'Chaos' Covington. That would be a big night for the Irish, a big night for the UFC, and a big night in my book to silence that mouthpiece."
Sign up to our newsletter and score the biggest sport stories of the week.
