Morning Report: Joe Rogan won’t discount Conor McGregor’s chances against Floyd Mayweather: ‘He has the touch of death’

With Conor McGregor saying recently that his highly anticipated super-fight with boxing great Floyd Mayweather is being targeted for September, everyone is starting to weigh in on who will get their hand raised if the two ever actually step into a boxing ring. And while many believe McGregor has no chance against Mayweather, don’t count UFC commentator Joe Rogan among them.

On a recent episode of his podcast The Joe Rogan Experience, Rogan gives his thoughts on the hypothetical matchup, saying that he favors Mayweather’s experience but that McGregor is still “dangerous.”

“Mayweather is a way better boxer. There’s just no doubt about it. He’s one of the greatest boxers, if not the greatest boxer that has ever lived. And even though he’s smaller, you’re talking about a completely different level of skill, a completely different level of understanding of the subtle nuances of boxing. But that said, Conor McGregor is not incompetent. He’s very dangerous. Floyd Mayweather’s a way better boxer, but Conor McGregor is dangerous as f**k and he has a really deceptive ability to move in and move out. He can cover distance very quickly and he can do so in a weird way. . . But if Floyd can figure him out and start using his jab and using his movement - see, Floyd has traditionally had problems with southpaws but he’s never lost to one. And we’re talking about professional boxers.”

Rogan goes on to discuss fighters who possess a unique kind of power in their strikes which confounds their opponents, drawing a parallel to former heavyweight boxing great George Foreman. Rogan says that both Foreman and McGregor have “the touch of death,” (a term coined from MMA coach Firas Zahabi) and that such power gives McGregor at least a puncher’s chance.

“That’s a freak athlete and those come along and when those come along, if they’re smart too, and then they’re really good at learning the sport too, a lot of people are f**ked. And that’s where Conor McGregor is. He’s a freak athlete in the sense that he has what Firas Zahabi . . . he calls it the ‘touch of death.’ That’s the best way to describe it. He just zaps people.

“Mayweather’s a way better boxer but the consequences of Conor hitting you should be greater.”

Rogan goes on to say that likely none of that matters because Mayweather has so much experience and McGregor has never even had a professional boxing match before, and that the gloves would likely lessen McGregor’s power as well as help Mayweather parry punches more effectively. In the end, Rogan suggests that Mayweather will likely win but he closes by paraphrasing McGregor’s insistence that Mayweather only has a chance because they will be boxing instead of fighting.

“If it was a fight, it would be 100 million to one that Conor would f**k him up.”

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VIDEO STEW

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FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

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Daniel Kelly (13-1) vs. Derek Brunson (16-5); UFC Fight Night: Auckland, June 10.

Douglas Lima (28-6) vs. Lorenz Larkin (18-5, 1 NC); Bellator 180, June 24.

Michael Chandler (16-3) vs. Brent Primus (7-0); Bellator 180, June 24.

Ilir Latifi (12-5, 1 NC) vs. Antonio Rogerio Noguiera (22-8); UFC Fight Night: OKC, June 25.

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TODAY IN MMA HISTORY

2007: Carlos Condit submitted John Alessio with a rear-naked choke at WEC 26 to claim the WEC welterweight championship. Also at this event, Urijah Faber submitted Dominick Cruz to retain his bantamweight title.

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FINAL THOUGHTS

A rare weekend without a UFC event to monopolize your time. There’s a good Invicta card on tomorrow evening y’all should check out but other than that, enjoy the weekend everybody and see y’all on Monday.

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