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In a throwback to the prime of Conor McGregor in the UFC, take a look at when he displayed cat-like reflexes - pun not intended - to avoid a hat thrown at him by Cat Zingano.
The footage, which resurfaced in the last few hours after it was posted by Zingano herself on Instagram, takes us all the way back to UFC 184 in February 2015. Zingano was undefeated and was heading into a huge title fight against Ronda Rousey who, at that stage, was putting together the run that really turned her into a global superstar.
Conor McGregor slips Cat Zingano’s throw
On her way to the octagon it’s clear to see Cat is incredibly focused - to the point where she didn’t seem to know who exactly she was throwing her hat at in the crowd.
“Who remember this and who remembers why? @thenotoriousmma”
Back then McGregor was, arguably, moving towards a 12-month stretch where he was at the very top of his game. From title wins to blockbuster grudge fights, nobody could touch Conor or what he was doing in or outside the cage - and that includes Zingano with this hilarious hat throw moment.
Some think we’ll never see that version of McGregor ever again, but if he’s going to bounce back, a great place to do it would be this summer as he prepares for his proposed trilogy fight against Dustin Poirier.
On the flip side, Cat Zingano is set to return to the Bellator cage to fight Olivia Parker at Bellator 256 on April 9. That fight will mark her second in the promotion after she made a winning debut against Gabby Holloway back in September.
We all know the story of how Zingano never quite recovered from the loss against Rousey that night, but in the eyes of MMA fans around the world, she’s still a beloved figure.
She isn’t going to go down in history as one of the greatest of all time but calling her anything other than a pioneer would be wrong.
Conor falls into the same kind of category, but his ultimate legacy is still yet to be fully decided.
