VIDEO | Does this slo-mo footage debunk Conor McGregor’s knockdown of Paulie Malignaggi?

Over the last week, it seems that all anybody has been able to talk about is the knockdown Conor McGregor allegedly scored on former two-division boxing champion Paulie Malignaggi during a sparring session. This controversy erupted after UFC President Dana White shared footage – albeit a mere seconds of footage – that shows McGregor pelting Malignaggi with punches, and Malignaggi hitting the canvas.

The footage has divided the combat sports world. There are those who believe that McGregor indeed did drop his accomplished foe, which would of course reflect well on his chances against Mayweather. There are those who believe the knockdown was really more of a push, and that the footage was too short to make any real deduction with.

The fan behind the video at the top of this post falls into the latter category. In this eight-minute video, he attempts to debunk McGregor’s knockdown by pointing out that the footage is constructed of two different segments of their sparring footage, and arguing that none of McGregor’s punches actually landed – though this is purely conjecture.

Check the video out for yourself, and see if it changes your opinion.

Conor McGregor will box Floyd Mayweather on August 26.

When we last saw McGregor in the Octagon, he authored an artful knockout of Eddie Alvarez to win the UFC lightweight title. Given that he still owned the UFC featherweight title at that time, this made him the first fighter in promotional history to hold titles in two weight classes concurrently. He is 21-3 as a pro mixed martial artist, and 0-0 as a pro boxer.

Mayweather, meanwhile, is a sparkling 49-0 as a pro boxer. After his last fight, a 2015 decision defeat of Andre Berto, the boxing legend elected to hang up the gloves. Yet this lucrative crossover fight with McGregor was apparently enough to pull him back to the ring.

Do you think Conor McGregor really dropped Paulie Malignaggi?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 8/13/2017.