Conor’s Ground Game: No trolls allowed

[fightfan70]

His ground game has always been good, just not elite. But he did:

-Dominate Max Holloway on the ground with a torn ACL
-Out wrestled Nate Diaz in the last thirty seconds of the first round of their first fight when he was still fresh (funny how people forget that)
-Stuffed almost as many take downs from Chad Mendes as he fell victim to
-Stuffed every single take down that Eddie Alvarez came at him with

So he's obviously pretty good, and there's no telling how much better these last several months of training wrestling, TDD, Jiu-Jitsu has made him.

it is purely my opinion based on watching both fighters.

 

[TheLastEmperorReurns]

It looks like he gets a leg between him and Chad, bucks, sweeps, and scrambles. I'm tried tho, so I could be super wrong.

I might be super wrong about Diego. Am I mistaking it for his leg lock escape?

He scrambled out and it bodes well for him that he can get off his back like that but it's not a sweep because Chad didn't end up being the one on his back after that sequence.

 

[snackgod]

Alright I know 9/10 of the Conor threads are trolls trying to get a reaction.

I was talking to friend today (non mma fan) about Conor’s ground game.

He asked me “does Conor have a bad ground game?”

I had to take a breath before I answered.

I see so many trolls on here intentionally talking shit about McGregor or saying he’s the GOAT but I want honest feedback (with examples)

Would you say Conor’s ground game is above average for a current ufc fighter?

How about his take down defense?

I’m actually curious cause I know, despite thevtrolls, a few guys om here actually know about mma.

conor has zero ground game and his tdd is awful; khabib will have no trouble getting him down just like chad mendes did.

 

[West Linn]

Everyone is saying its either going to be a dominant win for Conor or Khabib. What if its a back and forth though?

It most likely will and we'll get a rematch immediately after.

 

[Bloodhound]

McGregor has a C level ground game and B+ level striking. (for MMA)

Khabib has D level striking and A+ level grappling.

 

[GreatSaintGuillotine]

He scrambled out and it bodes well for him that he can get off his back like that but it's not a sweep because Chad didn't end up being the one on his back after that sequence.

Yeah, that's right. Thanks for keeping me straight on that one.

I don't think Conor will have much of a chance to work sweeps and scrambles anyway. Khabib doesn't spend much time in guard and tends to lock up limbs rather quickly. It's certainly possible but it would be an uphill battle.

 

[NoSmilez]

Wrestling is not bjj....

 

[FireKidWS]

conor has zero ground game and his tdd is awful; khabib will have no trouble getting him down just like chad mendes did.

This is the kind of brainless bullshit that I was hoping to avoid.

Not even funny, just pure shit.

At least the front page trolls put in effort.


Appreciate those of you actually responding with intelligent replies/examples.

 

[Ever Watchful]

I'm just a man that watches fights, but his ground game seems to be underrated. Obviously its dramatically eclipsed by his stand up, but it is far from non existent like the hyperbole of Sherdog would have you believe.

Conor is just in a position that people will find and latch on to any narrative that paints his skills in a bad light, if they think there is even a single grain of truth in there somewhere. That's all it takes for them.

 

[snackgod]

This is the kind of brainless bullshit that I was hoping to avoid.

Not even funny, just pure shit.

At least the front page trolls put in effort.


Appreciate those of you actually responding with intelligent replies/examples.

your welcome.

chad took conor down easy so it shows his tdd isn't great,.

that only time I rememeber conor trying to get a takedown he ended up tapping out.

khabib as the most takedowns in ufc right now and conor cant in few months inprove someone is weaklink.

 

[FireKidWS]

your welcome.

chad took conor down easy so it shows his tdd isn't great,.

that only time I rememeber conor trying to get a takedown he ended up tapping out.

khabib as the most takedowns in ufc right now and conor cant in few months inprove someone is weaklink.

Chad Mendes is considered one of the p4p best wrestlers in mma.

To be taken down by him isn’t embarrassing.

 

[Cat Biscuits]

Khabib has held down much better wrestlers/grapplers. Conor will take a lot of damage on the ground.

 

[lsa]

It was my birthday today.. I got a shirt, some pants, and a piece of ass.. All three were about two sizes too big

 

[FireKidWS]

Khabib has held down much better wrestlers/grapplers. Conor will take a lot of damage on the ground.

See I keep seeing this.

But Conor’s take down defense seems vastly underrated.

Why do so many of his fights stay on the feet?

 

[oldschoolmmafan]

His ground game is not the problem, it is his cardio. He has above average ground game, better than most give credit.

 

[whaleshark]

His ground game is alright but his pullout game is terrible (keeps knocking up his side chick Dee)

 

[frye666]

In my opinion, Conor will be better on the ground than the majority think, but he still isn't on the level of Khabib by a fair margin.

 

[andy9432]

Conor sweeped Diaz, but his cardio isnt suited for gruelling ground battles

 

[Jin Akutsu]

This is the kind of brainless bullshit that I was hoping to avoid.

Not even funny, just pure shit.

At least the front page trolls put in effort.


Appreciate those of you actually responding with intelligent replies/examples.

My first Sherdog thread was showcasing some highlights of Conor's ground game. I kept up with most of it and just made some tweaks to this spoiler tag with all of the information. It is quite a lot, but I tried to organize it sensibly.

I edited it, in this post to update the outdated post.

Spoiler: Grappling GIFs/Vids/Discussions

Yeah, just wanted to chime in and say if you watch this fight at certain points you can see some good reason to believe he has at least decent wrestling skills. Not claiming Dave Hill to be an elite UFC fighter but he is a ground specialist with a lot of submissions and both fighters had similar records coming in.

8:38 - 9:11

Against a fighter who has tons of submission finishes, Conor McGregor is confident enough to pull guard at 8:44 and eventually posts back to his feet with the cage and reverses.

10:09 - 11:33

Seeing some great submission defense from Conor McGregor throughout this sequence as well.

13:08 - 13:34

The rest of the first round, Conor McGregor delivers some brutal elbows to punish a weak takedown attempt from Dave Hill and does cheat a bit with the cage to dominate the position to get to Hill's back and to attempt to set up a choke in the final seconds.

I won't bother analyzing the second round, don't want this to be too long of a post especially for a first one.

Just some footage and maybe some evidence we have to attest to Conor McGregor's dealings with a ground fighter. Surely, he has spent time and is beyond these levels at least with a decent progression already one would assume. Just wanted to see if I could add this to some discussion I see has been happening.
Sweeping Diaz (GFY):

Spoiler

Scrambling from guillotine against Mendes (GIF)

Spoiler

Reversal against Diego Brandao (GFY):

Spoiler

Wrestling control against Max Holloway (x.1.25 speed GIFs):

Spoiler

Conor McGregor BJJ Competition:



Robin Black's breakdown on Conor McGregor's TDD evolution. Upto 3:30 he pretty much covers the ground/TDD aspects:



Conor McGregor grappling open workout (pre-Holloway fight):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uohwrg3qPSk

UFC 189 open workout:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBCPAfVE3zY

I really hope this helps you TS.

 

[FireKidWS]

My first Sherdog thread was showcasing some highlights of Conor's ground game. I kept up with most of it and just made some tweaks to this spoiler tag with all of the information. It is quite a lot, but I tried to organize it sensibly.

I edited it, in this post to update the outdated post.

Spoiler: Grappling GIFs/Vids/Discussions

Yeah, just wanted to chime in and say if you watch this fight at certain points you can see some good reason to believe he has at least decent wrestling skills. Not claiming Dave Hill to be an elite UFC fighter but he is a ground specialist with a lot of submissions and both fighters had similar records coming in.

8:38 - 9:11

Against a fighter who has tons of submission finishes, Conor McGregor is confident enough to pull guard at 8:44 and eventually posts back to his feet with the cage and reverses.

10:09 - 11:33

Seeing some great submission defense from Conor McGregor throughout this sequence as well.

13:08 - 13:34

The rest of the first round, Conor McGregor delivers some brutal elbows to punish a weak takedown attempt from Dave Hill and does cheat a bit with the cage to dominate the position to get to Hill's back and to attempt to set up a choke in the final seconds.

I won't bother analyzing the second round, don't want this to be too long of a post especially for a first one.

Just some footage and maybe some evidence we have to attest to Conor McGregor's dealings with a ground fighter. Surely, he has spent time and is beyond these levels at least with a decent progression already one would assume. Just wanted to see if I could add this to some discussion I see has been happening.
Sweeping Diaz (GFY):

Spoiler

Scrambling from guillotine against Mendes (GIF)

Spoiler

Reversal against Diego Brandao (GFY):

Spoiler

Wrestling control against Max Holloway (x.1.25 speed GIFs):

Spoiler

Conor McGregor BJJ Competition:



Robin Black's breakdown on Conor McGregor's TDD evolution. Upto 3:30 he pretty much covers the ground/TDD aspects:



Conor McGregor grappling open workout (pre-Holloway fight):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uohwrg3qPSk

UFC 189 open workout:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBCPAfVE3zY

I really hope this helps you TS.

Really solid post.

Thanks.