Conor’s Ground Game: No trolls allowed

[Usedtobeablackbelt]

Jesus Christ Conor haters are actually so broke they can't even bet 20 bucks on 100% Khabib's win
That's actually sad
GIVE JADAKISS

 

[hot carl]

It's not as bad as some folks make it out to be, and I would assume it's a great deal better now, as he's been grappling non-stop since the floyd fight.

Can he hang with Khabib on the ground? I have serious reservations thinking that is possible, but I have certainly been proven 100% completely wrong in the past.

All I know is I can't wait for this showdown in the cage. These are two guys with legit beef who are very talented within their given strengths.

I’d say that it is generally untested.

He looked good at times in the Diaz fight, and he was very defensive in the Mendes fight.

Looking at the Mendes fight, and I might get some hate here, I tend to think that his gameplan was strike heavy because he was supposed to fight Aldo. A last minute opponent change isn’t a great barometer of his ground game.

Mendes took him down and Conor held his own, but he wasn’t planning on fighting a wrestler. Had he been planning on fighting a wrestler, I suspect he would have prepared differently.

I suspect he’s known for a while that he would be fighting khabib next and I suspect he will be prepared, at least to the extent that he can be.

So, I saw his ground game is untested. Having him know he will be fighting khabib, I suspect he will do better than many expect.

Also, khabib is good—no question, but I seem to recall Raging al doing at least ‘ok’ on the ground at times in their fight.

I also point out that people fight strangely against Conor—whether it be emotion or hubris or a lack of respect, I don’t know.

Eddie is a tough, crafty dude with a ton of experience. In the fight with Conor, it looked like his gameplan went out the window and he fought with little to no fight iq. I still think that fight is more competitive if Eddie fights smart.

Aldo was the king of the mountain for years, and he made a mistake he usually doesn’t make when he fought Conor and paid the price.

This fight, in my opinion, has more intangibles than people want to admit or acknowledge.

If khabib stands in one spot and Conor throws, he will knock khabib out.

If Conor stands in one spot too high, khabib will take him down.

These might happen, but I think it’s a rather superficial analysis of the fight.

I expect Conor to land on khabib, and I expect khabib to take Conor down. I don’t know that either of these occurrences in isolation will end this fight.

Other than that, I don’t know what will happen. That is a big part of what makes this fight so fun.

The only 2 outcomes that would surprise me are:
1) khabib koing Conor standing in the first minute and
2) Conor taking khabib down in the first minute and finishing him.

Other than that, nothing will surprise me.

I hope everyone enjoys the fight.

 

[GSP(EE)]

From what I have seen and read , his top game is great but his bottom game is probably average to above . Eddie Bravo said he was legit though .

 

[Furious77]

Well considering Alverez had no issue wrestle fucking black belt pettis who subbed olivera and bendo, couldn't even keep Conor against the cage. It might not be top level but his tdd is underrated.

No issue? Eddie looked like shit against Pettis. Honestly that was one of the worst performances I've ever seen. Imo Pettis held is own against him.

 

[StoneWT]

Real question is grappling game when fresh versus tired/damaged.

Fresh, unhurt Canner survives a full round if Kabob takes him down. Tired, hurt Canner loses if he is taken down at the beginning of a round.

7 of 10 when fresh with a drop of .75 to 1.5 each round due to being tired and/or hurt.

 

[SKITZADACTYL]

obviously it's not as bad as his bitter little haters make it seem, people act like getting taken down by MENDES and controlled for a bit, or getting subbed by NATE is embarrassing.


it's average for a top 10 fighter (i'm sure it's above average for anyone outside the top 10), but obviously theres no gray area when it comes to conor, somethings either the best or the worst.

 

[TapMachine]

obviously it's not as bad as his bitter little haters make it seem, people act like getting taken down by MENDES and controlled for a bit, or getting subbed by NATE is embarrassing.

Getting subbed by Nate is not embarrassing, the embarrassing part is getting taken down by him.

 

[SKITZADACTYL]

Getting subbed by Nate is not embarrassing, the embarrassing part is getting taken down by him.

in what, the 5th round after conor was exhausted?

and once in the first fight after nate caught a kick.

 

[Guld]

His Jits, even off his back, is actually solid.

His TDD as far as muscling off a TD isn't great, but his ability to keep proper range and use his right hand to gauge + stiff arm his opponent is. Jones does the same thing, the only difference is that Conor uses his off hand on his opponent's shoulder, and Jones usually goes for their face. Hence the eyepokes.

Because of this, Conor is vulnerable to people with power doubles, but it ends up being a LARGE commitment by the other fighter to land and secure the TDs.

Even if Khabib lands a TD and secures the round, I still think the matchup favors Conor.

With that being said, Conor might be overconfident that Khabib WON'T strike, and Khabib COULD catch him with a TD fake into a power shot. Normally his stiff arm technique I mentioned above mitigates that from happening, but who knows.

 

[TapMachine]

in what, the 5th round after conor was exhausted?

and once in the first fight after nate caught a kick.

Getting exhausted and having your leg caught are not valid excuses. The fact remains: Conor was taken down by Diaz and his takedowns are toilet-tier.

 

[Gilday]

His ground game isn't bad, but I can't see him really offering anything offensively or defensively against the top guys in the division (Tony, Khabib, Lee)

If he was grappling with guys like Barboza or Alvarez or Poirier he'd be competitive with them IMO

 

[Shaddows]

I recall when watching mendes, and I was really surprised on how actually good was his game.
I mean, it was not great, but he was able to create a lot of scrambles and get out from under Mendes.

Now, there are a few things we need to consider here.
1) Mendes had no gas and knew it. So he was desperate. That means that instead of staying on top, he wanted to put Conor away or sub him, so that obviously gave Conor some openings.
2) Khabib is bigger, and his game is more centered towards control and GnP. That means he offers less ways for Conor to exploit and get back up
3) Obviously COnor has been training ground game... now. But while he was training Boxing, it would be fair to think he spent a full year not thinking about ground game.
4) Last, Gas tank. WHile he spent a fair amount to get out from under Mendes, the question is if he would be able to do the same against a bigger guy in Khabib, and on later rounds.

All in all, we have absolutely no clue, since he was out of action for two full years, and in his fights, he rather stay standing.
Against Nate, he was gassed, and IMO does not really count (the same way I dismiss him being that good because Mendes gassed).
He is obviously fair. But I don't think he would be anywhere nearly as good as Khabib, since this is Khabib's bread and butter.

but I don't think he will want to test himself on a grappling match against Khabib either.
He might use it if need be, but his real advantage is standing, with some distance between him & Khabib.

 

[Hairrow]

Its like creating Earth Is Flat thread and saying trolls not allowed.

 

[SKITZADACTYL]

Getting exhausted and having your leg caught are not valid excuses. The fact remains: Conor was taken down by Diaz and his takedowns are toilet-tier.

okay bud.

 

[WHITE ANDERSON]

conor's ground game is awesome

he controlled max holloway for three rounds with a bum knee
he outgrappled pre USADA chad mendes
he swept nate diaz

 

[magicmarker]

We really don’t know. It’s been a long time since Mendes. He ran out of gas against Nate. His TDD and his preference to strike have kept everyone from being able to analyze it objectively.

 

[PAPERCLIP30]

.but chad still did it. khabib is way better wrestler than chad is so shows how easy khabib will get conor on the ground.

Says fucking who? You? Nah.

Chad has better takedowns. Khabib just runs in there lol

 

[dragovic]

I think it's underrated but I'm not sure what he can do off his back against a guy like Khabib.

It’s not about what he can do off his back. That implies offense.

 

[GreatWhiteBuffalo]

He has strong tdd against the fence. He has a solid reactionary sprawl. He shows decent ability to get up but not great. His defensive jiu jitsu, reversals, guard pass, control are above average. His glaring weakness is when he overextended on his left, he leaves a hole for his opponents (siver, Mendes) to get under his hips for easy takedowns. I would say on a 1-10 Conor’s ground game is a 7. Overall it’s a solid “good” but not too much better than average and definitely a notch below great and phenomenal.

It should be said that Conor seemingly fixed his overextension against Eddie. He kept his knees under him and framed with his hands/elbow after punching.

 

[Stixx]

I think it's underrated but I'm not sure what he can do off his back against a guy like Khabib.

Pretty much this.