Conor’s issue isn’t with cardio, it’s with pacing

[linvillegorge]

Conor had a decent pace. But it's nothing crazy. He has shit cardio

This. It's not like he throws at a crazy pace. He's just a two round fighter.

 

[textwarrior]

I think the narrative that Conor has bad cardio is erroneous. I believe it’s more of an issue with his pacing.

Track and field athletes have excellent cardio, but they are also taught the importance of pacing your effort. Sprinting the first 400m in a mile race might have you in first place, but you’ll run out of strength in the later laps and you’ll lose the race.

This concept isn’t different in MMA. Yoel Romero had "bad cardio" and shat himself in the third round against Brunson. He then corrected his pace and fought 5 round wars against Whittaker on two separate occasions.

McGregor is a sprinter. He goes 100% for the first two rounds and fades later in the fight. This is normal, not fading would be abnormal. Luckily this is something that can be corrected, but it will require him to start using more strategy and stop spamming the left hand.

I’m out.

Max fight showed good cardio, however, since at 155 that change. I se your point and I agree. It is probably hard to pace yourself in a fight. He has that fast twitch and they tend to gas sooner.

 

[PeterTheGreat]

Gassing out because you got off of your pace for a little bit is a sign of his cardio not being the best it can be

 

[The Good The Bad The HBK]

I know I know you have lots of black friends

 

[MCS]

It's lack of relaxing in there. Sakuraba was great at it. As was Anderson. Conor is tense. Full exertion all the time. Can't last even when he tries to pace himself, like in the Diaz rematch. Trying to pace helped in that, but it's still the tenseness that had him running around gasping for air. Regardless of result taking a step back and resetting was better in the Poirier rematch.

 

[Raymundo Alvarado Guevara]

Poirier has an excellent pacing

 

[notsojollyroger]

I think the narrative that Conor has bad cardio is erroneous. I believe it’s more of an issue with his pacing.

You're spot on in my opinion. It's almost as if Conor feels TOO good in the first round and it short circuits his nervous system.

 

[Tapatio]

By God, OP, you figured it out!

Energy Efficient Conor 6.0!

 

[FlyingDeathKick]

I don't even think the cardio is bad at all tbh. Think it's more of him fading due to adversity. He didn't look tired in the Khabib fight imo and went 5 rds with Nate. I think his gassing out is highly exaggerated.

 

[WHITE ANDERSON]

it's not a pacing issue
he's not a particularly high volume striker

it's a mental issue
he's a tender shrinking violet whenever someone puts up a fight

classic bully mentality: overeem, rumble johnson, houston alexander, bj penn etc. these guys always fold whenever there's adversity

sure, he did overcame that in the diaz rematch. but that five years ago. conor has taken a ton of damage since then, he's not motivated to fight anymore. dustin will retire him saturday.

 

[Tayski]

He has bad cardio and it's not like all his off camp drinking is helping towards that.

 

[dogsdonutsdragons]

i think its his state of mind. he does a lot of mental prep. he has a whole belief system around the way he thinks and acts. I think its one of his greatest strengths but also his biggest weakness. when things dont go his way he goes flat. most people would tire against diaz especially when hes taller and bigger than you so nbd. same with kabib where conor actually took a round of him in the third. i actually think conors ground game and cardio are underrated hes just thrown off mentally when someone can match or best him. likely because hes not training with a lot of people or anyone better than him too

 

[awksedperl]

Is that Hard Right Jay’s basement?

 

[KBE6EKCTAH_CCP]

I think the narrative that Conor has bad cardio is erroneous. I believe it’s more of an issue with his pacing.

Track and field athletes have excellent cardio, but they are also taught the importance of pacing your effort. Sprinting the first 400m in a mile race might have you in first place, but you’ll run out of strength in the later laps and you’ll lose the race.

This concept isn’t different in MMA. Yoel Romero had "bad cardio" and shat himself in the third round against Brunson. He then corrected his pace and fought 5 round wars against Whittaker on two separate occasions.

McGregor is a sprinter. He goes 100% for the first two rounds and fades later in the fight. This is normal, not fading would be abnormal. Luckily this is something that can be corrected, but it will require him to start using more strategy and stop spamming the left hand.

I’m out.

That's funny because I rewatched Conor Nate II this morning and I come to different conclusions:
- there isn't much Conor did there that justified him being that gassed. I think he just has tiny lungs or something.
- Conor dropped nate like 3 times in that fight but never did he hurt him. Nate was hardly phased for half a second. I just think it is something that Nate does. When he s tagged he drops on his ass to protect himself.

Now I am starting to wonder whether the Conor power thing is maybe a myth. Of course he has power but not the way it has been sold to fans all this time. And certainly not at 155 and up.

 

[KBE6EKCTAH_CCP]

I’m talking about the intensity behind every strike.

A myth imo. He doesn't hit that hard with every punch imo.

 

[Frode Falch]

Fight cardio is like 70-80 % mentally. At least if you have been putting in the work in the gym.

 

[CasualBot]

Thanks Coach

 

[Rorschachxx]

Yoel Romero had "bad cardio" and shat himself in the third round against Brunson

It has to be degrading as fuck to get finished by a dude who just shat his own pants.

 

[Dude Incredible]

This is going to be the worst week of my sherdog life isn't it?

 

[markg171]

It's him loading up on every shot. He's done it since he one shotted Aldo as he's been trying to recreate that iconic KO ever since. And coincidentally enough ever since he's also had cardio problems.

Conor fights like a crazy 1 punch KO guy when the reality is he's actually a volume striker who has decent power, which is extremely unusual. Most volume strikers by contrast have no power, hence why they rely on volume. He always has success when he hits guys with 3-5 quick strikes in a row as somewhere in there they tend to get hurt as there is power there in those quick strikes. People are not used to that. Individually they're good but nothing too crazy, but when you get rattled while already disoriented, let alone again and again, the overall combo is very devastating.

But the key needs to be more strikes coming down the barrel immediately. Go look over his finishes and the Aldo one sticks out like a sore thumb. Has he done it before in other fights like Buchinger? Sure, no one's doubting that he CAN one punch KO somebody. But the overwhelming majority are not. He's a combo KO'er.

Conor is never going to have as much success as he used to when he tries to fight like a bull. He's the matador.

Also it's definitely adversity related. When he starts taking damage his cardio gets worse. Whether that's mental or physical is a different question, but he does wilt when he gets hurt, unlike some fighters who get angry.