Conor or Khabib

I think McG lost the same way to Nate Diaz. I like to see a rematch. McG bounced back nice from his lost to Nate Diaz. I think he can do the same to Khabib. And McG fought Nate at WW. Khabib match and rematch is at LW. McG fought most of his career at FW. The possibility is good.

He could bounce back and beat Diaz since Nate is always the same fighter and never improves or changes anything in his game. Nate Diaz today is the exact same fighter he was 5 years ago, same glaring weaknesses, fights the same way, hasn't changed a damn thing. You know exactly what you're up against so you can make the adjustments to beat him.

The same is not true with Khabib, he's been improving and closing up the holes in his game along with adding some new wrinkles. You could train to beat the fighter that Khabib is today, but by the time you get to the fight you're up against a better fighter than the one you trained for. Some of the key vulnerabilities you've trained to exploit may no longer be there, and he might have new tricks you've never seen before.
 
He could bounce back and beat Diaz since Nate is always the same fighter and never improves or changes anything in his game. Nate Diaz today is the exact same fighter he was 5 years ago, same glaring weaknesses, fights the same way, hasn't changed a damn thing. You know exactly what you're up against so you can make the adjustments to beat him.

The same is not true with Khabib, he's been improving and closing up the holes in his game along with adding some new wrinkles. You could train to beat the fighter that Khabib is today, but by the time you get to the fight you're up against a better fighter than the one you trained for. Some of the key vulnerabilities you've trained to exploit may no longer be there, and he might have new tricks you've never seen before.

If there is to be a rematch, I doubt Khabib will change his game plan that much. Also McG to can change his game plan.
 
He could bounce back and beat Diaz since Nate is always the same fighter and never improves or changes anything in his game. Nate Diaz today is the exact same fighter he was 5 years ago, same glaring weaknesses, fights the same way, hasn't changed a damn thing. You know exactly what you're up against so you can make the adjustments to beat him.

The same is not true with Khabib, he's been improving and closing up the holes in his game along with adding some new wrinkles. You could train to beat the fighter that Khabib is today, but by the time you get to the fight you're up against a better fighter than the one you trained for. Some of the key vulnerabilities you've trained to exploit may no longer be there, and he might have new tricks you've never seen before.
I think your about Diaz accept I think his punching power has increased quite a bit over the years.
 
Conor had the same problem every "striker" has in MMA. When you fear being taken down you can't really let loose on the feet. That's why lesser strikers beating superior strikers to the punch has happened time and time again in MMA.

If you don't give a shit about going to the ground then you only need to fear the knockdown/KO on the feet. If you don't have confidence in your ground game then you have to worry about KO/knockdown and the takedown.

It's something strikers crossing into MMA need to take into consideration when crossing over into MMA.
 
Conor had the same problem every "striker" has in MMA. When you fear being taken down you can't really let loose on the feet. That's why lesser strikers beating superior strikers to the punch has happened time and time again in MMA.

If you don't give a shit about going to the ground then you only need to fear the knockdown/KO on the feet. If you don't have confidence in your ground game then you have to worry about KO/knockdown and the takedown.

It's something strikers crossing into MMA need to take into consideration when crossing over into MMA.
Woodley was able to stuff Maia though and was landing punches when Maia would shoot.
 
The overhand right that caught McGregor was because the threat of the takedown was so real that he initially thought Khabib was going to level change on him & go for the legs. What Khabib actually did was very smart and it was a feint for an overhand right that he ate flush. Conor struggled with perceived level changes all night and I think had Khabib focused more on this - the fight might have ended a lot sooner.
Nice post. Still think it's weird he ate that right hand. A feint for a takedown is still a feint. He never gotten hit by something like that before.
It wasn't only on Khabib he ate that. He was sloppy himself.
Being tired and scared made him that way.
 
Woodley was able to stuff Maia though and was landing punches when Maia would shoot.


Woodly didn't start life as a striker though, he was a wrestle first, added boxing later, and kept training his wrestling the whole while as well.
 
I wonder what McG's training for this fight was like, and I wonder if he regrets not taking a tune up fight for this.

I think McG lost the same way to Nate Diaz. I like to see a rematch. McG bounced back nice from his lost to Nate Diaz. I think he can do the same to Khabib. And McG fought Nate at WW. Khabib match and rematch is at LW. McG fought most of his career at FW. The possibility is good.

Maybe due to ring rust but the way he lost are different. He had nothing IMO for Khabib. McG has pretty good scrambles but Khabib just shut him down. Khabib showed something special with his TD and top control. Vs Diaz 1 it was poor energy mgmt, and focusing on headhunting. Diaz was hittable, had no TD, exposed his legs, etc..
 
Maybe due to ring rust but the way he lost are different. He had nothing IMO for Khabib. McG has pretty good scrambles but Khabib just shut him down. Khabib showed something special with his TD and top control. Vs Diaz 1 it was poor energy mgmt, and focusing on headhunting. Diaz was hittable, had no TD, exposed his legs, etc..
I thought Conor did pretty well recovering from the overhand dropping him and avoiding the knee, to only to attempt his own.
It's just Kahbib's Grappling is too much.
 
There's a new jre with John Cavanaugh. He details Conor's training for the fight. Skip to 1:05 in to get to where Joe interviews John. It's interesting.
 
By their styles it's pretty 50/50, but seeing as khabibs dad had to talk him out of quitting a while back, and he's talking about quitting after this fight with Conor, I don't think khabibs as hungry as Conor. I originally was expecting khabib to take the belt, but now I'm leaning towards Conor.
How do you feel now?
 
Nice post. Still think it's weird he ate that right hand. A feint for a takedown is still a feint. He never gotten hit by something like that before.
It wasn't only on Khabib he ate that. He was sloppy himself.
Being tired and scared made him that way.

I don't think it was that weird at all. If you feint your biggest threat (takedown) and you're already having tremendous success with it - it's not that unreasonable to react to what you think might be another takedown attempt - only to get caught with a right hand. Especially when you're expecting an opponent to go for the takedown rather than the overhand right.

McGregor has always been pretty hit-able. Less so at the beginning of the fight - more so when the gas tank is half full. But he has a chin on him so he's never really been caught flush like that excluding the first Diaz fight where he got rocked with a 1-2.

Granted he was tired but I think Khabib made him sloppy. Khabib actually did a great job circling around and avoiding a lot of shots. It might not have looked pretty or technical but he does have very functional striking.
 
Conor had the same problem every "striker" has in MMA. When you fear being taken down you can't really let loose on the feet. That's why lesser strikers beating superior strikers to the punch has happened time and time again in MMA.

If you don't give a shit about going to the ground then you only need to fear the knockdown/KO on the feet. If you don't have confidence in your ground game then you have to worry about KO/knockdown and the takedown.

It's something strikers crossing into MMA need to take into consideration when crossing over into MMA.

True but I also think he underestimated Khabib's striking ability too and his durability because he did eat a few left hands flush.

I think McGregor's power doesn't translate as well in the 155lb division. I mean he's only ever had 1 fight in that division against Alvarez who's notorious for being knocked down in most fights and up until he lost he actually ate a lot of McGregor's shots.

I think we are basing McGregor's punching power only from his stint in the 145lb division. I don't think that power has translated to weight classes above that.

During the stand-up exchanges Khabib did a very deceptively good job of avoiding a lot of those left hands/uppercuts by moving away laterally and just not being there. He got caught a few times but ate them.

It's weird because I think both McGregor and Khabib could have had much better game-plans. I think both of them were very emotional going into this - more so Khabib.

I don't think there should be a rematch because it was a dominant win by Khabib and I feel a second fight won't fare considerably better to warrant a rematch. I think a second time round Khabib will get it done much quicker.

I do think though that Ferguson vs Khabib is the fight to make because I think out of everyone Ferguson has the conditioning/tools to really make it competitive and could potentially win that matchup.
 
I thought Conor did pretty well recovering from the overhand dropping him and avoiding the knee, to only to attempt his own.
It's just Kahbib's Grappling is too much.

Yeah, Khabib is just too much for McG in a way Diaz can never be. I agree with Azam et al that Ferguson is the fight to make.
 
More than McGregor's power not transferring up to lightweight, I think there are 2 factors that have hurt him:

1) Guys are no longer have to hop into range to engage with him. Aldo, Buchinger, and Brimage all got caught coming inside trying to close range on the taller, longer McGregor. Guys like Khabib and Nate don't really have to reach to connect with McGregor because they have comparable if not longer reach, so when McGregor does land they end up eating the brunt of the punch better. That's why Alvarez, who couldn't help but throw his head over his lead foot a bunch, has been McGregor's only stoppage win since bumping up.
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2) Khabib (and Nate to an extent) did a much better job of just not giving McGregor what he wanted on the feet. He didn't let McGregor control the center of the Octagon.
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(Sorry if the images are small)
Here you have McGregor taking control of the center of the cage in the opening seconds of the fight. He throws a kick and Khabib uses the opportunity to circle back into the black lines and meets McGregor, who is resetting, with a takedown.
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In a not dissimilar situation, McGregor pushes Mendes outside the black lines in the opening of their fight. He throws two push kicks and Mendes catches the 2nd. McGregor disengages to protect from the takedown. And for a reason I cannot discern (short prep for a southpaw?), Mendes circles back into McGregor's power side. It's hard to tell with the stills, but McGregor really doesn't do anything to incentive it. Mendes just kind of does it on his own. Ends up getting popped for his trouble 3 seconds later.
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That fight was a lot of small concessions like this by Mendes leading to McGregor tiring him out and stopping him at the end of the 2nd.

Nurmagomedov, while not the most fluid striker, seems to understand the idea of circling a lot better than some of the "better" strikers McGregor has fought. When he could no longer take down Iaquinta in their fight, he did a great job of just jabbing at him while circling to his left. Understood that getting caught in one spot would make him an easier target.
 
the more i watch this last fight.....the more I think Conor is done and on his way out. its seems the spark is gone. I believe he originally intended to get into the game, make some good cash quickly and leave. He has done that. This last fight seemed much more of a money making opportunity and whiskey promotion than him really wanting to fight. Rise and fall, I am predicting he has already risen to his highest point in the sport, and is now slowly starting the downfall. I am predicting a slow descent and hes on his way out. He will stick around until everyone gets sick of his antics and he cant sell shows based off nonsense, which could still be a while given how dumb UFC bros are.
 
the more i watch this last fight.....the more I think Conor is done and on his way out. its seems the spark is gone. I believe he originally intended to get into the game, make some good cash quickly and leave. He has done that. This last fight seemed much more of a money making opportunity and whiskey promotion than him really wanting to fight. Rise and fall, I am predicting he has already risen to his highest point in the sport, and is now slowly starting the downfall. I am predicting a slow descent and hes on his way out. He will stick around until everyone gets sick of his antics and he cant sell shows based off nonsense, which could still be a while given how dumb UFC bros are.
That's really what most people in life are about, even corp execs just look to make bank and check out ASAP. The game here is prize fighting, so its more obvious it's the nature of the game to clock out after getting a huge payout.

I wonder who the next "guy" is, Colby is trying, but I don't see him making superstar status even though he's actively trying to get there. What I'm wondering is, because we're now in the "WWE style" era of antics, I wonder if people will get bored of it since everyone's being fake to get their name out, and the dynamic will pull a complete 180 where it'll return to skills over mouthwork.
 
That's really what most people in life are about, even corp execs just look to make bank and check out ASAP. The game here is prize fighting, so its more obvious it's the nature of the game to clock out after getting a huge payout.

I wonder who the next "guy" is, Colby is trying, but I don't see him making superstar status even though he's actively trying to get there. What I'm wondering is, because we're now in the "WWE style" era of antics, I wonder if people will get bored of it since everyone's being fake to get their name out, and the dynamic will pull a complete 180 where it'll return to skills over mouthwork.

love the WWE comparison as 1, guys are transitioning from one to the other, such as brock lesnar and rhonda rhousey for example.....aslo in regards to the whole UFC fans stuff form the other thread.......well WWE fans and UFC fans are alot alike, alot of WWE fans are kids, and when they get a little older, they convert to UFC lol.

since the sport is still the cool thing for the cool kids to do, i dont see it doing a 180 anytime soon. maybe in the future but possibly never as if we take a look at boxing, the same type of antics are there from mayweather, broner, etc.

It will probably die down a bit but never go away. Everyone is trying to copy mcgregor right now, wearing suits, copying his "stare down" fight pose.
 
love the WWE comparison as 1, guys are transitioning from one to the other, such as brock lesnar and rhonda rhousey for example.....aslo in regards to the whole UFC fans stuff form the other thread.......well WWE fans and UFC fans are alot alike, alot of WWE fans are kids, and when they get a little older, they convert to UFC lol.

since the sport is still the cool thing for the cool kids to do, i dont see it doing a 180 anytime soon. maybe in the future but possibly never as if we take a look at boxing, the same type of antics are there from mayweather, broner, etc.

It will probably die down a bit but never go away. Everyone is trying to copy mcgregor right now, wearing suits, copying his "stare down" fight pose.
Alot of the just bleed fans were WWE fans that carried over.

There's more than the suits, people are copying his tattoos as well. I like American traditional tats, but his aren't good at all. There's also fake Conor in Bellator
 
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