What is Conor's Legacy? (Octagon-wise)

[CPH]

On the one hand, he was one of the most talented and elecrifying strikers in MMA. One other, he was a sport killer - shamelessly and fraudulently airlifted over other contenders and dangerous matchups, making some of his accomplishments meaningless. The title fight vs Eddie for example: a brilliant performance ....completely tarnished by the fact that he was granted the title shot despite getting embarrassed by Nate, then barely surviving the rematch in a majority decision.

In the end, reality caught up and popped the balloon. No amount of help from Dana was going to help Conor beat Khabib. He was simply not on that level.

 

[fedoriswar37]

Destines for greatness then fizzled out post Aldo.

 

[Dana's Moonface]

Very good fighter and one of the most exciting

Not a great fighter, because he would not defend titles

Great front runner

Panics under pressure and will quit fighting when he's had enough

Ultimately a good fighter, but a better salesman and that's what he is truly great at

 

[TeenageMutantLesnarTurtle]

He had a crazy peak but it was so short. The Aldo win was incredible, he dominated Eddie and the wins over Poirier and Max have aged extremely well. I think that hungry, active version of Conor pre-2017 would dominate todays FW and is better than anyone at LW other than Khabib.

 

[Coconutwater]

I think Conor was a great fighter but I think his approach was wrong. IMO, not having any title defences indicates a slight lack of confidence. There is a common belief amoungst MMA and combat sports champions that retaining a title is far more difficult than winning a title. Thats why we see so many fighters (Werdum, Andrade, Alvarez, Holm, Tate, Serra, Rockhold, Shogun, Rashad, Forrest) be able to win a title but are unable to retain it in their first title defense.



I think this is down to the idea that a champion always has more to lose than a contender so that mentally drives a contender and in some cases, can mentally weaken a champion. Its why guys like JBJ, DJ, GSP, Silva and Nunes are considered the GOATS. To continuously defend your belt multiple times is an unbelievable achievement, especially given that all the guys below you are secretly continuously game planning for the moment they face you re-Weidman when he fought Silva, reyes when he fought Jon.



Therefore, given the number of mental disadvantages a champ has compared to a contender, it makes the achievement of defending a belt IMO more impressive than winning two belts without any title defense. This is because you have nothing to lose and everything to gain when you are a contender. Conor has never been in a position, win or lose his fights, whereby he was in the position to lose anything physical i.e. a belt. The only thing that suffered was losses was his reputation but thats the case with all MMA fighters (re- O’Malley, Shahbazyan). Champions are defined by their ability to overcome adversity and there is nothing more difficult to overcome than retaining your belt. Conor in that sense never had to overcome real adversity, certainly not to the same extent as champs defending their title.



I think it would have been interesting to see Conor attempt to defend his 145lb or 155lb belt to see if he had the mental ability of dealing with an individual who tried to take something that was his. Its also why I believe someone like Cejudo has a bigger claim to the GOAT status than Conor. Cejudo not only won two belts but defended both his belts against guys who were in some ways, favoured to beat him i.e. TJ and Cruz. Same with DC and Nunes. Conor never had that mental fortitude of dealing with someone that was coming to take something that belonged to him, so to put him in the GOAT conversation is a bit of a joke

One of Sherdog’s greatest posts.

 

[Coconutwater]

He had a crazy peak but it was so short. The Aldo win was incredible, he dominated Eddie and the wins over Poirier and Max have aged extremely well. I think that hungry, active version of Conor pre-2017 would dominate todays FW and is better than anyone at LW other than Khabib.

A lot of his success comes from people still not figuring him out. If he remained active, other fighters would know what he’s good at and bad at and avoid being dumb enough to trade the 1st round.

Now the book is open.

 

[HHJ]

I’ve finally figured you out. You actually are Conor.

Conor has too much money to ponce about all day like this lad.

 

[HHJ]

A lot of his success comes from people still not figuring him out. If he remained active, other fighters would know what he’s good at and bad at and avoid being dumb enough to trade the 1st round.

Now the book is open.

Conor's style,at its most effective is to put the pressure on. He makes guys react in that manner which sets up his slips and counters.

The opening barrage has to be handled correctly,but I dont think just dancing around and avoiding him is going to work. It has to be dealt it or you can get eaten up.

 

[Coconutwater]

Conor's style,at its most effective is to put the pressure on. He makes guys react in that manner which sets up his slips and counters.

The opening barrage has to be handled correctly,but I dont think just dancing around and avoiding him is going to work. It has to be dealt it or you can get eaten up.

In my un-expert opinion, Conor always pressures to draw out a right hand and counter with his lethal left.

His lead uppercut, pawing jab, spinning shite, wheel kicks are fine and good, but IMO, he uses them to distract and disrupt.

His bread and butter is his left, preferably masked by using it as a counter off an orthodox fighters’ right cross or hook.

His knockdown of Aldo is Conor’s textbook, wet dream, scenario.

 

[HHJ]

In my un-expert opinion, Conor always pressures to draw out a right hand and counter with his lethal left.

His lead uppercut, pawing jab, spinning shite, wheel kicks are fine and good, but IMO, he uses them to distract and disrupt.

His bread and butter is his left, preferably masked by using it as a counter of an orthodox fighters right cross or hook.

Yes he is mostly trying to range find with those others and yes mask the left.

 

[HHJ]

We've seen the two things that work against him is:

1) Be too dumb to be koed when your supposed to,like Nate diaz.
After Conor's thrown the kitchen sink,he doesnt have much left,and had to keep running and resetting. That power he had,once its gone,doesnt really come back
2) Take him down and put him through the grinder,like Khabib

The 2nd option seems to be the best one hehe

 

[Peli]

We've seen the two things that work against him is:

1) Be too dumb to be koed when your supposed to,like Nate diaz.
After Conor's thrown the kitchen sink,he doesnt have much left,and had to keep running and resetting. That power he had,once its gone,doesnt really come back
2) Take him down and put him through the grinder,like Khabib

The 2nd option seems to be the best one hehe

Is this referring to conor? he was submitted, not KO'ed I don't think conor has ever been KO'd

 

[HHJ]

Khabib,also had measured Conor's left. He knew where it was,when it would be thrown,and how to stay out of range of it. He always circled away after he threw a strike,and that counter bomb he landed on conor was a thing of beauty.

 

[HHJ]

Is this referring to conor? he was submitted, not KO'ed I don't think conor has ever been KO'd

I never said he was Ko'd

 

[Peli]

Conor has too much money to ponce about all day like this lad.

which makes a good argument why he would waste his time on here. He has a lot of fuck you money that he could affoord to spend days on here.

unfortunately for me I do not. Sigh. I really should be more productive with my life and gtfoh lol. I've only been here for months and 2600 messages

 

[Peli]

I never said he was Ko'd

ok my bad. I just misread.

 

[Coconutwater]

We've seen the two things that work against him is:

1) Be too dumb to be koed when your supposed to,like Nate diaz.
After Conor's thrown the kitchen sink,he doesnt have much left,and had to keep running and resetting. That power he had,once its gone,doesnt really come back
2) Take him down and put him through the grinder,like Khabib

The 2nd option seems to be the best one hehe

Exactly. When Conor is empty, he’s empty. He may very well land his punches, but no steam on them.

 

[Snake Master]

that's where I have him at, but I wish he could have accomplished more. particularly with his FW run.

Fighting Edgar than Moving would of helped his legacy as he would of cleaned the top 3 at the time(plus max who was rising) I wonder if he could get back down there with a diet change.
He’s done little at lightweight and welterweight.

 

[HHJ]

Exactly. When Conor is empty, he’s empty. He may very well land his punches, but no steam on them.

Yep He landed some punches on Khabib in rd 3 but they had nothin on em at all. Khabib just kept coming forward without fear,cos he knew he could take them.

 

[Coconutwater]

Khabib,also had measured Conor's left. He knew where it was,when it would be thrown,and how to stay out of range of it. He always circled away after he threw a strike,and that counter bomb he landed on conor was a thing of beauty.

Khabib simply respected Conor’s left, and rightfully so.

Nate just has an iron chin, good height and a great tank. But he was certainly there to be hit, as usual.