Official Conor McGregor thread (part 5) *Read Mod Note in Post 1*

Boom_Bap

Not sure about that, Eddie is rather handy at boxing.
I know that afterwards Eddie said the plan was to get take downs but for some reason ignored it in the fight.

I watched the Khabib v Al fight the other night. Khabib used the last couple of rounds to practice standing up and fighting, presumably because he's going to have to face more of that in the future.

But from that fight, and the last few of his fights that I've seen, he does the same thing over and over again. Hold one leg, sweep the other, pin against cage, get position and start pummeling. Al done quite well against him here without even having a camp training against that.

I know that every other fighter that faced Khabib knows this and has trained for it but not successful.

Things in Conors favour are that I think that he's a smart fighter, and like with Alvarez, he makes people want to stand up against him, it's probably the stance and south paw that confuse people.
Conors take down defense is rather good.
I think if Conor got pinned against the cage, he will have a bit more to wriggle free and get back to his feet. The one concern is that Khabib may get his back while doing that.

Mellor

Eircom_Sucks wrote: »

but gives conor no chance

"I think if Khabib does not correct the mistake of sitting back with his chin back and going to the side, Conor's going to put his lights out with that left hand pretty bad, pretty quickly"


His analysis was pretty reasonable imo

yourdeadwright

Boom_Bap wrote: »

Not sure about that, Eddie is rather handy at boxing.
I know that afterwards Eddie said the plan was to get take downs but for some reason ignored it in the fight.

I watched the Khabib v Al fight the other night. Khabib used the last couple of rounds to practice standing up and fighting, presumably because he's going to have to face more of that in the future.

But from that fight, and the last few of his fights that I've seen, he does the same thing over and over again. Hold one leg, sweep the other, pin against cage, get position and start pummeling. Al done quite well against him here without even having a camp training against that.

I know that every other fighter that faced Khabib knows this and has trained for it but not successful.

Things in Conors favour are that I think that he's a smart fighter, and like with Alvarez, he makes people want to stand up against him, it's probably the stance and south paw that confuse people.
Conors take down defense is rather good.
I think if Conor got pinned against the cage, he will have a bit more to wriggle free and get back to his feet. The one concern is that Khabib may get his back while doing that.

As Mike Tyson said everyone's plan goes out the window when they get punched in the face,
Eddie had a plan to take Conor down by setting it up with strikes but the seconds he engaged he got cracked and his brain was scrambled, So plan out the window

Ultimate Seduction

cliggg wrote: »

Eddie definitely made a mistake trying to stand with Conor, that fight was less than 3 months after the Conor-Diaz fight so there is no way Conor was 100% in that fight. If Eddie stormed out and tried to maul him who knows how it would have went. The other side of it of course is Conor taking that fight less than 3 months after that war and looking so fluid. An amazing performance really.

But he did try to take him down, twice.. conor has unreal ttd

The Floyd p

Ultimate Seduction wrote: »

But he did try to take him down, twice.. conor has unreal ttd

Did Eddie shoot for a takedown before he got his **** rocked?

hewhoscares

yourdeadwright wrote: »

Boom_Bap wrote: »

Not sure about that, Eddie is rather handy at boxing.
I know that afterwards Eddie said the plan was to get take downs but for some reason ignored it in the fight.

I watched the Khabib v Al fight the other night. Khabib used the last couple of rounds to practice standing up and fighting, presumably because he's going to have to face more of that in the future.

But from that fight, and the last few of his fights that I've seen, he does the same thing over and over again. Hold one leg, sweep the other, pin against cage, get position and start pummeling. Al done quite well against him here without even having a camp training against that.

I know that every other fighter that faced Khabib knows this and has trained for it but not successful.

Things in Conors favour are that I think that he's a smart fighter, and like with Alvarez, he makes people want to stand up against him, it's probably the stance and south paw that confuse people.
Conors take down defense is rather good.
I think if Conor got pinned against the cage, he will have a bit more to wriggle free and get back to his feet. The one concern is that Khabib may get his back while doing that.

As Mike Tyson said everyone's plan goes out the window when they get punched in the face,
Eddie had a plan to take Conor down by setting it up with strikes but the seconds he engaged he got cracked and his brain was scrambled, So plan out the window

Yeah exactly. Kicking Conors lead leg, push him against the cage and taking him down was the game plan I think  - its just the first punch that landed threw him to the point he was circling into Conors left hand. 
The Alvarez fight was incredible and remember being in absolute awe watching it, and taking it all in after absorbing any media and interviews. 

The Khabib fight - if he doesn't knock him out like real early he'll be on back and a victim of some smeshing no doubt. Its all well and good saying each round starts back on the feet but just how draining taking a beat down while trying to escape is can't be over-estimated. Its an intriguing fight and both have clear advantages, its just a case of who imposes their skills most really - as much of a fence sitting answer that is.
Brining Ben Askren in as a chief sparring/training partner would be wise.

John_D80

In my opinion the beauty of Conor’s takedown defence is that he gives opponents very few opportunities to actually shoot for the takedown.

He uses his stance, range, reach, footwork and head movement to close off angles extremely well.

Most of Eddie’s takedown efforts were very half hearted affairs because the angles and openings just weren’t there.

Autecher

Ultimate Seduction wrote: »

But he did try to take him down, twice.. conor has unreal ttd

Agreed, from memory (and I haven't watched it an a while) he didn't go for a takedown until the 2nd round. His takedown defense is not highlighted enough in my opinion, people often use the Mendes fight as an example of it not being good enough but it's improved a hell of a lot since then as Nate Diaz could attest to. I don't think Mendes ever took him down with kicks or sweeps (though again haven't watched it in a while) I think he just charged at him with a level change/rugby tackle combo

Lukker-

John_D80 wrote: »

In my opinion the beauty of Conor’s takedown defence is that he gives opponents very few opportunities to actually shoot for the takedown.

He uses his stance, range, reach, footwork and head movement to close off angles extremely well.

Most of Eddie’s takedown efforts were very half hearted affairs because the angles and openings just weren’t there.

Yeah, if you can maintain the distance the Khabibs takedowns look like nothing special.Although if he gets a whiff of your toe he can probably lock it in. His best work is against the cage, which Conor doesn't really get stuck up against unless you drag him into round 3 or 4. BJJ scout does a good breakdown of Conors TDD vs Khabibs takedowns. I hope we get to see the fight - all bull**** aside it would be a fantastic scrap and either guys could dominate.

Autecher

Lukker- wrote: »

Yeah, if you can maintain the distance the Khabibs takedowns look like nothing special.Although if he gets a whiff of your toe he can probably lock it in. His best work is against the cage, which Conor doesn't really get stuck up against unless you drag him into round 3 or 4. BJJ scout does a good breakdown of Conors TDD vs Khabibs takedowns. I hope we get to see the fight - all bull**** aside it would be a fantastic scrap and either guys could dominate.

Thanks for that recommendation I will check it out, and all this actual fight talk has got me in the mood to do a McGregor Fight Pass binge at the weekend. I hope we get to see him fight anyone, preferably Khabib, though if the talk of him & Dos Anjos at welterweight had any merit I'd love to see that too.

John_D80

Lukker- wrote: »

Yeah, if you can maintain the distance the Khabibs takedowns look like nothing special.Although if he gets a whiff of your toe he can probably lock it in.

Absolutely agree with this. Chad Mendes is the yardstick here. Did very well to land some spectacular takedowns, and Khabib could very well do a lot more.

Lukker-

cliggg wrote: »

Thanks for that recommendation I will check it out, and all this actual fight talk has got me in the mood to do a McGregor Fight Pass binge at the weekend. I hope we get to see him fight anyone, preferably Khabib, though if the talk of him & Dos Anjos at welterweight had any merit I'd love to see that too.

NP man, if you had any trouble finding it, it's here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3ZmS5zxFEA

I'd also recommend his video's on Ben Askren and Khabib to get a good breakdown on the folkstyle wrestling.

Tazzimus

Lukker- wrote: »

NP man, if you had any trouble finding it, it's here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3ZmS5zxFEA

I'd also recommend his video's on Ben Askren and Khabib to get a good breakdown on the folkstyle wrestling.

This the exact one I was thinking of as well, great video showing the subtleness of it.
Although it's not fool proof as that goes on to explain

ricero

A vanilla midget like Mendes took down Conor with ease, so imagine what a beast like Khabib will do to him. He will be mauled. War Khabib !

Tazzimus

ricero wrote: »

A vanilla midget like Mendes took down Conor with ease, so imagine what a beast like Khabib will do to him. He will be mauled. War Khabib !

Mendes is probably one of the best wrestlers in the UFC, you're doing well if you can stuff SOME of his takedowns, never mind all of them.

Also a different style to Khabib, Mendes is explosive, power double legs etc, Khabib seems to use trips more

yourdeadwright

ricero wrote: »

A vanilla midget like Mendes took down Conor with ease, so imagine what a beast like Khabib will do to him. He will be mauled. War Khabib !

Khabib could very well take him down with ease but the Mendes fight is a little unfair Conor had a very bad knee injury and reckoned the only way to get through the fight on it was not to fight the takedowns, he said himself he knew he'd be taking down cause of his knee and was ok with that ,
Now Khabib is a different story ,

All_in_Flynn

ricero wrote: »

A vanilla midget like Mendes took down Conor with ease, so imagine what a beast like Khabib will do to him. He will be mauled. War Khabib !

Just on this, I’m nearly positive I read that Conor’s knee was in a state prior to this fight. If I remember correctly it came out that he couldn’t train any wrestling or do any hard road running hence the difficult weight cut and looking absolutely awful at not only the weigh ins but on fight night too. He was a very strange colour the whole week.

He controlled max on the ground for better part of 2 rounds. Stuffed Nate multiple times except for the sweep at final bell in the 5th. I have a feeling that Conor’s ground game and wrestling are far more advanced than people are willing to give him credit for.

Mind you if Khabib manages to get a hold of him I do think he’ll be on his ear fairly sharpish. Khabib’s problem is going to be finding that opening without getting clipped

EagererBeaver

Don't buy the McGregor leg injury talk before 189, think it was just taunting Aldo after he pulled out. He ran across the octagon at the bell and threw a spinning kick to the midsection if I recall. Didn't seem too worried about stresses on his knees.

All_in_Flynn

EagererBeaver wrote: »

Don't buy the McGregor leg injury talk before 189, think it was just taunting Aldo after he pulled out. He ran across the octagon at the bell and threw a spinning kick to the midsection if I recall. Didn't seem too worried about stresses on his knees.

https://www.google.ie/amp/s/www.sportsjoe.ie/amp/mma/a-knee-injury-meant-conor-mcgregor-didnt-do-any-full-wrestling-training-before-mendes-fight-32300

Kavanagh talks about it in above article. I don’t think anyone can deny he looked awful. He was far better looking in Aldo fight for example.

EagererBeaver

All_in_Flynn wrote: »

https://www.google.ie/amp/s/www.sportsjoe.ie/amp/mma/a-knee-injury-meant-conor-mcgregor-didnt-do-any-full-wrestling-training-before-mendes-fight-32300

Kavanagh talks about it in above article. I don’t think anyone can deny he looked awful. He was far better looking in Aldo fight for example.

Joe.ie and Kavanagh. I'll just accept that as gospel then...

What do you mean he looked better in the Aldo fight? It was over after 13 seconds ffs.

clsmooth

EagererBeaver wrote: »

Don't buy the McGregor leg injury talk before 189, think it was just taunting Aldo after he pulled out. He ran across the octagon at the bell and threw a spinning kick to the midsection if I recall. Didn't seem too worried about stresses on his knees.

It was in The Notorious documentary. There’s quite a bit of footage about it and how concerned they were

Subcomandante Marcos

For someone who "never makes excuses" Conor and his crew sure do make a lot of excuses.

Chad took him down because big mean Rory hurt his leg.

Nate beat him because he had an ickle couch.

All_in_Flynn

EagererBeaver wrote: »

Joe.ie and Kavanagh. I'll just accept that as gospel then...

What do you mean he looked better in the Aldo fight? It was over after 13 seconds ffs.

You seem a bit angry?

Looked better as in visually at the weigh in and on fight night. Would have thought that was obvious given what I said about how he looked against Mendes on fight week.

Kavanagh said he had an injury, but you have made up your mind he didn’t. That’s fine, no prob. Enjoy your evening!

Ultimate Seduction

You can see in the film he brought out that his leg was ****ed, and it was before Aldo even pulled out. So he made excuses for Mendez taking him down before he even knew he'd be fighting Mendez?

Can't see how there's an argument here about a fight that hasn't happened yet, everyone knows, if khabib gets him down his ****ed, and if khabib doesn't get him down then khabib is ****ed.

Fall_Guy

All_in_Flynn wrote: »

You seem a bit angry?

Looked better as in visually at the weigh in and on fight night. Would have thought that was obvious given what I said about how he looked against Mendes on fight week.

Kavanagh said he had an injury, but you have made up your mind he didn’t. That’s fine, no prob. Enjoy your evening!

Yeah the main reason I would give a fair bit of credence to the knee injury stuff is if you look at mcgregors physical condition in the fights either side of the mendes fight (siver and aldo), he really does look an awful lot worse for wear. Now maybe there were other factors that meant his training wasn't as on point, but his physical condition (purely based on appearance, not even taking performance into account) definitely seemed poorer at 189 than it did in any of his other fights at 145lbs.

yourdeadwright

clsmooth wrote: »

EagererBeaver wrote: »

Don't buy the McGregor leg injury talk before 189, think it was just taunting Aldo after he pulled out. He ran across the octagon at the bell and threw a spinning kick to the midsection if I recall. Didn't seem too worried about stresses on his knees.

It was in The Notorious documentary. There’s quite a bit of footage about it and how concerned they were

That's the guys mindset , he said before he took it form the famous one between rounds when GSP whispered in his corner "I think I pulled my hamstring"  and Jackson said " hit him with it George "  in other wise fight on

All_in_Flynn

Fall_Guy wrote: »

Yeah the main reason I would give a fair bit of credence to the knee injury stuff is if you look at mcgregors physical condition in the fights either side of the mendes fight (siver and aldo), he really does look an awful lot worse for wear. Now maybe there were other factors that meant his training wasn't as on point, but his physical condition (purely based on appearance, not even taking performance into account) definitely seemed poorer at 189 than it did in any of his other fights at 145lbs.

Yes from what I remember, he couldn’t do any hard running which affected how much weight he could drop whilst in camp hence the difficult cut and looking like very bad on the scales and even on fight night

EagererBeaver

All_in_Flynn wrote: »

You seem a bit angry?

Looked better as in visually at the weigh in and on fight night. Would have thought that was obvious given what I said about how he looked against Mendes on fight week.

Kavanagh said he had an injury, but you have made up your mind he didn’t. That’s fine, no prob. Enjoy your evening!

I have absolutely no idea about whether he was ****ed or not, I'm just pointing out that your sources are hardly that reliable. Kavanagh doesn't get a pass simply for being McGregor's coach. If any other coach had said their fighter was injured against McGregor they'd be thoroughly abused or labelled as sore losers. I think it's fair enough to say that the way McGregor came out in the Mendes fight, he didn't seem unduly concerned about his knee, certainly not to the extent that it could be ignored whilst making the arguement that it was a factor in Mendes taking him down so easily.

I don't think he looked any worse in the run up to the Aldo fight that he did for the Mendes one, as he looked like absolute dog**** weighing in against Aldo too. The long hair and the beard for Mendes maybe contributed to that look.

Admittedly, I haven't seen the documentary.

Ultimate Seduction

EagererBeaver wrote: »

I have absolutely no idea about whether he was ****ed or not, I'm just pointing out that your sources are hardly that reliable. Kavanagh doesn't get a pass simply for being McGregor's coach. If any other coach had said their fighter was injured against McGregor they'd be thoroughly abused or labelled as sore losers. I think it's fair enough to say that the way McGregor came out in the Mendes fight, he didn't seem unduly concerned about his knee, certainly not to the extent that it could be ignored whilst making the arguement that it was a factor in Mendes taking him down so easily.

I don't think he looked any worse in the run up to the Aldo fight that he did for the Mendes one, as he looked like absolute dog**** weighing in against Aldo too. The long hair and the beard for Mendes maybe contributed to that look.

Admittedly, I haven't seen the documentary.

You haven't watched the film then just shut up . You dismiss what people know while admitting you haven't a clue. Watch the movie and the build up to 189. He's knee was ****ed.

All_in_Flynn

EagererBeaver wrote: »

I have absolutely no idea about whether he was ****ed or not, I'm just pointing out that your sources are hardly that reliable. Kavanagh doesn't get a pass simply for being McGregor's coach. If any other coach had said their fighter was injured against McGregor they'd be thoroughly abused or labelled as sore losers. I think it's fair enough to say that the way McGregor came out in the Mendes fight, he didn't seem unduly concerned about his knee, certainly not to the extent that it could be ignored whilst making the arguement that it was a factor in Mendes taking him down so easily.

I don't think he looked any worse in the run up to the Aldo fight that he did for the Mendes one, as he looked like absolute dog**** weighing in against Aldo too. The long hair and the beard for Mendes maybe contributed to that look.

Admittedly, I haven't seen the documentary.

Kavanagh said the knee was completely healed by the time he got to the fight but it affected his preparation. I’m not that naive where I’d believe anything that comes out of kavanagh’s mouth but when you add that he looked really terrible and the footage from the documentary, I think it’s reasonable to assume there was an issue.

I’d also strongly disagree when comparing how he looked -v- Aldo. I think he looked like a different person. Much healthier in comparison. I’d agree it’s subjective though.