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

Autecher

Conor will be on the Conan O'Brien show on Wednesday for anyone interested.

D.Q

My nerves already. Dying for the first exchange. Last time I was looking forward to seeing two fighters first exchange was TJ Cody.

dave1982

This is fight is as close to early mma as we have seen in a long time wrestler v striker. I cant wait i'm predicting a tko finish by conor as much as i hate to see him win another belt cause he's talking bout 165lb division and he also interested in woodley. So if he do win the 155 belt wont be defended anytime soon.

Lukker-

Whelo79 wrote: »

How do you approach this fight if you are McGregor? Pressure Khabib and keep him on the back foot or let him come forward and try pick him off with counter strikes?

The first exchange as always is so interesting. Does Khabib charge out from the off to get the takedown as soon as possible or does he trade on the feet first and wait for a clean opportunity, being wary of getting caught on the way in.

It'll be a little dance at first I reckon in the centre, but Khabib definitely won't be the one advancing first. No one has managed to walk him down in the early exchanges. If you bull rush him your probably gonna end up taking a nap.

McGregor will be the same asy always IMO, walking forward and using feints to draw out a reaction, counter off it. If it goes past the round 2, Khabib will eventually start shelling up and trying to walk him down.

I can see the flow of the fight being similar to Diaz 2 personally

Commanchie

walshb wrote: »

Conor has an excellent chance to score the KO here. Khabib getting very overrated by some.

Lets not be silly. Nobody is over rating him. Conor is my pick but im not silly, khabib is great at what he does

Useful.Idiot

Whelo79 wrote: »

How do you approach this fight if you are McGregor? Pressure Khabib and keep him on the back foot or let him come forward and try pick him off with counter strikes?

The first exchange as always is so interesting. Does Khabib charge out from the off to get the takedown as soon as possible or does he trade on the feet first and wait for a clean opportunity, being wary of getting caught on the way in.

Khabib rarely goes for a takedown without opening up with striking first, though if you listen to Javier Mendez and Khabib himself they seem to know they have to approach closing the distance on Conor very carefully without rushing. I imagine they have some sort of plan for getting through his striking range.

Subcomandante Marcos

Wait for conor to throw a teep and then latch on to his calf and take him for a jaunt is plan #1 I'd say.

All_in_Flynn

Whelo79 wrote: »

How do you approach this fight if you are McGregor? Pressure Khabib and keep him on the back foot or let him come forward and try pick him off with counter strikes?

The first exchange as always is so interesting. Does Khabib charge out from the off to get the takedown as soon as possible or does he trade on the feet first and wait for a clean opportunity, being wary of getting caught on the way in.

I’ve said it here previously but I think it’s essential Conor is not marched backwards by Khabib. If he can maintain that distance control and hold his ground I think he will ko Khabib. If he’s going backwards it’s only a matter of time before Khabib gets him off balance and secured the takedown.

yourdeadwright

Useful.Idiot wrote: »

Whelo79 wrote: »

How do you approach this fight if you are McGregor? Pressure Khabib and keep him on the back foot or let him come forward and try pick him off with counter strikes?

The first exchange as always is so interesting. Does Khabib charge out from the off to get the takedown as soon as possible or does he trade on the feet first and wait for a clean opportunity, being wary of getting caught on the way in.

Khabib rarely goes for a takedown without opening up with striking first, though if you listen to Javier Mendez and Khabib himself they seem to know they have to approach closing the distance on Conor very carefully without rushing. I imagine they have some sort of plan for getting through his striking range.

I hope Khabib is super confident, because everyone seems to always under estimate Conor and then lose,
Infact the last person I seen look worried about Conor was Diaz the first time and he won ,

Eddie thought he'd just grab him and that be game over, its so so different fighting a guy who understands range like Conor,

Commanchie

Subcomandante Marcos wrote: »

Wait for conor to throw a teep and then latch on to his calf and take him for a jaunt is plan #1 I'd say.

Id say the keep kick will be limited.

Effects

dave1982 wrote: »

So if he do win the 155 belt wont be defended anytime soon.

Some people might say he didn't lose the belt, and Khabib was handed the belt against a number 11 rank.

If Conor hadn't been stripped he'd probably be facing Khabib for his first actual title defense. So this could count as his first defense.

Subcomandante Marcos

Commanchie wrote: »

Id say the keep kick will be limited.

If he throws 1 I'd be surprised. But I'd say it's something Javier has Khabib drilling with some of the kickboxers at AKA since the fight was announced.

Subcomandante Marcos

Effects wrote: »

Some people might say he didn't lose the belt, and Khabib was handed the belt against a number 11 rank.

If Conor hadn't been stripped he'd probably be facing Khabib for his first actual title defense. So this could count as his first defense.

No, it's not his first defence and trying to claim it is would be ridiculous. He was (rightly) stripped of both belts because he had no intention of defending the fecking things.

LollipopJimmy

Effects wrote: »

Some people might say he didn't lose the belt, and Khabib was handed the belt against a number 11 rank.

If Conor hadn't been stripped he'd probably be facing Khabib for his first actual title defense. So this could count as his first defense.

Some say that the outline of his left nipple is exactly the same shape as the Nurburgring, and that if you give him a really important job to do, he'll skive off and play croquet... all we know is, he's called the Stig Conor McGregor...

yourdeadwright

Subcomandante Marcos wrote: »

Commanchie wrote: »

Id say the keep kick will be limited.

If he throws 1 I'd be surprised. But I'd say it's something Javier has Khabib drilling with some of the kickboxers at AKA since the fight was announced.

I think MMA is a strange sport because it's so so hard to replicate the live action,
When Khabib is sparing these kickboxers what gloves do they use ?  I ask cause the difference in wearing big ones that you can protect your head with and then the ones on game day are so so so different,
Is it even possible to spar with the smaller ones without putting your self in danger of being injured ? (broken hands ,ko's)

Alf Veedersane

dave1982 wrote: »

I cant wait i'm predicting a tko finish by conor as much as i hate to see him win another belt cause he's talking bout 165lb division and he also interested in woodley.

He talked about 165 in the context of having more divisions because of the difficulty in weight cuts and the size of the jump between divisions. Nothing more than that.

If Nate beats Poirier, Diaz 3 is the next fight by the sounds of it.

pastorbarrett

Noticed Khabib calf kicking a few times in the ESPN vid. Not sure how proficient he is (never seen him do it before), but makes sense on paper against someone like McGregor.

Effects

Subcomandante Marcos wrote: »

No, it's not his first defence and trying to claim it is would be ridiculous. He was (rightly) stripped of both belts because he had no intention of defending the fecking things.

But wait, doesn't he have TWO belts in front of him?

Subcomandante Marcos

Subcomandante Marcos wrote: »

No, it's not his first defence and trying to claim it is would be ridiculous. He was (rightly) stripped of both belts because he had no intention of defending the fecking things.

He was busy making millions on a boxing match. I'm sure if that massive opportunity didn't happen he would have done so.

Whelo79

I think Khabib has such belief in himself (and rightly so) that I think he will believe McGregor won't be able to stop him from closing the distance. I reckon we wait no more than 10 second into Rd 1 for Khabib's first TD attempt.

Gonad

Khabib be crazy not to try jump straight into Conor’s legs . His defensive boxing is so bad that anytime they are standing he can be knocked out. Would be surprised if he doesn’t run straight at Conor’s legs and just dives on them in the first 2 seconds .

Perry12

pastorbarrett wrote: »

Noticed Khabib calf kicking a few times in the ESPN vid. Not sure how proficient he is (never seen him do it before), but makes sense on paper against someone like McGregor.

I reckon that's what he's going to do to knock him off balance and then pounce. A bit like what Alvarez did against McGregor.

LollipopJimmy

Perry12 wrote: »

I reckon that's what he's going to do to knock him off balance and then pounce. A bit like what Alvarez did against McGregor.

Leg kicking a southpaw can leave you wide open for the counter though given the positioning.

This really does make for a massively interesting matchup, lets just hope we get to see it now and aren't stuck watching reruns of Peppa Pig

https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/sport/mma-fans-miss-out-on-bellator-main-event-after-peppa-pig-interrupts-live-coverage-872640.html

Subcomandante Marcos

Effects wrote: »

But wait, doesn't he have TWO belts in front of him?

I look forward to BJ Penn bringing out his two belts out for the press conference before his fight with Ryan Hall in december.

Wait, no, his ego isn't that delicate.

Subcomandante Marcos

LollipopJimmy wrote: »

Leg kicking a southpaw can leave you wide open for the counter though given the positioning.

This really does make for a massively interesting matchup, lets just hope we get to see it now and aren't stuck watching reruns of Peppa Pig

https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/sport/mma-fans-miss-out-on-bellator-main-event-after-peppa-pig-interrupts-live-coverage-872640.html

On the flipside of that, the lead leg is right there for the outside calf kick.

Outlaw Pete

yourdeadwright wrote: »

I hope Khabib is super confident...

He absolutely is. He even said that if he has a chance to choke McGregor early on he's not going to take it as he wants to humble him. He also said that he is not going to stand and trade like he did with Al Iaquinta, so his whole gameplan is about taking McGregor down and mauling him as he likes.

I can't see Khabib gifting Conor by running in with his usual takedown attempts as he'll know McGregor will want that and have prepared for that. What I envision is Khabib going for very low takedowns, almost at ankle height, diving at McGregor below the knees from the outset and keeping his head low.

He'll be open to elbows doing that but I think Kahbib will see that as his best chance of taking McGregor down while also minimizing the chances of getting clipped or taking a knee running in.

I see Khabib being successful in taking McGregor down but I don't think he can maul him or do the kind of damage he foresees himself doing at all. Maybe he thinks that way because of Diaz I when he was gassed but against Mendes McGregor was taking a barrage of elbows to the face and yet was still laughing and talking back.

For me Khabib seems much easier to hit than Eddie was. I see Conor grappling with him to fend off some takedowns early doors. Khabib taking a lot of elbows in the process and then getting impatient and trying to trade with McGregor which will lead to him getting his pumpkin head lit up for an early Halloween.

TKO'd inside three.

Great post Pete

dave1982

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

He talked about 165 in the context of having more divisions because of the difficulty in weight cuts and the size of the jump between divisions. Nothing more than that.

If Nate beats Poirier, Diaz 3 is the next fight by the sounds of it.

Think he said he wanted to "spearhead " new division i took it as going to that division

All_in_Flynn

Gonad wrote: »

Khabib be crazy not to try jump straight into Conor’s legs . His defensive boxing is so bad that anytime they are standing he can be knocked out. Would be surprised if he doesn’t run straight at Conor’s legs and just dives on them in the first 2 seconds .

I feel people are overestimating how bad Khabibs striking is. He’s not a technical striker, that’s a given. But he can jab and is awkward.

Duff

Hope Wonderfullife makes an appearance before the fight.