Is Conor really a threat to RDA?

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EyeAmYuki

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Nov 4, 2015
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Compared to when? When he first entered mma?

Jon Jones is looking jacked now too, with a different focused training regimen.


Usada Dos anjos looks as good as ever.

A lean professional athlete under 200 lbs doesn't strike me as immediately suspicious.


We haven't seen Jon Jones weigh in at 205lbs or fight since he started looking different. For sure it will be interesting to see.
 

Greek777

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Yes, he is a threat. Absolutely

RDA is on a good run but this man has been beaten by guys who have never even come close to the top of the heap.

Conor just destroyed the #1 p4p guy, undefeated for 10 years, in 13 seconds, like he was nothing. All based on exactly what he said - timing and precision.

RDA is a powerful guy who can overwhelm people but he probably won't even have the chance to get close to Conor. Funny how you can destroy the god of MMA (Aldo) in less than a quarter of a minute and still have doubters

Conor is so polarizing that people refuse to recognize what is beyond his personality. The actual skill he brings to the table. Skill unlike any fighter we have ever seen. He is completely unique, there is no one like him in MMA. I've said this since he first came onto the scene, very few people agreed, because all they saw was a loud mouth. Most of them don't have the ability to analyze what is actually going on in a fight, they don't understand angles, footwork, etc. They just see a fight, see guys getting hit, and see the result. They don't necessarily see WHY fighter A beat fighter B.

Conor McGregor is a special fighter. It's funny that people still doubt him, either A) they don't understand what happens in there or B) are salty because they lost money on the fight and don't like his brash style of promotion

You cannot deny how good he is. You can try, but he has proven time and time again to be elite. He just DESTROYED the #1 p4p guy worse than any time in history. Serra GSP, Werdum Fedor, Weidman Anderson. None of those guys dethroned the MAN the way Conor did.

But a guy who has been beaten by Clay Guida and others would obliterate him, lol Ok
 

Greek777

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BTW, beating Aldo >>>>>>>>>>> beating Cerrone

Big Cerrone fan myself, always has exciting fights. But he has never reached the absolute top level. He wrecks guys who are middle of the pack, just on the cusp of elite. At the elite level, he struggles. Has lost all title fights he's been in. When he faces a guy who is a future or former champ, he loses (Benson, Pettis, RDA etc). Even against Benson back in January he probably should have lost the decision. The guys Cerrone beats are VERY tough, solid guys, but not top p4p people.

Pettis (RDA's other big win) also struggled against Jeremy Stephens and was beaten by Clay Guida. He was never some p4p elite #1 like the UFC was hyping him to be. He was a flashy, solid and fundamentally sound fighter, with devastating kicks that most people can't see coming... but never some all time great. He folds under pressure, just like against RDA, Guida etc.

These are fighters nowhere near Conor's level of skill, nor near his level of understanding the fight game. Conor is not only physically on a different level, but mentally as well.
 
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Conor McGregor is a special fighter. It's funny that people still doubt him, either A) they don't understand what happens in there or B) are salty because they lost money on the fight and don't like his brash style of promotion
I made this thread and I'm in neither group.

Conor didn't prevent Mendes from getting in the pocket.

Why is it crazy to think RDA getting into the same position as Mendes might be a problem for Conor?

Mendes is the best offensive wrestler at 145...but RDAs ground and pound is a fight stopper.

Styles make fights right?

Aldo in Conor fight looked like pre-Frankie Aldo. He was aggressive and chin out. Frankie fight had Aldo showing the best defense of his career.
Maybe the Conor win was inevitable, but the speed wasn't.

So losing the southpaw advantage...

Losing the size advantage...

Titanium jaw ;)

I think there's more here for justified discussion than just doubting Conor.
 

Greek777

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I always thought from the get go, that out of anyone Conor could face, Frankie would be the biggest threat. That's the fight I wanna see - but also don't, because I love Conor and people hate on Frankie for some reason, despite the fact IMO he is an all time great, an absolute legend of the lower weights, whose only losses were ALL controversial.

Frankie is on the absolute best run of his career right now. I read someone on here say last week he was slowing down, lol, then he went out and destroyed Mendes.

Frankie's movement could give Conor fits, but maybe it could go both ways. THAT is the fight I wanna see, as far as pitting the two best against each other. I really wanna see Aldo vs Conor 2 also, but man Frankie vs Conor is so unpredictable to me, especially this new Frankie 2.0.. I felt like the Aldo fight actually was predictable, but Conor vs Frankie, no fucking idea.

Let's not forget Conor's knee was hanging off a limb when he fought Chad, his movement wasn't as crisp as it was against Aldo, Porier, Brimmage etc. But he ate his shots like candy, over and over, the same shots that dropped Aldo and have KO'd some solid guys at FW (Lamas etc). RDA is a big ass dude, but I think Conor has a better chance against him than Frankie. Frankie is the most dangerous fight for him out there, and really, anyone. Frankie is one bad motherfucker, a first ballot HOFer
 

Ted Williams' head

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Sep 23, 2015
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I think Conor for sure is a threat to anyone from 145-155. He's very big for 145, he's a natural puncher and he's a fantastic athlete with great skills.

Would I pick him to beat RDA? Probably not, but I wouldn't count him out in that fight at all.
 

Gibberish

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Dec 2, 2015
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Can't everyone just agree that anything could happen in this fight? All these fans swinging on Conor's ballbag who think they are geniuses now, despite the bravado, were shitting their pants going into the Aldo fight, and vice versa. It will be the same for this fight.
 

Zeph

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Jan 22, 2015
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Can't everyone just agree that anything could happen in this fight? All these fans swinging on Conor's ballbag who think they are geniuses now, despite the bravado, were shitting their pants going into the Aldo fight, and vice versa. It will be the same for this fight.
Why do you have the frame your point with insults? Can you not do it elsewise?
 

Bobby Lupo

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Oct 25, 2015
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Massive threat. The cut to 145 was killing Conor. He was cutting stupid amounts of weight before his last few fights. It was something like 27lbs before the Mendes fight, and he looked dead at the weigh ins, and lethargic in the cage against Mendes. Conor's performance suffered making FW; he'd be much better at LW, so would Aldo.

RDA is a monster, but he's wild, and doesn't defend well. Conor was great at the counter game early in his career. He'd play Matador to RDA's bull. Conor has one shot KTFO dudes that missed with wide hooks, and if RDA gets overly concerned about the left hand, Conor has that Naz lead uppercut thing that he throws.

In my mind it's a 50/50 fight. But, I could see Conor dismantling Pettis and Cowboy as easily as RDA did (and also losing to Guida), but I don't think RDA does Aldo in 13 seconds. Every Fw and LW in the UFC saw that, and they know it could be them on the other end of that shot. It was a brown underwear night for the 45/55 fighters after that display of power and timing.
 

Qat

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Nov 3, 2015
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Conor is not only physically on a different level, but mentally as well.
How can you know? Have you ever seen Conor really under pressure for a long amount of time from a fit, ruthless fighter? Really hurt? You are making assumptions without base. He might as well fold like you say Pettis does.
 

LurkenLikaGherkin

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RDA & Aldo are totally different kinds of standing match-ups for McG. Aldo, because of reach & height (physical & management of space) has to overreach a bit -- and more importantly he feels/thinks he has to overreach in order to close distance, get the right spacing -- which is what in fact allowed Connor to fade back (slip) and counter like he did. RDA's greater reach/length changes that for RDA, but then RDA tends to rush forward, and that is in his "fighting DNA".

Standing, how McG manages that pressure, and how well he can do what he does within that pressure, kind of dictates the outcome. One factor there is that a sub-optimal punch from RDA is probably harder than a suboptimal punch from Aldo -- how much does getting hit with punches from a pressuring (or overpressuring) RDA prevent Connor from calmly seeing and creating the angles he wants for his counters?

McG probably isn't that much smaller than RDA at 155, with a good amount of time to fill out. He looks very starved down at 145, more so than RDA does at 155, and Connor probably has significantly greater practical reach. Dunno what the tape says, but Connor covers a lot more distance, in and out, and extends to be longer, without effort, than RDA.

IMO Cowboy is an easier fight for McG, mainly because he isn't a pressure fighter the way RDA is. He pressures with consistent & generally up-tempo pace, but not with the intensity in terms of closing distance and pressuring forward of RDA.

It looks to me like McG thinks in the heat of battle more clearly than any of the above -- he thinks and sees better in the fight than just about anybody...or maybe it just looks that way because his toolbox is so diverse.... Anyway, effective heavy pressure can overcome that advantage if the threat of the weapons being used is great enough to remove that peace of mind & physical ability to be a step ahead.
 
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he thinks and sees better in the fight than just about anybody...or maybe it just looks that way because his toolbox is so diverse....

I think you were right the first time. When something is not working, does a very good job of moving to a different tactic. Win something lands he starts to implement it more and more as the fight goes on. I don't remember hearing his corner specifically yelling any particular instructions during these times ( shoulder pressure Kenny! Lol) and he will just change punches mid round and adapt. Seems to have very high fight IQ.
 

Zeph

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I think you were right the first time. When something is not working, does a very good job of moving to a different tactic. Win something lands he starts to implement it more and more as the fight goes on. I don't remember hearing his corner specifically yelling any particular instructions during these times ( shoulder pressure Kenny! Lol) and he will just change punches mid round and adapt. Seems to have very high fight IQ.
Just watching the fights on TUF he would call out combinations for his fighters to use, and low and behold, they instantly start landing those combos. He just sees the openings crystal clear and processes them instantly.
 

LurkenLikaGherkin

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I think you were right the first time. When something is not working, does a very good job of moving to a different tactic. Win something lands he starts to implement it more and more as the fight goes on. I don't remember hearing his corner specifically yelling any particular instructions during these times ( shoulder pressure Kenny! Lol) and he will just change punches mid round and adapt. Seems to have very high fight IQ.
Yep, that's exactly what I meant, just that Connor (like Joanna, like Jones -- two more fighters that he thinks more clearly than) has a relatively diverse toolbox, so when something isn't working (e.g. straight left vs Poirier) he can go to something else (left hook vs Poirier).

I'm referring to the Poirier fight because it's so clear and kind of amazing to watch, in that fight, how he adjusts on the fly. When I first watched that fly, I guess because I expected both guys to be very emotionally taut, I thought I saw Conner being tentative, hesitant. When I watched it again, what I mistook for hesitancy was just him making adjustments on the fly. Other top level fighters don't have as many tools to go to, so even when they do think well, sometimes you see them struggle when there isn't another ready tool in the bag to throw into the mix.

There isn't any one I can think of that I've seen be so cool and precise in adjusting as McG was in the Poirier fight. It was impressive. There are a lot of very good, A-level fighters with upwards of 20 pro fights, who battle "tunnel vision" in a way McG has seemingly already overcome.
 

Zeph

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Yep, that's exactly what I meant, just that Connor (like Joanna, like Jones -- two more fighters that he thinks more clearly than) has a relatively diverse toolbox, so when something isn't working (e.g. straight left vs Poirier) he can go to something else (left hook vs Poirier).

I'm referring to the Poirier fight because it's so clear and kind of amazing to watch, in that fight, how he adjusts on the fly. When I first watched that fly, I guess because I expected both guys to be very emotionally taut, I thought I saw Conner being tentative, hesitant. When I watched it again, what I mistook for hesitancy was just him making adjustments on the fly. Other top level fighters don't have as many tools to go to, so even when they do think well, sometimes you see them struggle when there isn't another ready tool in the bag to throw into the mix.

There isn't any one I can think of that I've seen be so cool and precise in adjusting as McG was in the Poirier fight. It was impressive. There are a lot of very good, A-level fighters with upwards of 20 pro fights, who battle "tunnel vision" in a way McG has seemingly already overcome.
He switches from the cross to the uppercut in the Brimmage fight as well after having a little trouble landing it, and noticing that Brimmage was ducking down as he entered boxing range. Moments later Brimmage is knocked out.
 

Clappin'Daddys

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Conor always has that left hand, at least in the first few rounds. we have never seen him in deep waters, so we don't know if he can keep up that pace... if RDA is able to steer clear of that straight left... I could very well see a repeat of RDA vs Pettis... what a beatdown that fight was...
 

BeardOfKnowledge

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Conor always has that left hand, at least in the first few rounds. we have never seen him in deep waters, so we don't know if he can keep up that pace... if RDA is able to steer clear of that straight left... I could very well see a repeat of RDA vs Pettis... what a beatdown that fight was...
People alsoseem to ignore that RDA is pretty accustomed to getting hit by guys Conor's size.