Tony is a freak of nature. Can't imagine any other fighter returning from such a nasty leg injury and performing so dominantly against a good fighter. In his mind he is the champ, and I honestly think he believes it. I can't imagine what his reaction will be if he doesn't get next shot at the title.
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They likely see it as a business first - where you have to make money in order to survive. If you were to stop watching, you would likely be replaced by 2 people who enjoy the spectacle of watching the likes of McGregor fight. He tends to draw in people who don't watch UFC very often.
Oh, for the Ufc its the money decision but for Conor and Khabib I don't see what it offers bar a pay day really.
McGregors legacy will be in tatters if he loses with a record of 20 wins and 5 loses, thats a 1 in 5 ratio of loses. I think he needs a couple of wins before stepping back in with any of the big boys.
For Khabib its everything to lose and nothing to gain, he's already destroyed Conor. He has nothing to prove here. He needs to clean out the division now by taking Tony and that overrated mouthpiece Lee.
Except for earning a lot more money fighting someone he knows he can beat rather than a lot less money fighting someone that could potentially beat him? Taking a rematch is a no brainer for Khabib imo.
Conor's legacy will be just fine. He won't be remembered as a guy who may have lost his final fight, but rather the guy who elevated the profile of the UFC and mixed martial arts in general, to a truly global level. He's similar to Rousey in that regard - she will be remembered as a trailblazer who lifted the profile of women's MMA to what it is today
Heading back to London today, that by far exceeded my expectations.
Top 5 night of my life
Top 5 night of my life
He nullified Khabib in the 1st round better than most and won the 3rd round (the first round Khabib's ever lost in his MMA career). The 2nd and especially the 4th were all Khabib in what was overall a very dominant performance. But it was hardly the mismatch you are claiming, especially since McGregor was coming off a 2 year lay-off. You don't have to like someone to acknowledge the things they did do well even in a loss, the worst McGregor fan boys often spout biased shit thats gives no respect to the other fighters after they lose.
Khabib vs Tony, anything else but this would be a crime.
Kevin Lee vs winner of Poirier/Diaz for the next title shot.
Conor vs Loser of Poirier/Diaz, and a rematch with Aldo. If he wins both, then he can be in conversation for the rematch.
This is what i would like to happen. I definitely want to see a Conor vs Khabib 2, but Conor needs to be in fighting shape, and also needs to earn the shot first.
Kevin Lee vs winner of Poirier/Diaz for the next title shot.
Conor vs Loser of Poirier/Diaz, and a rematch with Aldo. If he wins both, then he can be in conversation for the rematch.
This is what i would like to happen. I definitely want to see a Conor vs Khabib 2, but Conor needs to be in fighting shape, and also needs to earn the shot first.
People keep saying this. He was in fighting shape at the weekend. He was simply outclassed by a better, more complete fighter.
I want to know whether his fight will still go ahead.
His fight against Tukhugov has been cancelled if that's what you mean.
There was no nullification going on in the 1st round. Khabib shot at Conor within 30 seconds and controlled him for the rest of the round.
How many people did you slap in the crowd?
People keep going on about the two year lay off... find that a bit strange.
GSP retired and Dominick Cruz was injured for years and came back and looked fine, but I understand that "ring rust" maybe be a case by case thing.
However, McGregor fought Money Mayweather in that time, so in the least his striking should have been more crisp than ever before...
GSP retired and Dominick Cruz was injured for years and came back and looked fine, but I understand that "ring rust" maybe be a case by case thing.
However, McGregor fought Money Mayweather in that time, so in the least his striking should have been more crisp than ever before...
Ah mate, has it? Damn
But will those two people stick around after McGregor walks away? I'm a shit-eating wildman who watches all MMA
By nullified I mean he didn’t take any real damage. Khabib was on top and won the round clearly but McGregor did well to stay calm and tie Khabib up as i said better than most.
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Boxing and MMA are completely different angles, distances and timing. What he learned for and from Floyd would have little to know bearing on his MMA skills.
He's been running like a wild man on coke and booze for how long? All the while not fighting. Only Jones can get away with that, and even he came back rusty. It's easy to say in hindsight, sure, but you have to wonder how much of an edge has been taken off him with his own antics.
He betrayed his own fighting style in there and I think part of that is because he doesn't have the edge to fight in the manner he did at the moment.
That would depend on how long he even wants to stay in the fight game. He could be thinking one or two more money grabs and out. If that's the case, he's hardly going to change anything unless these losses are actually touching his soul and bothering him. It's ironic really given all the schtick he used to give about being a 'true martial artist' where others in the UFC are not, well, Conor, part of being that is living a clean and disciplined life with focus only on martial arts, none of which he's doing.
I asked in here before the fight whether he'd have the true heart to put in when he's already minted; I don't think he has, but it'll be great if this loss actually burns him and makes him want to prove himself rather than just rack up sacks of money whilst he's still hot property.
GSP made sure to stay away from every beast in the division and ducked straight back out after Bisping - he took on someone he had no doubt he could beat, which is completely the opposite of Conor going in against a legitimate top tier who he was, at best, 50/50 with before the fight. Cruz is a freak of a fighter who I don't think others can prepare for in camp. Conor's style relies on reflexive countering when he's actually utilising his strength; there is more questions about timing and so forth for him than the others beings as he is much more linear a fighter with fewer tools to fall back on than them.
I wouldn't use ring rust as the primary issue with his return, however, but I wouldn't just dismiss it, either.
Not sure you can use boxing principles or tuning for MMA, either as even the stances he would have learned would be food for a height switching mauler looking for openings to shoot low on. It's his good old MMA skills we should be analyzing, imo.
I think it's just an excuse to be honest. I think even if he was fairly active he'd still of lost the fight. Even if it's somewhat true I don't get why it's used as an excuse, he wasn't injured or anything he chose not to fight for 2 years.
I straight away thought Conor looks different but put that down to his fear of being taken down rather than ring rust.
If the reason WAS ring rust and being out two years then that absolutely cannot be used as an excuse. He wasn't injured and he wasn't forced to live the party life style. He chose to do those things.
He even tried to get Khabib to join him in the lifestyle by offering him some Proper 12
If the reason WAS ring rust and being out two years then that absolutely cannot be used as an excuse. He wasn't injured and he wasn't forced to live the party life style. He chose to do those things.
He even tried to get Khabib to join him in the lifestyle by offering him some Proper 12
@Fortitude i mean there is a lot of speculation in what you’ve just said about the coke and so on. I think Kavanagh mentioned another intresting thing in that Rogan video about now thinking about it he felt they were in a very defensive mindset and he feels like it was a mistake. Mentioned something wasn’t quite right as Connor had oppertunities to hit Kahbib but the timing wasn’t just there or he just didn’t spot the oppertunities where previously those are things he would exploit.
Think I’d tend to go with it’s more Kahbib is a fecking great fighter, Connor had a bit of ring rust and just wasn’t quite right on the night. As seemingly he is in the gym all the time training learning new things. I’m not sure saying he half arsed it is accurate.
Think I’d tend to go with it’s more Kahbib is a fecking great fighter, Connor had a bit of ring rust and just wasn’t quite right on the night. As seemingly he is in the gym all the time training learning new things. I’m not sure saying he half arsed it is accurate.
Not sure why people are looking for reasons as to why Conor lost. I thought he did well, but honestly, can anyone do any better? - not the 26 guys that have lost to Khabib already, for sure.
Maybe Ferguson, being wildly different could have a chance, otherwise I can't see who could beat him.
Maybe Ferguson, being wildly different could have a chance, otherwise I can't see who could beat him.
I almost got slapped
Got called a fag, a woman was waving her hands in my face and swearing at me but I just kept cool and laughed it off. There were tiny pockets of Khabib fans, people were pissed off that we were celebrating but it was only arseholes that said anything. Had a good chat with a guy from Dublin, we shook hands after
Hehe. You get some real classy individuals at MMA events.I almost got slapped
Got called a fag, a woman was waving her hands in my face and swearing at me but I just kept cool and laughed it off. There were tiny pockets of Khabib fans, people were pissed off that we were celebrating but it was only arseholes that said anything. Had a good chat with a guy from Dublin, we shook hands after
It's been spoken about tons since he was last even in the UFC, which was an age ago! It's not a new thing or a revelation, just what he's been doing. It's bound to takes its toll even if you're in the gym. You're far from optimal when so distracted, and that's obviously on him, but is a factor in why he looked so off, imo.
Because the fight went the way it did, with the apex being the stand-up fighter getting dropped by the mauler, a lot of this supposedly sounds like hindsight, but Conor has no business getting matched like that in the stand up as it's just as ridiculous as Conor mauling Khabib on the ground, but all the things he's supposed to utilise weren't there for him partly because of a number of his own factors all rolled into one and obviously partly because of Khabib's pressure and the fear of the takedowns.
The aspect of the fight that annoys a little bit is that you want both fighters at their very best in there to determine all the arguments once and for all. Khabib brought his side, but Conor's was off and a lot of that he can only blame himself for.
I had this suggestion on youtube and when you think about what happened during and after the fight, it's amusing:
Yeah but again all speculation and people like Rogan and Brendan Schaub just poking fun and making stuff up, there has never been any credible info on him having massive coke binges. Fighting is also a weird thing where yeah everyone trains just learning new things and keeping fit but then you have a 3 month intensive camp to peak one specific night for 25minutes. It’s not like preparing for a season. As long as those 3 months you’re focused on the task the rest of it is pretty much fine as long as you maintain a basic level of fitness which seemingly he does.
The rest of it is easy and Connor didn’t want to do media so he could focus on the fight, that doesn’t sound like someone who isn’t taking something seriously, I bet he was dead serious and maybe as Kavanagh said them going in with such a defensive mindset played a part in what happened, Connor maybe 2nd guessing himself because striking is best when it’s a reaction, you don’t think about it, you just do it, that split second of hesitation and it’s gone.
At the end of the day it’s all opinions and as far as I’ve seen he hasn’t been calling it in or half arsing, he just went up against a really good fighter and on the day he wasn’t at his best.
No Sympathy for him. He tried to act the gangster and came up against a tough nut Dagestani who wasn't up for the bravado and games. There is talk of Conor saying "its just business" after the 3rd round and also Khabib wading in on him sayin "talk now then". This was the example of when trash talking goes horribly wrong.
Of course it's all trash talking, that's partly why it's so uninteresting (the pre fight shenanigans).It's so obvoous, this WWE style pantomime. Conor is not a bad man per se, he's just trying to make a shit load of money, and gain a advantage by making his opponents fight emotionally.
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Of course and it backfired. That said, when you bring 20 guys and attack the vehicle that someone is on, that's more than WWE to the other guy. I completely get why Khabib took it serious as that's some street shit.
Realistically, the ppv buys wouldn’t be that high, I don’t know about you’s but anytime McGregor is fighting everyone around here will either go to a pub for a lock in or a crowd will go to one fellas house and watch it.
Yeah true, that was a dickhead move ( I conveniently forgot about that there)
Them two weren’t off snorting half the coke in Dublin though..
Finally watched fight in full. Total domination, Khabib completely nullified Conor when he wanted to and was Conor's equal when he stood in front and traded with him, even knocking him down.
This was one of those soul taking fights, interested to see how Conor bounces back from this. I know he has a reputation of tapping easily but it just looked like he gave up. The choke was over the chin , and although i am sure it hurt, he didnt have any fight in him to try and at least wriggle out. It might have ended up Khabib getting it round his neck but at least he would have shown the desire.
This was one of those soul taking fights, interested to see how Conor bounces back from this. I know he has a reputation of tapping easily but it just looked like he gave up. The choke was over the chin , and although i am sure it hurt, he didnt have any fight in him to try and at least wriggle out. It might have ended up Khabib getting it round his neck but at least he would have shown the desire.
Lol, not my finest moment.