I watched it twice already. Honestly didn't think he was badly hurt. He was tired and getting out-boxed but had his wits about him and was steady on his feet. Definitely an element of rope a dope in the closing 30 seconds.
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Sort of like he did in the latter part of round 2 in the first fight ? In fairness, Nate would've probably done the same thing here had there been a bit of extra time in the 3rd.
You keep bringing up the first fight while ignoring the glaring difference. Diaz rocked McGregor with a heavy punch. Something he failed to do in 5 rounds in this fight. You can hypothesis about him somehow timing an identical punch all over again but in reality it didn't happen, even if he did manage to land the occasional flurry of arm punches.
Conor became a panic wrestler in the first fight when he tried to swing back when he was exhausted. He was wide open with zero head movement.
He was a lot smarter this time around.
I think he was in serious danger and I think it's a bit of hindsight analysis based on how the 4th went to say he wasn't. Agree to disagree.
Smarter and didn't panic. In between the third and the fourth Kavanagh was essentially telling him "the fight is going five rounds, we know this, we've trained for this, we're fine". That's totally different from the first fight where he seemed to panic once his usual early blitz wasn't working. The mental shift in prep was as important as the physical shift.
Yep definitely, he was smarter and slightly better conditioned. The strategy was clearly to go deep into the rounds and win on points, which he did.
Yes and the heavy punch in round 2 of fight one was also down to poor conditioning on Conor's part. He obviously went into this fight with a clear strategy, keep it standing up, leg kicks, and win on punches. That said, Nate still somehow managed to outpunch him on the stats, which irrespective of where they land still count as significant strikes.
No more than the preparation Conor done himself I think John Kavanagh deserves great credit for the way he prepared Conor for the fight too. If there was ever an advertisment for his book 'Win or Learn' the difference in approach to last saturday nights fight compared the first fight was it. It was a pure attention to detail job.
Pretty much even on significant strikes - 178-161 for Nate, although Conor wins 3-1 on knockdowns/takedowns
Whats the longest Aldo went between title defences, something like 12-14 months?
McGregor only won the title last December, you would imagine he will likely be fighting next in NY in November. So surely the ideal scenario for the UFC and everyone involved would be for McGregor to fight in November maybe in a LW title match then fight Aldo or whoever the FW No1 contender is in early 2017.
McGregor only won the title last December, you would imagine he will likely be fighting next in NY in November. So surely the ideal scenario for the UFC and everyone involved would be for McGregor to fight in November maybe in a LW title match then fight Aldo or whoever the FW No1 contender is in early 2017.
I'd imagine the next fight will be Aldo or else Conor will have to give up his belt and allow the division to press on without him.
They issued an interim title when he got injured and didn't fight for over a year, and scheduled the unification as soon he was fit. He didn't refuse to defend his belt while taking other fights in different weight divisions when there were contenders waiting for their shot.
Yep, before the fight Kavanagh said his reputation was on the line as much as McGregor's. Given their gameplan worked, he deserves credit. They certainly learned from the last fight.
Never said he did mate, but the point stands he didn't defend his title for over a year. It is after all in Aldo's best interests to wait on a Mcgregor fight as it's a much bigger payday compared to anyone else in the division. If everyone agreed to delaying McGregors first defence a few months until early 2017 then i don't see what the problem is.
Well if McGregor wants to fight at LW next which he seems to, what can anyone really do. Aldo will make much more money fighting McGregor than he would anyone else at FW so it seems pointless for him to push for McGregor to be stripped of his title when he can just wait an extra few months and score a few million for one fight, probably more than 3-5 other fights at FW combined vs different opponents. If McGregor were to be stripped of the FW title i think it very unlikely he ever goes down to 145 again if he's successful at 155. Defending his 145 belt would maybe be the only thing drawing him back down there. So Aldo's best option in my opinion would be to wait it out and see how he goes at 155 and push for a rematch then.
Think McGregor should just drop the FW belt, he doesn't need to do anything in that division again. He had trouble making the 145 cut before, now he's done two fights at 170 now, it'll be even harder. Just drop the belt, go 155.
He probably just wants to keep it to say he held 2 belts at once. In fairness to him as has been pointed out between Mendes vs. Aldo and Aldo vs. McGregor was 14 months. McGregor won that title 8 months ago, he's a very active fighter for such a big name. I want him to defend the title or let the division move on but it's not like Aldo was defending it every few months when he was champion.
Don't get me wrong, i don't mind him holding on to it, or even going for two belts at once. How ever i just think he should be done with 145. He can go after 155lb win that belt, then drop the 145lb.
Yeah fair enough, I think that's his plan probably. Him and Kavanagh constantly dismiss the idea of him going back to 145, they never answer the question anyway. I think if he goes after the lightweight belt then Dana might let him hold on to the FW until the fight is done just to give Conor some kudos and allow to the UFC to market him even more. It'll be interesting when he does fight again, I don't think he's taken asm uch damage in any UFC fight as he did in the last one really. He did want to fight on 205 but that would surely be to soon for him.
McGregor either defends the title at 145 next or should 100% be stripped. You can't have him going around fighting twice at 170 and then 155 while there's challengers waiting for a shot at a title he hasn't even defended since winning.
Khabib should be getting the next shot at 155 if he stays healthy but I wouldn't be surprised (and apparently it's already happening with Alvarez apparently turning down two chances to fight Khabib) if Alvarez tries to lobby for a money fight instead.
Khabib should be getting the next shot at 155 if he stays healthy but I wouldn't be surprised (and apparently it's already happening with Alvarez apparently turning down two chances to fight Khabib) if Alvarez tries to lobby for a money fight instead.
But again Aldo went through periods (albeit he was injured) of not fighting in a year + multiple times. Between his first fight with Mendes and his fight with Edgar there was 13months break and he didn't fight. Between his 2nd fight with Mendes and his fight with McGregor there was a 14 month break. That's still holding up a division whether by choice of fighting someone else or through injury. I want him to fight aldo cos it's an interesting fight but I don't think it's fair suggest it's holding up a division which historically had an inactive champion. You could make a case for McGregor fighting twice in the next 6 months based on his previous schedule....if that were to happen he'd of defended his title within a 14 month time frame which Aldo previously did. There's no way you could say that about Aldo.
I'd personally say Ferguson is most deserving of a title shot in that division but again it's opinions. If you ask Alvarez than he 100% will want the McGregor pay day. Can't say I blame him either as Alvarez is hardly the most engaging champion and he'd never get the opportunity to make thatk ind of money.
But isn't using Aldo as a measuring stick then saying it's ok for every champion to do this? Or are we using Aldo as a measuring stick to say that any champion at 145 should be able to do this? I don't agree... especially as the circumstances are different. Aldo couldnt fight because he was injured... that's just bad luck and nothing can be done about that but Conor is ready to fight yet not fighting, which is deliberately holding up the division.
It would be pretty pointless to endlessly wait for Conor to come back down to 145. For Aldo, of course he wants the financial benefit and revenge factor of fighting Conor again, but let's say Conor wins that fight. He will only immediately turn around and go back up to 155 and vacate the 145 belt in the process. Therefore why not simply vacate it now if he wants to fight the likes of Diaz, Alvarez, and RDA at 155.
I can appreciate the concept that an injury isn't the same as fighting and just ignoring a division and I don't disagree with it. My point is though that it's a division that has historically been held up for 1 reason or another. It's nothing new that it happened. Whilst aldo might of been sat on the sidelines injured Conor actually fought and put on hugely entertaining fights. If he defended his belt in 6 months time and delivered fights like he did the other night in the mean time I can't say I'd be hugely annoyed.
I do want Conor to fight at featherweight once more only against Aldo just cos the last fight was such a freak. I want to see what happens again but the holding up a division doesn't really bother me to much. Conor and the UFC have created something huge with him. I think Aldo would rather wait as well in all honesty. Conor knows the ball is in his court to fight him. He's had Alvarez, Cerrone, Aldo, Edgar all call him out in between or after the Diaz fight. It's partly the UFC's fault really (and the fighters) if they managed to promote themselves a bit better than there wouldn't be this 1 horse race over 2 divisions.
Thats my point though mate, i personally don't think McGregor wants to fight at FW again, especially if he is successful at LW. So if Aldo wants the rematch his best bet in my opinion is to wait it out and see how he does at LW. If he loses at LW then all of a sudden a fight vs Aldo is more attractive, if he wins at LW he may drop the belt best but thats the risk Aldo has to take i think.
But what I'm trying to say is that just because it's been held up in the past, that shouldn't be the precedence now. It's like saying Cain held up the HW division for over a year between fighting JDS and Werdum so it's ok for Werdum to now do the same? (pre Stipe fight)... I'd rather they switch it up so champions who are able to fight, have to keep fighting to keep each division interesting...
Waiting indefinitely would be a complete farce though. The Division has already gone nine months without the belt holder getting challenged. How much longer would Aldo have to wait before Conor fights another 1 or 2 fights at LW? That would be another year or more at least, and who is to say Conor wouldn't change his mind at that point and just stay at LW. If he doesn't want to diet down to 145 or perhaps if he doesn't want to risk losing to Aldo, then just vacate the belt and move to 155 and focus on the likes of RDA, Diaz et al. and allow the 145 division to march on with fighters who actually want to fight in that division.
Yep they probably shouldn't really but the UFC has ultimately made their bed. People throw away the McGregor stuff and say it's all his fault but it's really not.
If they want regular title defences why not come out and say you have to defend your title within 12months or it's stripped from you? Regardless of injury. As you say Cain went over a year without defending, Werdum got close to a year, Cormier has only defended the title once, Woodley is trying to hold a division to ransom now to get a money fight etc.
It's a bit of a shit situation I agree but I don't think it's fair to pin all the blame on Conor who is taking advantage of a situation to benefit himself and line his pockets.
I see the logic in this from Conor's perspective and even Aldo's but it would be a worrying sign of where the UFC is going IMO. The scenario you outline sounds like the shite that has ruined boxing as a spectacle with mega-fights only happening when it perfectly suits the fighters (for financial and/or performance reasons). Conor taking three consecutive fights outside his belt division would make a mockery of the title, a title that isn't up for grabs until he chooses it to be. If he wants to chase the money then he can drop the belt and pursue whatever course he wants but if he wants to keep the belt he has to be willing to defend it irrespective of his opinions on the worthiness of the challengers. Sometimes you can't have everything you want and he should decide what he wants more, bigger grossing fights or the esteem of holding the belt. Defending it every other fight would be fine but right now it looks like he is clinging to it as a back up should his adventure at higher weights prove to be unsuccessful.
The UFC wants to make money as fast as it can but they run the risk of undermining any integrity they have by continuing to allow this kind of thing.
If you don't think that can happen I suggest you go and watch Anderson Silva vs Bisping. The end of round 3 and the 4th round. It will blow your mind.
Nate's cut and bleeding plagued him for much of the 4th, which allowed Conor a bit of a reprieve imo, and afforded him a chance to go back on attack.
Still can't believe Anderson celebrated instead of put him away. What a waste of a fight which has now led us to Bisping fighting Henderson instead of Rockhold facing Weidman.
I think he got confused with the round ending and then suffered a big adrenaline dump. To be fair Bisping was actually deservedly winning the fight before getting distracted by the mouthpiece. It was a crazy situation.
So apparently Connor has a 6 month medical suspension due to his shin and foot?
Up to 6 months apparently. Can be reassessed at any time and that can be lowered (and they reckon it will be.)
I dunno if he'll fight on MSG like he wanted to but I wouldn't be surprised to fight see him fight again before the end of the year...especially as there is a card in Vegas again on 30th December.
UFC must be really frustrated the big 2 in UFC 200 and 205 will feature neither of their biggest draws in Mcgregor and Ronda. They wont be getting Brock in to save 205 either.
Hey i'm not saying that scenario i describe would be the best course for MMA as a whole but i could see it happening.
And yes Connor having 3 fights in other divisions before defending the FW title isn't ideal but the alternative doesn't exactly add prestige to the title either. If McGregor was stripped of the title despite not being injured and it is handed to the guy he beat in 13 seconds then really Aldo in a lot of peoples eyes Jose wouldn't really be the legitimate champion.
It's a unique situation almost, i think everyone would like to see Aldo/McGregor 2 in the next year and finally determine who is the best FW. Then win or lose Connor could move up weight permanently and the FW division could move on without him.
I dunno if they'll be that bothered about 200. They got big numbers for 200 regardless and would of got even bigger for 202. If Conor fought on 200 then there's no way 202 would of done big numbers. Basically they got 2 massive PPVs in the last 3 cards.
205 they may want a big name you're right but even then they seem pretty convinced it'll do big numbers due to the history of MSG, whether they do or not is a different matter. They still may get Conor on there but it would be a stretch.