The MMA thread

[Paxi]

Here's my comment on mmafighting:

Conor absolutely neglected the fact that Jon Jones and GSP managed multiple title defenses

Yeah, he was a champion in two divisions just like GSP, but GSP defended one of those multiple times, so there’s no way he is behind Conor.
Now, he has a point about Jones and GSP lackluster decisions in some fights and a certain lack of finishes, but… Jon Jones has never been beaten inside the cage and GSP avenged his both losses decisively. Conor did beat Nate Diaz in the rematch, but Diaz finished him and Conor couldn’t do the same in that rematch. As you know, GSP finished Serra and Hughes at second opportunity.

GSP did bottle the Anderson fight and Bisping was in fact, one eyed when they fought, but GSP was still going in against a bigger, stronger guy. Conor, although he did beat Nate Diaz at 170, still hasn’t fought a true Welterweight in size, like Woodley, Usman or Colby.

Diaz, although definitely a big guy, was always more suited to lightweight throught his career, as an example of this, you can look at the way Rory Mcdonald beat him, I guess.

And lastly,there’s just no way Conor can truly leave Demetrious Johnson and Fedor Emelianenko out of the discussion.

DJ is the title defenses record holder, and he did finish a man who would go on to be a two division champ in Cejudo, decisively. Conor can point out to DJ never pursuing the BW title though, but DJ finished guys in multiple ways, just like Anderson.
Fedor’s run of dominance between 2001 and 2009 is well documented, always beating guys heavier than him with ease.

I’m also struggling to understand how Conor can leave Khabib out of the discussion.

Good post that.

 

[Paxi]

I love the revisionism here about state of Conor and UFC229. According to the man himself he had a great camp pre fight etc etc. Khabib is just too good for Conor anyone arguing this at this point is just being a conor nuthugger.

 

[Raoul]

I love the revisionism here about state of Conor and UFC229. According to the man himself he had a great camp pre fight etc etc. Khabib is just too good for Conor anyone arguing this at this point is just being a conor nuthugger.

Just watched the fight again. It was pretty much the same mauling I remember.

 

[Berbaclass]

Just watched the fight again. It was pretty much the same mauling I remember.

First two rounds he got mauled, more so the first. He won the 3rd and did okay until the stoppage in the 4th.

 

[Fener1907]

I love the revisionism here about state of Conor and UFC229. According to the man himself he had a great camp pre fight etc etc. Khabib is just too good for Conor anyone arguing this at this point is just being a conor nuthugger.

Apparently his record at 170 is worth mentioning. If he's so intent on securing his place as the greatest, fighting somebody of relevance in that division would help. Far too stacked with wrestlers for him to entertain the possibility, mind.

 

[Paxi]

Just watched the fight again. It was pretty much the same mauling I remember.

I just meant that him not being at his best etc. He said himself he had a great camp and that he was in war mode or something along those lines. Now, he and some people are claiming he was hungover etc. It's such a cop out. He got mauled on the ground. And got knocked down.

 

[Raoul]

First two rounds he got mauled, more so the first. He won the 3rd and did okay until the stoppage in the 4th.

If you watch the 3rd again, Khabib was outstruck for the first 3 or so minutes but then took Conor down and controlled him against the fence for the rest of the round. So all things said it was a pretty even round that could've gone either way.

 

[Paxi]

Apparently his record at 170 is worth mentioning. If he's so intent on securing his place as the greatest, fighting somebody of relevance in that division would help. Far too stacked with wrestlers for him to entertain the possibility, mind.

Exactly. He wouldn't fare well against Usman, Woodley, or even Colby.

 

[cyberman]

Holloway had the record, the reputation, and the belt. It had potential for a long time but never materialised. Instead, Conor preferred to just remind everyone how he beat Holloway when he was about 21.

Yeah but he was moving up. The drawback of moving up is not being around for any fighters in your previous divsion making a run so theres always a why doesnt he come back and fight that guy? feeling but staying for those fights is the easy way out.
Saying that you can do a Jones and GSP and rack up defences against mis matched contenders and not make that move up. Thats a worse sin imo.
Conor simply would not be a better fighter if he stayed at 145 and refought already vanquished opponents and not be signing on to face Khabib or scary as shit at the time RDA or moving up 2 weight divisions to face title gate keepers. Few do that for a reason.
Beating Conor is a trophy. Theres so much pressure on his fights due to the exposure and level of interest in his fights that not showing he has the mentality to handle a title defence doesnt ring true. For me anyway.

 

[Raoul]

Yeah but he was moving up. The drawback of moving up is not being around for any fighters in your previous divsion making a run so theres always a why doesnt he come back and fight that guy? feeling but staying for those fights is the easy way out.
Saying that you can do a Jones and GSP and rack up defences against mis matched contenders and not make that move up. Thats a worse sin imo.
Conor simply would not be a better fighter if he stayed at 145 and refought already vanquished opponents and not be signing on to face Khabib or scary as shit at the time RDA or moving up 2 weight divisions to face title gate keepers. Few do that for a reason.
Beating Conor is a trophy. Theres so much pressure on his fights due to the exposure and level of interest in his fights that not showing he has the mentality to handle a the defence of a title doesnt ring true. For me anyway.

If he stayed at 145 all this time he would've had to go through Holloway again and possibly a 3rd time, and there would be no guarantees he would've beaten peak Max. Or even Volko in the present.

 

[Fener1907]

Yeah but he was moving up. The drawback of moving up is not being around for any fighters in your previous divsion making a run so theres always a why doesnt he come back and fight that guy? feeling but staying for those fights is the easy way out.
Saying that you can do a Jones and GSP and rack up defences against mis matched contenders and not make that move up. Thats a worse sin imo.
Conor simply would not be a better fighter if he stayed at 145 and refought already vanquished opponents and not be signing on to face Khabib or scary as shit at the time RDA or moving up 2 weight divisions to face title gate keepers. Few do that for a reason.
Beating Conor is a trophy. Theres so much pressure on his fights due to the exposure and level of interest in his fights that not showing he has the mentality to handle a title defence doesnt ring true. For me anyway.

Conor himself promoted the idea, trying to downplay each of Max's wins by regularly reminding him that he'd beaten him.

Two fighters met early on in their careers, fought to a decision, and both evolved and went on to be killers in the same division. Holloway was hardly some upstart who came much later on when the fight was beyond realistic. It was the fight to make. Again, he took the Twitter option.

 

[cyberman]

If he stayed at 145 all this time he would've had to go through Holloway again and possibly a 3rd time, and there would be no guarantees he would've beaten peak Max. Or even Volko in the present.

Conor outboxes all of them imo. Especially Volko, Conor would just be too big. Plus Max is stupidly open, it would ve Justin v Tony all over again. I dont think Max inproved that much after the Conor loss, he was just a lesser version of Conor style and that let him rip through 145.
All im saying is that he has had a fantastic career but the spite that people have against him boils down to but Khabib! Lolz and thats unfair to his achievements. Other top fighters have had more crushing defeats than that.
Its like logic goes out the window. Hes a drug abusing scumbag, alcoholic who has spent 2 years having a degenerate rampage but mention that he might not have had the most professional of camps before a coneback fight after that lay off and its dismissed as wild excuses.
This is it now for Conor. He has 3 winnable fights in Masvidal, Tony and Justin. The road map is there for him and if he can win all three then title defences against an already destroyed 145 division means very little.
Its up to Conor now

 

[Raoul]

Conor outboxes all of them imo. Especially Volko, Conor would just be too big. Plus Max is stupidly open, it would ve Justin v Tony all over again. I dont think Max inproved that much after the Conor loss, he was just a lesser version of Conor style and that let him rip through 145.
All im saying is that he has had a fantastic career but the spite that people have against him boils down to but Khabib! Lolz and thats unfair to his achievements. Other top fighters have had more crushing defeats than that.
Its like logic goes out the window. Hes a drug abusing scumbag, alcoholic who has spent 2 years having a degenerate rampage but mention that he might not have had the most professional of camps before a coneback fight after that lay off and its dismissed as wild excuses.
This is it now for Conor. He has 3 winnable fights in Masvidal, Tony and Justin. The road map is there for him and if he can win all three then title defences against an already destroyed 145 division means very little.
Its up to Conor now

Volko used to be a middleweight, so I doubt Conor's "size" would be much of an issue. Holloway has massively improved since losing to Conor early on in his career as well. They would be very competitive fights.

 

[Oggmonster]

He rinsed 145, lets be honest. Went up and won a title, won a few at 170 as well.
Look, I hate Conor as much as the next man but an avenged loss v Nate and a loss v the best 155 of all time doesnt diminish what he has done. He just doesnt win fights, he wins them in dominating fashion and usually in round 1 or 2 and against high calibre opponents.
Hes provided the most clean drug tests than any fighter in history, he isnt shit scared of losing like Jones who has looked like shit off the juice. He isnt content to weight bully like Khabib and actually face fighters without his usual advantages.
Honestly, I think he takes Tony and Justin at 155. When its all said and done there will be no top fighters he could, and should, face and the chance is there to ram home his accomplishments.
Im not saying hes the greatest ever but he is up there in that bracket.

He didn't rinse 145.
He fought Brimage who's a pretty shite fighter....let's be honest.
A young inexperienced Max Holloway
A journeyman Brandao
Poirier which was a good win (although he probably won't fight him again, same with Holloway)
Siver who is nothing special
Mendes on 2 weeks notice
Aldo which was in fairness a crazy KO but he wanted nothng to do with him since which looked weird considering he randomly thinks he deserves a Khabib rematch

I don't particularly hate him, I just don't think he's anywhere near the GOAT.

Nate Diaz is a journeyman fighter, it was hand picked to make Conor look good and backfired miserably, almost twice. He doesn't win fights in dominating fashion every time (see Diaz 2.) High calibre opponents is always a weird logic, he's fought plenty of handpicked fighters by UFC standard (Cerrone for example), or fighters who are nothing special (Brimage, Brandao, Siver.) Of course they're all still "high calibre" in the sense they are in the UFC.

Why is Jones "shit scared" of losing? I don't like Jones at all but he has fought Belfort, Machida, Evans, Gus x 2, Cormier x 2 and that's just off the top of my head. I don't think any UFC fighters are "shit scared" I think it's an odd thing to say about fighters to be honest.

I don't get your "juice" point, GSP, Khabib, Mighty Mouse never failed drugs tests. They are all better than him. Don't get the weight bullying thing either, most his wins in UFC came at 145....a weight he has a massive advantage at.

Each to their own, I would have him no where near the greatest of all time, he's not even that close to being the greatest current fighter.

 

[Raoul]

His the promotional GOAT by a country mile, but nowhere near top 10 of actual fighting GOATs.

 

[Paxi]

Volko used to be a middleweight, so I doubt Conor's "size" would be much of an issue. Holloway has massively improved since losing to Conor early on in his career as well. They would be very competitive fights.

Didn't Alex used to play Rugby or something. He's certainly a unit in a sense.

Obviously reach would be an issue but if he got close to conor..

 

[Berbaclass]

His the promotional GOAT by a country mile, but nowhere near top 10 of actual fighting GOATs.

At this point he'll either solidify his claims or destroy them. Time will tell.

 

[Paxi]

Just rewatching Gaethje vs Ferguson to get some more clarity as I'm usually pissed out of my head. Damn, those left hooks from Justin. Better left than McGregor?

 

[Fener1907]

Each to their own, I would have him no where near the greatest of all time, he's not even that close to being the greatest current fighter.

Readily highlighted by the fact that he lost to the champion of the division he is supposed to be involved in (lightweight) and would get thrown around like a child by the champion of the other he has apparently been quite successful in (welterweight).

 

[cyberman]

Volko used to be a middleweight, so I doubt Conor's "size" would be much of an issue. Holloway has massively improved since losing to Conor early on in his career as well. They would be very competitive fights.

Yes, he was a middleweight and dropped to 145 where he is hugely successful so obviously size is an issue.
Conor carries incredible power at 145 and has insane reach. He would be a massive favourite imo.
Alvarez all over again.

 

[Luke1995]

Good post that.

Thanks man. The media must be loving that stuff. Conor is giving them stuff for these slow news days

 

[cyberman]

According to Ali its Conor v Usman on July 11.

Win that and hes my number 1 quite frankly

 

[Oggmonster]

According to Ali its Conor v Usman on July 11.

Win that and hes my number 1 quite frankly

I'm pretty convinced at this point that you actually are Conor McGregor

 

[cyberman]

I'm pretty convinced at this point that you actually are Conor McGregor

If he beats Usman what else does he do? Take down Izzy?
Its a titanic mountain to climb.

If you deny that then theres nothing Conor can ever do, your hatred for him clouds your judgement

 

[Raoul]

If he beats Usman what else does he do? Take down Izzy?
Its a titanic mountain to climb.

If you deny that then theres nothing Conor can ever do, your hatred for him clouds your judgement

He could start by beating someone decent in his own division.

 

[JPRouve]

Or defend his title against Usman.

 

[Oggmonster]

If he beats Usman what else does he do? Take down Izzy?
Its a titanic mountain to climb.

If you deny that then theres nothing Conor can ever do, your hatred for him clouds your judgement

I don't hate McGregor. In fact I don't mind him really. I've defended him plenty in the past as @Raoul can vouch for I'm sure. I just don't think he's one of the best of all time. In European fighters as I said he has s case but he's no way near Khabib, DJ, GSP, Jones for example. If you think he is fair enough it's a game of opinions but just don't think it myself but each to their own.

Id probably say European fighters Khabib is the best and then he's up there with the rest to be fair

 

[sullydnl]

1) Becoming a champion again.
2) Defending that title, repeatedly.
3) Fighting more regularly than he has been.
4) Fighting and beating the best fighters in his division(s), as opposed to relative journeymen like Nate Diaz.
5) Beat Khabib.

If McGregor seriously wanted to put himself in the conversation for top 5 of all time then he would have to do multiple of the above. Not all, but nearly all.

 

[George Owen]

According to Ali its Conor v Usman on July 11.

Win that and hes my number 1 quite frankly

As much as I like Conor, it would be the easiest fight for Usman. Even easier than Masvidal.

I don't believe it one bit. I still think he will fight Khabib before Justin.

 

[Raoul]

Masvidal, Usman, and Covington would all crush him with little trouble.

Too bad Askern retired. That would've been the utimate clown show for Conor to take on.

 

[Dirty Schwein]

It's funny how people forget the details of McGregor's fights/run.

Most of his legacy is at 145, where he was the much bigger guy. He beat Aldo fair and square. A short notice Mended, but that still was a good win. Also Poirier. Then you look at a bunch of tosspots like Brandao, Brimage and Siver. So 3 good wins.

Then at 155 he beat a guy who was lucky to be champ but he did win that fair and impressive. Then he got slapped up by Khabib like he was a naught kid during P.E class. Then he beat a way over the hill and fill time bottle job Cerrone. So 1 good win.

And at 170, he lost to and squeaked out a win against a 155 journeyman. This guy was demolished by Rory at 170 and beaten into oblivion by Masvidal. But McGregor made Nate look like some sort of Goliath! Let's just give the benefit of the doubt and say 1 good win.

With that in mind, his run at 145 was good. His run at 155 was average to shit and his run at 170... Well it wasn't even a run. He didn't fight any real 170 pounder like Woodley, Wonderboy, Lawler etc.

That doesn't read as a good resume for someone touting himself as the GOAT.

 

[cyberman]

As much as I like Conor, it would be the easiest fight for Usman. Even easier than Masvidal.

I don't believe it one bit. I still think he will fight Khabib before Justin.

Its a madness. You would think Conor would be afraid of a loss more than he is to protect the brand and all that.
But no. Hes taking in an almost guarenteed loss.
You have to give him credit but its that mindset that makes him a scumbag outside of the octagon as well.

 

[Oggmonster]

Its a madness. You would think Conor would be afraid of a loss more than he is to protect the brand and all that.
But no. Hes taking in an almost guarenteed loss.
You have to give him credit but its that mindset that makes him a scumbag outside of the octagon as well.

Huh? Surely if he's one of the GOAT fighters he doesn't have almost guaranteed losses? This must make Usman THE GOAT?

 

[Berbaclass]

According to Ali its Conor v Usman on July 11.

Win that and hes my number 1 quite frankly

Fake tweet.

Edit: Never-mind I saw a different one!

 

[Himannv]

Just rewatching Gaethje vs Ferguson to get some more clarity as I'm usually pissed out of my head. Damn, those left hooks from Justin. Better left than McGregor?

I think they were harder and faster and I'm impressed that Tony took them as much as he did. Having said that, I think McGregor's standup game is more about precision and counter-punching than power. I think they're somewhat different strikers so it'll be an interesting fight. I was also very impressed by Gaethje's defence so I think he might win if he faces Conor. I think he can deal with the counter punches very well while doing a fair bit of damage himself.

 

[George Owen]

Conor's straight left and Justin's left hook are both lethal weapons.

 

[Dirty Schwein]

Conor's straight left and Justin's left hook are both lethal weapons.

Hmm... It's hard to say that. It was lethal at 145. At 155, it was his speed and precision that damaged Alvarez. The left shoulder shattered Cerrone's world. Yet to be convinced his touch of death left hand actually translates above 145.

 

[Himannv]

Precision is a very useful aspect of a striker though. Well-placed and well-timed punches increase the impact of the strike quite a bit.

 

[Dirty Schwein]

Precision is a very useful aspect of a striker though. Well-placed and well-timed punches increase the impact of the strike quite a bit.

That's true. But my arguement was more about him being perceived to have some sort of Ngannou power above 145.

 

[Fener1907]

If they picture him battering the likes of Gaethje and Usman like he did Alvarez, his fans would be very disappointed.