Official Conor McGregor thread (part 3) *Updated Warning in 1st Post Re:Boxing match

Dillon's 'schtick' comes across worse because of his American accent but other than Gunni, Makwan and Artem (pattern!) the whole lot of them in SBG are trying to be more like Conor. It's a bit harsh to single Dillon out when you've got the likes of Curtis, Gallagher and the rest of them being Conor 2.0. In the case of Gallagher it's blatantly obvious..

The reality is people always mimic those that are successful in their sport or career or even their social circle.

Monica Seles was one of the first true grunters in tennis and on the back of her winning 5 of the 8 Grand Slams 1991/1992 it set off a trend of women shrieking when hitting the ball that has continued to this day. Ditto Rafa Nadal, in some ways. What Seles and Nadal had in common is they were beating the non-grunting number 1's - Stefi Graf and Roger Federer.

So the roster looked at that and thought hmm maybe I need to start shrieking to beat the top players.

For years, the goal of the American boxer was to be like Tyson or Sugar Ray-Leonard or Joe Frazier - exciting fighters with power in their hands who wore snazzy clothes! Then Floyd came along with his 'Money' gimmick, flashy cars and slick defensive boxing and everyone tried to copy that - Adrian Broner being a prime example.

Peers looking at Floyd and thinking hmmm maybe I need fast cars and a 'don't-get-hit' style as opposed to swanky clothes and aggressive heavy hands.

People are always looking for the missing ingredient to achieve the success others have had and the simplest thing the human brain understands is to try copy what made someone else successful. Which right now, means being more like Conor - loud, brash, cocky.

TL;DR - Dillon seems a decent fella. He's young and impressionable and Conor is a huge personality. Sometimes ya can't help but to be influenced by a strong personality in your group. As long as he remembers he's actually not Conor when it comes to fighting...... he'll be fine. Even if Bellator hand him a total tomato-can, he should look to drag it to the mat and show how good he is. If he goes in thinking he's Conor & looks to stand and trade...... it'll go south fast.

Most of the younger fighters in SBG could do with listening to that advice too - act like Conor all you want but remember you ain't Conor and the only reason his personality is popular is because he's a world class fighter who backs it up.

Gamebred wrote: »

You're too easy on them Wonder, they are absolute morons living a lie you have lads on their team one look at their social media you'd think they are rolling in dough the chaps are living in their ma's box rooms while posting pictures of Gucci runners and think they are ballers, Danis is no different this isnt an act they are putting on they are genuinely that delusional, there is good lads like Gunni Richie Smullen Paddy Holohan I support that has hailed from there with none of this **** talking or McGregor acting.

CC is super guilty of this, on the stretcher coaching MT part-time and with not a single pro mma fight under his belt acting like he's balls deep in cash. He's not the only one though. Conor throwing then hand me down freebies from sponsors and events is turning them into his minions.

scudzilla wrote: »

First time i've really thought of it from that view, yeah, suppose that's pretty much spot on

Well in early 2015 John was asked in an interview will there be more SBG fighters in the UFC (specifically) and his reply was:

"That's a given, you know that, come on!". He indicated there'd be more being signed in 2015.

2 years have passed since that interview and only 3 people have been signed - Artem, Charlie Ward and John Phillips. On top of that, 3 have retired (Cathal, Ais, Paddy). If we're being totally blunt which 3 would you rather have?

Conor's achievements grab the headlines but you'd have to say beyond that, the team have not progressed in the way he envisaged - yet! Still time.

Gamebred wrote: »

Harsh to compare anyone in the gym with Conors success tbf, he is once in a lifetime (something the young lads dont get) he's got limiited fighters like Pendred and Daly to win multiple fights in the UFC from complete scratch, ATT and similar have young people with serious pedigrees in wrestling usually or something else.

I agree with all of that.

But when you write a book on a Coaching Philosophy you really need to be able to produce evidence of its success. He's mentioned many times since late 2014 that the next crop of fighters will be even better than the previous crop.

There's no evidence for that just yet. Since that Indo Interview, in the UFC: Gunni is 2-2 . Artem is 2-2. Charlie is 0-1. Makwan is 1-0. Cathal went 2-2. Paddy went 2-2. Ais went 1-1.

That adds up to 10-10 record in 2 years which is poor whichever way you spin it. They are not inspiring numbers for a next 'wave' of fighters and it's sort of masked by Conor going 5-1 and winning 2 World Titles.

Currently the level of sparring is below the level they face in competition and that's just an undisputed fact. Gunni sparred a lot with Luka Jelcic in this camp and Luka is a good fighter I like a lot but Alan Jouban has been sparring with Lyoto Machida and Sean Strickland.

I'm not questioning his Coaching Abilities as such but I am thinking there will need to be some changes if his goal is to reach the next level as a team.

Mellor wrote: »

Two of them retired on medical grounds. A bit disingenuous.

Also, I think you are setting the bar very high.
A typical gym has no fighters in the UFC. In Ireland, and in the USA.
Sure the big gyms like ATT, Blackzillions, Tristar have large stables of fighters. But most come to them as huge prospects, or already signed like Joe Duffy.

Guys going from grassroots to the UFC under one coach is not the norm. While obviously the coach is directly responsible for part of that. It still requires that somebody with a gift walks in their door, which is largely out of their hands.

Fair (on the medical retirements) but whichever way you spin it the team went from Cathal, Paddy and Ais to Artem, Charlie and John Phillips as their UFC reps below Conor. That's not a step-up in my book.

As for setting the bar high - I'm literally just going on what John has said in interviews. Maybe he sets the bar too high himself. He said many times in late 2014 and early 2015 that there's a new wave of UFC fighters coming and he expects to train multiple UFC champions in the next decade (i.e. Conor and someone else).

I'm not having a pop at him (far from it) and I agree with what you're saying.

BUT - instead of saying it's down to pure luck who walks in the door, how about changing that? Link up with London Shootfighters and get Marcin Held, Marvin Vettori and Michael Venom Page in for a month and then send Gallagher, Artem and Makwan over there for a month. Or more regular link-ups with SBG Manchester and get Saul and Matt Inman over.

There are geographical and population constraints over what SBG Ireland can realistically do - but I see no reason they couldn't cultivate strong partnerships with UK based gyms an hour flight away to increase the quality of sparring.

Gunni will likely maul Jouban this weekend but there can be no disputing the fact Jouban had the much higher quality of sparring partners and, in the long run, that's really going to inhibit SBG's progress. I'd take Machida and Strickland every day of the week over Luka and Charlie.