Official Conor McGregor thread (part 2). **Read warning in 1st post**

RedemptionZ wrote: »

After a good night/morning sleep, I think all is not lost for McGregor. This will hurt his marketability. Pretty badly too I'd say, considering the potential he had if he managed to win the 155 belt too.

But it can be recovered. For me it involves fighting Edgar and defending title then rematching Aldo. I don't think the order of the fights matter, arguments can be made that either contenders merit a shot more than the other, only that he wins them both. After that I don't think he can walk into a 155 title shot. Probably needs at least two wins against two top 10 fighters. Maybe another win against a top 15 guy. If he can do that then a LW title shot could be on the cards. But I think he will definitely have lost some of the bargaining power he had. Fans in Ireland will stick by him, but the American contingent, with far less relatability to him won't be so kind and he will have lost a lot of casual fans. He can probably win them back, but it won't be easy.

His next fight will probably do more PPV's than any of his previous others IMO.

Conor's chin took a beating last night, I wouldn't be surprised if he had a concussion. He could do with some time off, UFC 200 seems too close for me but I can't see him not fighting.

Would be surprised if the UFC don't pressure him to fight at 200 but yeah I think he needs a break. He's been very active fighting and promoting. For basically the past 2 years.

It's easy to say now (and in fairness I thought he would dispatch Diaz even at 170) but looking back he would have been better off just pulling out once dos Anjos was out and waiting for that 155 title fight at UFC 200.

Lets be honest, 99.99% of fighters in the UFC would have done exactly that.

However, I think a big part of it is that he knows how hard it is for the Irish fans to pull out the money they do to go over and support him and that late in the day they would have been down an awful lot of money even if they hadn't bothered to travel with a McGregor pull out and he didn't want to let them down.

I'm not making an excuse, but it would have been something that definitely played into his decision to roll with this fight IMO.

Paully D wrote: »

It's easy to say now (and in fairness I thought he would dispatch Diaz even at 170) but looking back he would have been better off just pulling out once dos Anjos was out and waiting for that 155 title fight at UFC 200.

Lets be honest, 99.99% of fighters in the UFC would have done exactly that.

However, I think a big part of it is that he knows how hard it is for the Irish fans to pull out the money they do to go over and support him and that late in the day they would have been down an awful lot of money even if they hadn't bothered to travel with a McGregor pull out and he didn't want to let them down.

I'm not making an excuse, but it would have been something that definitely played into his decision to roll with this fight IMO.

True. Jon Jones pulled out of of UFC 151 and refused to fight Chael Sonnen on short notice. Even though he would likely have won the fight handily.

darced wrote: »

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True, but he's going to make the same payday if he waits for dos Anjos a couple of months later. I doubt he's stung if he had to wait a bit longer for the money :pac:

Look at someone like Jones who refused to fight Sonnen on short notice at UFC 151 and the card subsequently was cancelled. He made the right decision but it's one that McGregor would never have made.

Pudsy33 wrote: »

Im not sure that's true. McGregor landed a lot of heavy left straights, and we have no idea how RDA would react to that. We also learned absolutely nothing about McGregors bjj, as he was practically out by the time he attempted the takedown. I still fancy McGregors chances in the 155 division tbh.

His chin looks suspect when fighting people his own size or bigger. There are many people in that division who can hit harder than Nate, including RDA. Conor's "death touch" isn't the same when he's fighting people his own weight or heavier. He looks to have gotten comfortable fighting featherweights, he didn't seem to anticipate the difference going up.

RDA has only been knocked out once and has cardio for days. Conor might win early exchanges against RDA but eventually he eats some shots moving in and RDA can level change and shoot for takedowns after striking better then anyone in the division. If he was in any way gassed like he was last night, RDA makes mince meat out of his face from on top.

The extra weight doesn't seem to suit him, or his cardio hasn't caught up since putting on muscle and body fat. He looked sluggish all fight, even in the first when he was winning the exchanges.

If he is serious about going up, he's gonna have to change his style back to more of a counter puncher or try and become a volume puncher but an elusive one, like Cruz.

i tought in the second round he kept his hands were down way to much not using his gaurd the amount of punches he took and could have blocked
i also think he was great in the first round if 1 of them wheel kicks caught anyone tn the jaw your in deep trouble

WarZ wrote: »

He needs to stop training with that Ido Portal guy. I saw a clip where Ido Portal was actually helping him hit pads. How much influence does this 'movement expert' seem to hold over McGregor's training camp?

He was in his corner as well. Bit weird alright.

WarZ wrote: »

Diaz is a vegan and won handily. The steak diet was an idiotic decision by Connor. From now on he should stick to eating leaves. Who knows if he would have gassed like he did if he hadn't been eating so many artery clogging T-bones.

For sure. I heard he even ate two steaks in one day clearly out of control. I think the only way to come back from this is to go on a kale only diet.

The next 10-12 months will reveal the real Conor McGregor. Behind all the trash talk and nonsense we'll see what he is really made of. I cannot wait to see this unfold.

mark085 wrote: »

i tought in the second round he kept his hands were down way to much not using his gaurd the amount of punches he took and could have blocked
i also think he was great in the first round if 1 of them wheel kicks caught anyone tn the jaw your in deep trouble

Thought the same. I don't know if it was tiredness or arrogance but at one point he stepped back from an exchange and I could not believe how wide open he was.