Conor McGregor could have finished the fight (but chose not too?)

[paulchozick]

3 knockdowns that he could have (and should have?) followed up with a swarm of strikes to finish the fight but he chose to follow the plan laid out with his coach. I think he was obvious worried about burning himself out and/or Nate's recovery and ground game from below.


Should he have gone for it?

Is Nate really unstoppable via strikes?

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Part 2:

Concerning the very first fight, he went for a takedown after gassing and being outstruck.. if he hadn't gone for the takedown and instead weathering the storm until 3 round and patiently outstriking Nate Diaz, he could have won that fight via a decision.

 

[ortizgnp]

Colin was never close to finish Nate.

 

[2GunTommy]

Following Nate to the mat would be stupid.
Many fighters make the mistake of getting over excited and jumping on the guy only to let him rest or even get themselves in danger.

Many times the smart move is to make them stand up

 

[WhitebeltXL]

Nate's recovery from those knockdowns was almost instant, following in would have been a huge Fedor/Werdum level mistake.

 

[GirlsDoBJJ-RealMenFight]

conor is midget and on the ground he has no chance

 

[ALAN PARTRIDGE]

If he could have finished he would have, doubt he wanted the war to last longer than it needed to.

 

[chukutee]

He was obviously carrying Nate to set up the trilogy. Makes you wonder if he got choked out on purpose too.

 

[Tysonesque]

He was scared of getting Werdum'd a la Fedor.

 

[Andre Xiong]

Nate was never dazed (not visibly and not for very long anyway) in any of those knockdowns. They were also very early on and to jump into Nate's guard when fresh and non-sweaty would be stupid and that's why Conor chose to pace it for 25 minutes war if needed instead. Few people have stopped Nate at 155 and even 170 (Rory and Kim are huge guys and top WWs and couldn't stop Nate), should not be a knock that a 145 pound competitor couldn't do it.

 

[chickenlip]

He played it smart and it won him the fight. Putting himself in Nate's world probably would have been counterproductive seeing as how the their grappling abilities are so far apart

 

[MadVibez]

He was obviously carrying Nate to set up the trilogy. Makes you wonder if he got choked out on purpose too.

Lol yes and he bet the house on Diaz... Mystic Mac all the way to the bank

 

[Dana_is_your_GOD]

Apparently "McGod" felt bad for Diaz and let him get back up.

"Take my hand my child."

Or at least that's what I'm told.

 

[GilErick]

McConor saw that same look in his eyes that appeared in their fourst fight so he chose not to go for the kill

 

[L0ki]

Nate was in no way hurt.

That gif has floated around a million times.

Nasty Nate had his eyes locked and focused on Connie the whole time.

 

[12ga.]

He thought about it. Moved in on one of those knockdowns then thought better of it when he saw Nates recovery speed and took a step back. Conor obviously wants no part of a lucid Nate on the ground.

 

[Cooliox]

He did the right thing. One of those knockdowns looked like a flop to bait Conor in.

tl, dr wtf was Fedor thinking jumping into Werdum's guard

 

[MechMA]

Nate was never dazed (not visibly and not for very long anyway) in any of those knockdowns. They were also very early on and to jump into Nate's guard when fresh and non-sweaty would be stupid and that's why Conor chose to pace it for 25 minutes war if needed instead. Few people have stopped Nate at 155 and even 170 (Rory and Kim are huge guys and top WWs and couldn't stop Nate), should not be a knock that a 145 pound competitor couldn't do it.

He got pretty dazed by one of the round 2 knockdowns. Eyes rolled around and everything... But it only lasted about 2 seconds... His chin AND recovery are insane.

 

[NRG]

Oh my god, come back to earth dude.

 

[angelofpeace]

Colin was never close to finish Nate.

Nate actually could have finished McGregor had he been more aggressive and stopped playing around with the "flying fists technique." I hate when he does that.

 

[*Z*]

Nate got knocked down, he was never hurt. Conor knew better than to play the guard game with Nate.