- Joined
- Dec 31, 2011
- Messages
- 706
- Reaction score
- 3
It was clear Conor had to work on a few elements in his game in order to beat Diaz. Got back to the drawing board after the loss and worked hard on a few elements in his game;
- Strategy: Conor never really implemented a strategy before Diaz 2. He now seems to be able to fight effectively following a clear gameplan, which is crucial going forward. Especially if he's going to be facing the murderer's row in the 155 division.
- Lowkicks; An element that was really missing in his game before. He now has an effective (MT-style) lowkick, which was really effective in slowing Diaz down from the start. He should now learn to set-up his lowkicks better, using his hands. Perhaps bring in a Dutch-style kickboxer for his next camp. If he could finish his combo's with a nice kick that could really augment his stand-up.
- Jab: Never saw Conor use his jab as well as he did vs Diaz. Basically outjabbed him, which was crucial to win the standup imo. A really effective weapon going forward, given his boxing style.
- Cardio: He apparantly worked tirelessly on his cardio and - while he still gassed - Conor was impressive fighting through the exhaustion and recovering while fighting, instead of panicking when pressured.
- Boxing defense: This was really beautiful to see, especially early in the fight where he would continually slip and counter Diaz. But crucially later on, when Diaz came on strong and Conor was tiring, his defense really held up well.