- Joined
- Jan 9, 2016
- Messages
- 8,774
- Reaction score
- 3,681
A lot of people have started to root against McGregor after the Diaz fights.
Diaz has one of the best chins in the game and he is as durable as they come. It is almost impossible to beat Diaz in his own game and McGregor did that. Did people like Dos Anjos stand and bang the whole time with Diaz? No. They won with the superior gameplan which includes a lot of takedowns and ground game. (Obviously styles make fights, but when people say that fighter X beat Diaz, they ignore the fact that nobody (or only a few people?) has beaten Diaz in his own game)
Did i think that Diaz would beat McGregor? Absolutely not. But he proved me and a lot of others wrong.
Diaz is the worst match-up along with Nurmagomedov that McGregor can have. I'd say that he's the worst match-up for Conor because of his durability and zombie-like fighting style.
Now, lets get to the point:
Stand up:
I haven't seen all of Eddies fights, but i have watched his fights in the UFC and some highlights from his Bellator fights. The dude gets tagged, A LOT. He gets wobbled, A LOT. I don't think that anybody he has faced aside from Chandler (who in my opinion has beaten him twice) has even nearly as powerful punches as McGregor. And even if they do, it's not about power, it's about being precise and accurate and McGregor has a big edge in that compared to many fighters because his understanding of MMA striking is on another level. McGregor has 5 inch reach advantage and he is a very good counter striker too, as we all know. McGregor has a huge advantage on the feet.
Wrestling:
As far as i know, Eddie wrestled in highschool. He doesn't have the credentials that for example Mendes has. Despite the size difference, i don't think that Eddie has better wrestling than Mendes or even Dos Anjos. His wrestling is good, but not excellent. It will be enough to get Conor down, but how often is he going to get him down? I don't think that he will be able to do that many times if at ALL. Obviously he has the skills to avoid getting taken down but that's not necessary at all, since McGregor won't be taking the fight to the ground. It is also not a 3-round fight, so he will tire himself out trying to go for the takedown all the time as well.
Ground game:
This is the part where many people ignore the fact that McGregor has skills on the ground, too.
He is not a black belt, he is not an accomplished grappler, but he has the necessary skills to scramble back up. This fight will be at lightweight, so i don't think that he will get gassed out very quick, he is carrying less muscle mass after all. Eddie has some nice submission wins on his resume, but he is not Nate Diaz-level wizard on the ground.
Eddie will desperately try to take the fight on the ground but he will obviously be forced to stand with Conor in the beginning of every round and when Conor scrambles back up. It will only require one good shot on the chin and Eddie will fall. People can bitch about it, but they don't want to see the man (McGregor) succeed.
I would have rather seen McGregor vs. Dos Anjos for the simple fact that Dos Anjos talks a lot smack on Twitter and still lives in a dream world thinking that he would run over McGregor. If they would have fought @ 196, it would have been UFC 194 all over again. But hey, i'm very happy that this match-up has been made. History in the making.
This will be the first minute of the fight:
@McgreGOATsLeft @Myrddin Wyllt @somervillecr @BC
Diaz has one of the best chins in the game and he is as durable as they come. It is almost impossible to beat Diaz in his own game and McGregor did that. Did people like Dos Anjos stand and bang the whole time with Diaz? No. They won with the superior gameplan which includes a lot of takedowns and ground game. (Obviously styles make fights, but when people say that fighter X beat Diaz, they ignore the fact that nobody (or only a few people?) has beaten Diaz in his own game)
Did i think that Diaz would beat McGregor? Absolutely not. But he proved me and a lot of others wrong.
Diaz is the worst match-up along with Nurmagomedov that McGregor can have. I'd say that he's the worst match-up for Conor because of his durability and zombie-like fighting style.
Now, lets get to the point:
Stand up:
I haven't seen all of Eddies fights, but i have watched his fights in the UFC and some highlights from his Bellator fights. The dude gets tagged, A LOT. He gets wobbled, A LOT. I don't think that anybody he has faced aside from Chandler (who in my opinion has beaten him twice) has even nearly as powerful punches as McGregor. And even if they do, it's not about power, it's about being precise and accurate and McGregor has a big edge in that compared to many fighters because his understanding of MMA striking is on another level. McGregor has 5 inch reach advantage and he is a very good counter striker too, as we all know. McGregor has a huge advantage on the feet.
Wrestling:
As far as i know, Eddie wrestled in highschool. He doesn't have the credentials that for example Mendes has. Despite the size difference, i don't think that Eddie has better wrestling than Mendes or even Dos Anjos. His wrestling is good, but not excellent. It will be enough to get Conor down, but how often is he going to get him down? I don't think that he will be able to do that many times if at ALL. Obviously he has the skills to avoid getting taken down but that's not necessary at all, since McGregor won't be taking the fight to the ground. It is also not a 3-round fight, so he will tire himself out trying to go for the takedown all the time as well.
Ground game:
This is the part where many people ignore the fact that McGregor has skills on the ground, too.
He is not a black belt, he is not an accomplished grappler, but he has the necessary skills to scramble back up. This fight will be at lightweight, so i don't think that he will get gassed out very quick, he is carrying less muscle mass after all. Eddie has some nice submission wins on his resume, but he is not Nate Diaz-level wizard on the ground.
Eddie will desperately try to take the fight on the ground but he will obviously be forced to stand with Conor in the beginning of every round and when Conor scrambles back up. It will only require one good shot on the chin and Eddie will fall. People can bitch about it, but they don't want to see the man (McGregor) succeed.
I would have rather seen McGregor vs. Dos Anjos for the simple fact that Dos Anjos talks a lot smack on Twitter and still lives in a dream world thinking that he would run over McGregor. If they would have fought @ 196, it would have been UFC 194 all over again. But hey, i'm very happy that this match-up has been made. History in the making.
This will be the first minute of the fight:
@McgreGOATsLeft @Myrddin Wyllt @somervillecr @BC
Last edited by a moderator: