Full camp Chad Mendes could have beat Conor

[RicksonsGrip]

Just rewatched the fight... If Chad Mendes had been in shape, and had a proper camp, there is no doubt in my mind that he would have submitted or decisioned Conor.

Besides Diaz, Chad was really the only fighter to make McGregor seem beatable. Whats interesting is that Chad is a wrestler, and was able to connect very strong shots on McGregor on the ground, and a very nasty cut via elbow.

Chad also attempted a few submissions, and its clear to me on the final seconds of the fight, he emptied the tank on a final guillotine attempt, knowing that he didnt have any gas left. McGregor was able to scramble, and as soon as they got up, Chad knew he was done.

After the ko you can see Conors reaction, sorta still shocked and surprised of the final outcome, he has very little gas left and can barely celebrate the victory, you can clearly see he wasnt too comfortable with how things were going.

This has really been an eye opener for me, Khabib is much bigger and stronger than mendes, though he doesnt have a great single leg. His ground control and GnP are a lot better than mendes', and his cardio will surely be way better than 2 week Chad.

Conor will also go through that conditioning dip after round 2, and Conors chances of finishing Khabib after round 2 diminish considerably. IMO if Khabib doesnt end up KOd in round 1 or 2, Khabib will humiliate Conor. We could well be in for another episode of El Tapo.

 

[drbolony]

Would have*

Reads like a hater thread, but you aren't wrong.

 

[Just Creed]

I think so too but it's in the past now and you're just gonna recieve backlash from his unreasonable fans.

 

[SKITZADACTYL]

or conor could've still knocked him out.

 

[Rittsy]

Prior to the fight = I'm always in shape.
Post-fight: I was coming off the couch, hardly train.
Post-post fight: pops for PEDs.

 

[surgeyou1]

Chad is much faster and 10000x better striker than Khabib. He was able to close distance because Conor still had to respect his boxing and his blast double leg is one of the best in the sport.

I'm not even going to bother with the injury excuses.

 

[Iroh]

Uninjured Conor could have finished him in the first round.

It's no use to linger on what could have been, bud.

 

[JayE]

It's possible, even if Mendes never had great stamina. We already know McGregor doesn't have good stamina, so if he doesn't go for the guillotine and rides out position a little longer to get to the 3rd, things could have been interesting. I'd still likely side with McGregor eventually winning that.

 

[Reign009]

Don't read too much into that fight.

Chad had a short camp and Conor had an injury.

 

[Mysterio]

He was outstriking Conor, ragdolling him, controlling him on the ground and landing heavy elbows.

Literally the only reason he lost was because of conditioning.

 

[JayE]

Chad is much faster and 10000x better striker than Khabib. He was able to close distance because Conor still had to respect his boxing and his blast double leg is one of the best in the sport.

I'm not even going to bother with the injury excuses.

Mendes was/is a good striker (probably not really that well suited stylistically to deal with a guy like Conor, but still good with real speed and power), but you're dressing it up a tad (as in a ton).

 

[The Schmoop]

There’s zero doubt in my mind that a full camp Mendes handles Conor fairly easy. He wouldn’t just walk through him but Conor would be gassed by the end of the 3rd.

 

[Source]

Don't read too much into that fight.

Chad had a short camp and Conor had an injury.

Don’t forget Chad had an injury as well.

 

[Just Creed]

Mendes was/is a good striker (probably not really that well suited stylistically to deal with a guy like Conor, but still good with real speed and power), but you're dressing it up a tad (as in a ton).

10000 times better than Khabib apparently

 

[wookie brawl]

The only difference it would make is Conor KO's Chad in the second round

 

[TUFNewb]

Lol Conor had 7 days to prepare for an entirely different opponent with and entirely different skill set. Like he wouldn't have done his camp differently if he knew he would be fighting a guy like Mendes... That fight was a sloppy mess and means nothing. Remember when "full camp Diaz" wouldn't be touched? Yeah we saw how that went.

God people on this site are so fucking clueless about the training aspect of MMA. It's laughable.

 

[surgeyou1]

10000 times better than Khabib apparently

Easily. Dude went toe to toe with Aldo on the feet for most of the 5 rounds.


1000000000x is probably more accurate but I wanted to be nice.

 

[Eme]

Remember when Dillashaw fought Joe Soto? Or Khabib vs Iaquinta? Jones vs OSP?

It is extremely difficult to fight some last minute fill-in. And also remember that Conor was training for a stand-up fighter, and Mendes is a wrestler.

 

[Poirierfan]

I've always seen it exactly like TS stated. Conor's never dealt with anyone like Khabib though. I hate to put myself out there to eat crow, but I see a slaughter Oct 6th, a real one sided beat down. All Conor's "yes men" should have turned into "no men" when offered Khabib.

 

[Iroh]

He was outstriking Conor, ragdolling him, controlling him on the ground and landing heavy elbows.

Literally the only reason he lost was because of conditioning.

You are literally only focussing on what Mendes did and coincidentally omitting what Conor did, lol. Not biased at all, I see.