To what extent spirit changes fights (Khabib/Conor)

penontoc

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Not possible to measure this but we can see it manifested in some of their past fights and can perhaps consider it a major factor in the outcome of 6 Oct.

I don't agree that Tired Conor = Quitter. We saw against Mendes as he was getting walloped in R2, he exploded up and took over. It took huge strength of spirit and that's why he was crying afterwards – stunned, and it took him to a higher level of skill. In Diaz 2 he ran to catch his breath – he didn't quit. He did however quit in Diaz 1, as much from pain (while still standing) as from exhaustion. For all his skill and dominance, there's still (and rightly) a question about how he will handle adversity.

Khabib on the other hand appears to have the spirit of a religious zealot – even in his most recent interview he said that God is with him and nothing else matters. But have we seen how he handles adversity? Not really. Perhaps the best example was against Gleison where he just would not give up. Against MJ he quickly regrouped. Undefeated (UFC), hasn't lost a round, and I would say hasn't even been hurt (hasn't been marked up). How are you supposed to evaluate such dominance? His competition hasn't been strong enough. Bollocks – most are top 10 LW fighters.

I'd say the bottom line is that if both fighters are hurt, and it comes down to will or spirit, the one more likely to power through would be Khabib. I see a scenario coming where Khabib is stunned and has to fight through it. Conor's TKOs against Alvarez and Mendes were from a series of punches over 2 rounds. An accumulation. We'll see if Khabib has the spirit he talks about if he's clipped in the first 2/3 rounds. But it's true we don't have evidence that he can do that – so far he's been too good.

I've got Khabib by submission in R3 / 4, perhaps after being hurt for the first time.
 
Conor wasnt tir3s against Mendes, but that was at 145. He's carrying more weight now and it hasnt been good as far as cardio is concerned at 155
 
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To a higher level of skill ? What is this dragonball z rhetoric, that’s not how getting better works
 
OP is a good outline for why this fight is top tier intriguing
 
This would be a lot better as a thread if it wasn't targeted for this specific fight (just because there are already too many threads about everything concerning this fight).
 
its all press conference and staredn
nothing else is relevant
 
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