Is Conor's cardio weak because of the musclemass he gained?

[NotSoSure]

maybe....

 

[Exemplar]

Good thing we're still not quite ready to identify genetics as the culprit.

 

[Sammy Bananas]

Look at Nick and Nate Diaz. They have impressive physiques but you can't necessarily tell when they are in peak cardio shape, and when they aren't.

Gay.

 

[Squall10]

Gay.

You wood too.

 

[Fullmount Triangle]

It definitely didn't help. He got so much bigger after his knee injury and hes never looked like he's had good cardio since

Nope, plenty of big guys got good cardio like cain for example. It's likely Conor has shitty VO2 due to lack of sprinting or smaller lungs than a normal adult. Remember in MMA, professionals gotta do different conditioning for each martial art. Boxing/wrestling conditioning is alot of work but completely different from eachother. If a boxer were to be put in a wrestling match they'd gas out quickly and vice versa. I thought Conor would've fixed the issue and learnt his lesson after the first nate fight thats why i predicted conor via unanimous dec the second time round.

Cain Velasquez isn't huge with muscle mass... he looks like an athlete actually looks. Big because you're a heavyweight and big because of muscle mass are different things.

 

[bigconan]

He is definitely a hard worker but is cardio is not good enough to go 5 rounds.

Looking back on his ufc fights and even his fights in Cage Warriors he didn't seem to have weak cardio. He went 3 rounds with Holloway with a very high output of punches and kicks and he never seemed to slow down a bit. (First 2 rounds)

After the Holloway fight he got more muscle mass. Its a proven point more muscles means less gas in the tank.

And now he tries to pace himself with not throwing crazy kicks that waste a lot of energy.

Thoughts?

Ummm, didn't he go 5 rounds with nate diaz and win?

 

[Bend NvR Break]

Ever thought that it's not his cardio?

He is a frontrunner. he is basically like Rumble. Rumble also went easy 3 rounds with Davis becaus ehe was the only one doing damage and could do whatever he wants. As soon as someone pressures Rumble and hits him he gasses.

Same with Conor.

Also its aside from the mental stuff exhausting to get pressured and to get hit the whole time

This pretty much sums it up but also add in the fact that Conor has put muscle mass on and gotten bigger over the course of his UFC career.

Look at Nick and Nate Diaz. They have impressive physiques but you can't necessarily tell when they are in peak cardio shape, and when they aren't.

Impressive physiques? You want to look like really skinny dudes with little muscle definition?

 

[VitorBelfoTRT]

It definitely didn't help. He got so much bigger after his knee injury and hes never looked like he's had good cardio since



Cain Velasquez isn't huge with muscle mass... he looks like an athlete actually looks. Big because you're a heavyweight and big because of muscle mass are different things.

Of course conor would have better cardio if he was skinny. More muscles = more need for oxygen. But there are still jacked guys that don't got cardio problems.
Go up to cain and say that. I saw the dude in person at walk around weight but in his fights fight night ( although he has a very high body fat percentage) under all that fat there's muscles that need oxygen. I should've used GSP as a example.

 

[bigconan]

Well i dont think he has such a huge cardio problem.Sure cardio is not his best attribute.But then again he went 5 rounds with Diaz,but Diaz didn't destroy him the last 3-3,5 rounds and Diaz is a cardio freak.

In the first fight he didn't fail because of cardio,but due to the accumulation of the beating he took standing.

Versus Holloway he was obviously injured,yet he won a decision.He has won both decisions that he was involved in and all his loses are 1st or 2nd round finishes.

And ofcourse the mayweather freakshow doesn't even count for anything.

Wrong...he onlly got tagged standing, after he was getting tired? how come he never got tagged and hurt in the 1st round? it was only after he gassed, did nates punches have any effect...

 

[GusDawg]

Like Dom said, you can't explode for 5 straight rounds, nobody can.

If I could, I'd never leave the house....

 

[SKITZADACTYL]

it certainly wouldn't help, he also doesn't run because of his knee or whatever.


i also think theres just some guys who will never have good cardio no matter what they do.

 

[spooNN]

Maybe he is too concerned about looking small so he would rather sacrafice cardio to keep muscle or gain muscle. You know kind of like Lombard.

 

[Rea_ctor]

Do you think running would change it that much. Dont know about that. Look at the difference of his body in the time vs brimage or holloway and now

Running makes a huge huge difference, punching power comes from legs too, once your legs go you're fucked and throwing arm punches, kinds like he was against mayweather near the end.

 

[Fullmount Triangle]

Of course conor would have better cardio if he was skinny. More muscles = more need for oxygen. But there are still jacked guys that don't got cardio problems.
Go up to cain and say that. I saw the dude in person at walk around weight but in his fights fight night ( although he has a very high body fat percentage) under all that fat there's muscles that need oxygen. I should've used GSP as a example.

GSP is on EPO my dude

There is no notably huge jacked guy who can go 5 hard rounds in MMA. The closest you'll get is Jon Jones, and let's assume he wasn't on steroids for Gustafsson and Cormier, he still gassed in both of those, but worked through it. Look at the champions

Joanna is slender and has the best cardio
Nunes is big, not even really ripped, and is notable for bad cardio
Maus is a pretty slender guy, obviously in great shape, goes 5 no problem
Garbrandt had no issues with Cruz, is a pretty slender guy
Holloway, same deal
Tyron Woodley fights at a snail's pace to AVOID gassing
Bisping has always been a smaller guy
gotten a bit bigger in his older years, but he's not ripped out
Cormier has some cardio issues still but we can put that up to being old
Miocic kind of fixed his cardio issues he had early in his career.

There's a reason why most of these guys don't make it to the top, it's because not all of them have a run like conor where they can finish everyone early, they're going to hit a wall eventually.

 

[TriangleMonkey]

I know he has a bum knee but not putting in roadwork (running outside fellas) will have an effect on combat cardio.

Rowing machines and cycling are done sitting on your ass, being a striker by style means you can never condition your legs/calves enough......no substitute for running.

How come ALL boxers run daily and a LOT of MMA dont run? You ever see high level boxers gas? Not common

 

[Nean Magnon]

Ever thought that it's not his cardio?

He is a frontrunner. he is basically like Rumble. Rumble also went easy 3 rounds with Davis becaus ehe was the only one doing damage and could do whatever he wants. As soon as someone pressures Rumble and hits him he gasses.

Same with Conor.

Also its aside from the mental stuff exhausting to get pressured and to get hit the whole time

Conor, like Rumble, starts with a high output and throws almost all of their punches and kicks with near 100% effort. That would make anyone gas out after a couple rounds

 

[Pakman]

Ever thought that it's not his cardio?

He is a frontrunner. he is basically like Rumble. Rumble also went easy 3 rounds with Davis becaus ehe was the only one doing damage and could do whatever he wants. As soon as someone pressures Rumble and hits him he gasses.

Same with Conor.

Also its aside from the mental stuff exhausting to get pressured and to get hit the whole time

Overeem and Vitor also suffer from this.

 

[Cooliox]

He gained his mass lifting weights.

he didn't gain his muscles the way athletes do: by working core muscles through years of repetition. look at the physique of Canelo and GGG... those guys are toned to shreds. That's what being an athlete is all about. Every muscle is there for a purpose.

Conor gained his size the easy way: lifting weights. That's why he doesn't have the cardio to support them.

That's like MMA 1o1. Don't gain excess muscles mass. Gain functional muscles, not beach body muscles. But Conor has insecurities with regards to his height so he compensates for his by bulking up like that. It looks pretty, it sells to casuals... but its not functional.

Sure, he can walk without his shirt on through the streets and feel 'big'... but he's never going to develop a pro-athlete level of cardio. At this point it is already way too late for him too.

Bunch of experienced folks have said it: Conor doesn't put in the work required.

But hey, he's also the highest paid fighter in MMA history. So who the fuck can really say shit to him, right? Yea he's got lousy cardio. So what... his formula triumphs every other formula/package in MMA history.

So shiiiit... hit the gym, grow a beard, gain muscle mass, and talk shit with an accent $$$$$$

Being well spoken aint gonna work

 

[Cooliox]

Conor, like Rumble, starts with a high output and throws almost all of their punches and kicks with near 100% effort. That would make anyone gas out after a couple rounds

Conor doesn't throw with the ferocity of Rumble. Not even remotely close. Please don't bring up that bullshit. Rumble doesn't have to drop you 4 times or have you running at him to stop you. He hits you, and if you're unfortunate enough to not go to sleep immediately, its 200miles an hour barrage coming at you.

Conor has never done this.

I absolutely call bullshit on you comparing Conor to Rumble. Please post a gif of Conor exploding on someone the way Rumble does on a fighter. That too... to compare a 145 fighter to a 205 fighter. Hilarious. Conor was 145 champion, 10 pounds above Cruz. Hell Cruz fought at that division. Look at the difference in output and pace. Conor doesn't even have footwork, he's moving front and back and flat footed most of the time. The most bounce he has in his step is when he turns his back and jogs out of range.

Compare him to someone like Bendo who is also big and muscular and fought at 155. Conor absolutely has BAD cardio. Please don't make it sound like he's throwing volumes and exploding never seen before at 145 and 155 in MMA.

 

[Kobra420]

he doesn't run or wrestle alot

He wrestled in Diaz1, and ran in Diaz 2 though......