So... just how good is Conor McGregor?

[ixRanGzeNxi]

Wow that's a huge undermine, who at featherweight would have beat him? IMO he beats everyone at LW execpt khabib

No. IF he had to work up the ranks rather than be gifted free title shots, he would have had to fight guys like:

FW:
Faber
Edgar
Mendes (full camp)
Lamas

He already lost to Nate Diaz (at WW), but...

LW:
Cerrone
Bendo
Barboza
Lee
Tony Ferguson

That's not even every possible opponents either. Even if he was able to win against each of these guys, his fighting style and holes would have been a little more exposed each time. Much like what happened when he fought Nate Diaz and even Chad Mendes, who each had almost a non-existent training camp.

EDIT: Now, just to clarify, I said in my OP that he "likely" would never have won either belts. Doesn't mean no chance, but I don't see it happening with him facing consistent top contenders.

 

[akeller901]

• Khabib crushes Conor if they rematch
• Ferguson crushes Conor
• Lee crushes Conor
• I would favor Poirier in a rematch as I think he has progressed considerably from their fight at 145 due to his time with ATT. I'm confident the game plan would take into consideration his advantage on the ground and be a little more conservative standing vs. brawling and not be so open to Conor's great left hand counter.
• I would probably favor Barboza and I would love to see this fight. Barboza would put a hurting on Conor's lead leg.
• I think Conor beats Diaz in the trilogy rematch
• I think Conor beats Alvarez in the rematch by TKO. Alvarez is an aggressive pressure fighter with great heart, but his shorter reach combined with his winging wide punches in full brawl mode is tailor made for a technical counter striker like Conor. Plus Conor has a huge mental edge.
• I might go with Iaquinta due to his solid boxing chops plus a wrestling pedigree.
• I would probably favor Conor over Gaethje and I would love to see this fight. However, Gaethje might put a serious hurting on Conor's lead leg which could change the fight given Conor's habit of quitting when the going gets tough. But Gaethje is a straight ahead brawler who doesn't even use his wrestling pedigree. I think Conor lands something big prior to needing his lead leg amputated...
  
• I'm assuming Masvidal and Cerrone don't come back down to 155 for a big money fight vs. Conor but it could happen. Cerrone is still a big name and Conor was/is the biggest star in the UFC for now. I think either one beats Conor although these two are prone to strange results from time to time.

Yeesh I hope to God you don't bet on fights

 

[Arqueto]

 

[funksoulbrother]

He’s probably top 5 lw

 

[Credo]

 

[The Penetrator]

At 145, elite of the elite.

At 155, top 5.

 

[Vespasian70AD]

At Featherweight he is perfect(too bad he will never be 145 again)
At Lightweight a top 10 guy or top 15

Agreed. That's why he has exciting fights with Nate. They are both talented Lightweights with obvious weaknesses to their games whose place is the upper end of the second tier of their Lightweight division. I think he's more 5-8ish. Like a Barboza.

Remember when people wanted them to give him a shot at Woodley's 170 title! That would've been uncomfortable to watch. I'm not a Conor fan but I don't feel the need to see him get brutally knocked out.

 

[akeller901]

Agreed. That's why he has exciting fights with Nate. They are both talented Lightweights with obvious weaknesses to their games whose place is the upper end of the second tier of their Lightweight division. I think he's more 5-8ish. Like a Barboza.

Remember when people wanted them to give him a shot at Woodley's 170 title! That would've been uncomfortable to watch. I'm not a Conor fan but I don't feel the need to see him get brutally knocked out.

Wow I just don't see how he dosent beat every light weight except Khabib but we all have our opinions

 

[Usedtobeablackbelt]

• Khabib crushes Conor if they rematch
• Ferguson crushes Conor
• Lee crushes Conor
• I would favor Poirier in a rematch as I think he has progressed considerably from their fight at 145 due to his time with ATT. I'm confident the game plan would take into consideration his advantage on the ground and be a little more conservative standing vs. brawling and not be so open to Conor's great left hand counter.
• I would probably favor Barboza and I would love to see this fight. Barboza would put a hurting on Conor's lead leg.
• I think Conor beats Diaz in the trilogy rematch
• I think Conor beats Alvarez in the rematch by TKO. Alvarez is an aggressive pressure fighter with great heart, but his shorter reach combined with his winging wide punches in full brawl mode is tailor made for a technical counter striker like Conor. Plus Conor has a huge mental edge.
• I might go with Iaquinta due to his solid boxing chops plus a wrestling pedigree.
• I would probably favor Conor over Gaethje and I would love to see this fight. However, Gaethje might put a serious hurting on Conor's lead leg which could change the fight given Conor's habit of quitting when the going gets tough. But Gaethje is a straight ahead brawler who doesn't even use his wrestling pedigree. I think Conor lands something big prior to needing his lead leg amputated...
  
• I'm assuming Masvidal and Cerrone don't come back down to 155 for a big money fight vs. Conor but it could happen. Cerrone is still a big name and Conor was/is the biggest star in the UFC for now. I think either one beats Conor although these two are prone to strange results from time to time.

Lmao just say you hate Conor and every LW in whole roaster beats him

 

[Mamou]

Wow that's a huge undermine, who at featherweight would have beat him? IMO he beats everyone at LW execpt khabib

Based on what?

He surely has some winnable fights, but guys like Raging Al, Alexander Hernandez, Gregor Gillespie, hell even Trinaldo would give him fits. And they're not even the top 5 guys. I think he has a minimal chance against Ferguson and Lee.

 

[akeller901]

Based on what?

He surely has some winnable fights, but guys like Raging Al, Alexander Hernandez, Gregor Gillespie, hell even Trinaldo would give him fits. And they're not even the top 5 guys. I think he has a minimal chance against Ferguson and Lee.

Let's look at Lee and Tony. Conor showed exceptional grabbling and takedown defenses during the Khabib fight, khabib is on an entire different level than everyone, I don't think Lee would simply have his way with Conor on the ground, and Lee doesn't have a very good chin, early KO. Tony just got dropped by Pettis's below average boxing.... He's never faced someone with the power, precision, and timing Conor has...

 

[OverCoronavirus Pressure]

I'll give him this, for a guy with one weapon, he's gotten far before being exposed

 

[King.]

This is Sherdog so it´s pretty obvious that Conor McGregor is fucking shit and always has been. All his wins came against cans and a fucking 26-0 Dagestani with no striking toyed with his ass.

In all seriousness, Conor is a great fighter and lost to one of the best lightweights and a nightmare matchup for everyone. I still think Khabib is quite one-dimensional á la Coleman, Kerr, Lesnar - if someone stops the TD the holes in his game will come to the fore and it's a matter of time before someone does - but it's a goddamn dimension he rules with an iron fist at the moment and that just happens to be Conor's kryptonite.

Conor has shown an ability to adjust and analyse and I'm sure he will continue to do so. He's NOT beating Khabib ever though, in my opinion. Styles make fights. I would be very interested in seeing him against Lee, Ferguson and other top lightweights. Watching Conor fight is a win-win for me as I enjoy him kicking ass as much as I enjoy him getting his ass beat. Disappointed he didn't make the Khabib fight more interesting though. He didn't even defend the choke and just put his hands on the canvas. I thought he could get more out of that matchup and could have given Khabib a more stern test after winning that third round. Oh well. Doesn't deserve the rematch though, it's Tony's time.

 

[robbie]

Lmao just say you hate Conor and every LW in whole roaster beats him

I respect Conor's ability, hate his antics. I predicted the outcomes based upon my observations of being a wrestler, father who was a boxer and watching MMA for the past 15 years or so. Conor is somewhere near Top 5 or slightly lower. Let's see what happens when he fights Ferguson or Lee. Guess what, it won't happen because the UFC ends up losing their golden goose. I doubt they give Conor a rematch vs. Khabib because he gets smashed even worse. McGregor's next fight will be a rematch vs. Diaz for a big money fight and low risk. Then they examine the landscape. Big money fight vs. GSP. Rematch vs. Alvarez or Poirier. Gaethje would be a natural opponent with his straight ahead pressure style. Let's see what happens when/if these fights happen. Then we will know who is right and who is wrong. BTW I predicted that Khabib would destroy McGregor and that McGregor would probably quit like he did vs Nate in the first fight. So I got that one correct...McTapper made no effort to defend and then tapped very quickly...

 

[Mamou]

Let's look at Lee and Tony. Conor showed exceptional grabbling and takedown defenses during the Khabib fight, khabib is on an entire different level than everyone, I don't think Lee would simply have his way with Conor on the ground, and Lee doesn't have a very good chin, early KO. Tony just got dropped by Pettis's below average boxing.... He's never faced someone with the power, precision, and timing Conor has...

-Lee doesn't wrestle like Khabib, he wrestles more like Mendes. Your point is irrelevant.

-Tony has gotten dropped by a few fighters, which of those fights did he lose? Your point is irrelevant.

- Enough with the power, precision, and timing bullshit. He's looked good in 1 fight above 145 and it took him like 85 strikes and 3 knockdowns to finish the fight. The power doesn't translate.

 

[Codpiece]

He’s very good, just maybe not good enough to beat a bear wrestling Dagestani that he goaded into a hatred-fueled rage.

I think he’s still up there with the top LWs. He’d beat Barboza, Gaethje and those guys. Lee would be interesting and Tony as well.

 

[akeller901]

-Lee doesn't wrestle like Khabib, he wrestles more like Mendes. Your point is irrelevant.

-Tony has gotten dropped by a few fighters, which of those fights did he lose? Your point is irrelevant.

- Enough with the power, precision, and timing bullshit. He's looked good in 1 fight above 145 and it took him like 85 strikes and 3 knockdowns to finish the fight. The power doesn't translate.

The fuck are you on??? Take down defense is takedown defense, and yeah Tony's been dropped but not by a striker like Conor, how many one punch KOs did he have at featherweight?? Aldo... He dosent one shot people, timing power precision, he's only had 2 fights at 155, he dropped Nate 3 times, he absolutely would drop Tony's ass and rock him harder than he's ever been rocked, your entire post made you sound like an idiot, Kevin also dosent have great cardio and a worse chin than mendes, all your points are irrelevant

 

[MrLeslieChow]

First ever 2 weight champion in Europe's leading MMA brand

First ever 2 weight champion in the UFC

Accomplishments hold far more weight than the opinions on the internet.

 

[Mamou]

The fuck are you on??? Take down defense is takedown defense, and yeah Tony's been dropped but not by a striker like Conor, how many one punch KOs did he have at featherweight?? Aldo... He dosent one shot people, timing power precision, he's only had 2 fights at 155, he dropped Nate 3 times, he absolutely would drop Tony's ass and rock him harder than he's ever been rocked, your entire post made you sound like an idiot, Kevin also dosent have great cardio and a worse chin than mendes, all your points are irrelevant

No, takedown defense isn't takedown defense. Conor being able to stop a takedown with his back against the cage doesn't mean he can stop a double leg in the middle of the cage.

Nate Diaz has been dropped by multiple fighters before Conor, yet Conor didn't finish him. So I don't get what your trying to prove by using Nate as an example.

Kevin Lee may not have great cardio, but he has better cardio than Conor. And Conor has yet to knock someone out while on his back.

Keep trying though....

 

[Vespasian70AD]

Wow I just don't see how he dosent beat every light weight except Khabib but we all have our opinions

I'm not saying he's a bum by any means. I consider Khabib and Tony to be the top tier of the division. Then Conor would be in the upper end of that next group.

Do you think he beats Kevin Lee?