Conor looked better than I thought last night

[MescalineDreams]

Initially i just didnt like what I was seeing from him. Many have said he looked like a shadow of his former self and I kinda felt the same way at the time.

Upon rewatching, I thought he actually looked pretty good. Maybe not quite on the level we seen from him against Alvarez but it was a reasonable performance. Hindsight is 20/20 I guess.

Was pretty handily outstriking Poirier at range up until the very end.

Just wasnt checking those calf kicks at all. Not even attempting to. Poirier landed several in the first half of round 1. He just kept throwing them and landing. At some point in the second, the last one he landed was the nail in the coffin. You could see Conor's leg visibly buckle. At that point DC says "that leg is messed up"

Then Poirier smells blood in the water and just unleashes a flurry of combinations from hell. Conor was up against the cage and had nowhere to run. Probably some of the best work we've seen from him in his career thus far.

Was kinda like the first Diaz fight in a sense. Conor basically did very well and then abruptly just got beaten down and finished in the blink of an eye. Pretty much like every Kevin Lee loss.. lol

Anyways. The idea that Poirier is this vastly superior fighter to Conor is a pretty big reach. This seems like one of those fights that either guy could really win depending on the day.

The man needs to fly out some elite kickers or something. Dunno how you can take like 10+ calf kicks like that and not check a single one.

Wouldnt be surprised to see an immediate trilogy booked.

 

[Substance Abuse]

Poirier may not be a vastly superior fighter but he's vastly superior in approach. Conor wanted to treat him like Cerrone.

Unfortunately for him, Dustin is what Conor isn't: tough, gritty, willing to take punishment to dish out his own. He will follow a plan. He will fight a diverse fight. He is mentally tough. He has good cardio. He isn't deterred easily. He can handle adversity and will come back in a fight he's losing.

Conor wanted to beat him like he beat everyone else and while he did have a few good moments and outstruck Dustin in the first, Poirier showed better head movement, worked a good jab and landed some good counter strikes. He was talking in there. He was comfortable. I don't see a rematch going any differently.

 

[hbombfromhell]

He got KO'ed dead in the second.

Most thought he would win.

Expectations are sinking to rock bottom.

 

[MescalineDreams]

Poirier may not be a vastly superior fighter but he's vastly superior in approach. Conor wanted to treat him like Cerrone.

Unfortunately for him, Dustin is what Conor isn't: tough, gritty, willing to take punishment to dish out his own. He will follow a plan. He will fight a diverse fight. He is mentally tough. He has good cardio. He isn't deterred easily. He can handle adversity and will come back in a fight he's losing.

He might be all those things.

But he was definitely clearly losing up until the ending portion of the fight.

Diaz is a lot of those things too, but he came back, made the adjustments and got the win.

I wouldnt put it past Conor to do the same here. If he can adjust to the kicks, there's a lot to build on from the first.

But yeah. Who knows. Conor is still something of a question mark. It's all there on paper, but hard to tell how much he truly wants it anymore.

It does feel like one of those fights that could go either way depending on the day though.

 

[Substance Abuse]

He might be all those things.

But he was definitely clearly losing up until the ending portion of the fight.

Diaz is a lot of those things too, but he came back, made the adjustments and got the win.

I wouldnt put it past Conor to do the same here. If he can adjust to the kicks, there's a lot to build on from the first.

But yeah. Who knows. Conor is still something of a question mark. It's all there but hard to tell how much he truly wants it anymore.

It does frdl like one of those fights that could go either way depending on the day though.

He lost the first but he had good moments. That first round was not a blowout by any means. Conor won it, but not by a huge margin. Before the finish he was winning the second round without much trouble.

Conor has never checked leg kicks. Conor was not fighting from behind in that second Diaz fight. He almost got finished due to exhaustion more than anything else after punching himself on Diaz' face. Conor did not look good in that fight. I think you're giving him too much credit.

 

[Fesaine]

After rewatching the fight, the first thing I notice is how heavy he is on the front leg. His stance now is very much like a boxer. Noticeably different compared to his 145 self.

The more weight you put on your front leg, the more damage the calf kick will cause.

 

[Lann]

He looked good last night. Both of those guys are on the same level.

 

[camygod]

conor is used to being the hammer not the nail he isnt a coward or pussy and is tough he is a pro fighter buuut when your used to always smashing your opponent quickly you wont develop that gritt and ablity to dig deep but someone like dustin who has been in some wars and might be more sloppy but thirves in that enviroment has
conor has the gifts in reflex and explosivness but if your not going out quickly vs him he starts to struggle
the cerrone fight was bad for him cerrone clearly didnt come to offer any resistance and gave conor a false sense of securtiy at the higher weights becoming double champ was the perfect storm for him and if he had actully had to work his way up 155 for a title shot doubt he would have got there
he will always be dangrous as fuck for first 2 rounds and if he keeps at mma will win some but i think the higher iq fighters who can mix up the grappling and tire him out will always have a advantage over him

 

[J85909266]

Dustin was setting up his win all of round one. The wrestling, the low kicks, easily getting past the first 5 minutes when Conor is most dangerous. Sure the cards say Conor won round one, but I knew going into round two that Conor was in trouble.

At some point, Conor fans will need to accept that he might not be the god that they think he is, and that Porier was just better than him, last night.

 

[The Chosen]

Poirier may not be a vastly superior fighter but he's vastly superior in approach. Conor wanted to treat him like Cerrone.

Unfortunately for him, Dustin is what Conor isn't: tough, gritty, willing to take punishment to dish out his own. He will follow a plan. He will fight a diverse fight. He is mentally tough. He has good cardio. He isn't deterred easily. He can handle adversity and will come back in a fight he's losing.

Conor wanted to beat him like he beat everyone else and while he did have a few good moments and outstruck Dustin in the first, Poirier showed better head movement, worked a good jab and landed some good counter strikes. He was talking in there. He was comfortable. I don't see a rematch going any differently.

All that is hot air, we’re talking about skill sets here not who is “grittier”. The truth is that the calf kicks were the deciding factor in the fight.

 

[Substance Abuse]

All that is hot air, we’re talking about skill sets here not who is “grittier” The truth is that the calf kicks were the deciding factor in the fight.

That's not the only deciding factor. If you think so, you're delusional. The grappling, tie-ups and clinch work took a lot of power and steam off of those strikes from Conor. Conor's defense, especially on the counters from Poirier and the kicks were porous and led to that leg issue. Dustin's intelligence and ability to work his plan - which he said he and MTB worked on - that included those kicks were a big part of it too. There's so much that went into that finish.

Dustin used that first round to set up that win. He didn't win the round, but he established his plan early and it unfolded perfectly.

 

[MescalineDreams]

Poirier may not be a vastly superior fighter but he's vastly superior in approach. Conor wanted to treat him like Cerrone.

Unfortunately for him, Dustin is what Conor isn't: tough, gritty, willing to take punishment to dish out his own. He will follow a plan. He will fight a diverse fight. He is mentally tough. He has good cardio. He isn't deterred easily. He can handle adversity and will come back in a fight he's losing.

Conor wanted to beat him like he beat everyone else and while he did have a few good moments and outstruck Dustin in the first, Poirier showed better head movement, worked a good jab and landed some good counter strikes. He was talking in there. He was comfortable. I don't see a rematch going any differently.

Dustin landed a few strikes but Conor was pretty handily winning the striking up until the very end.

Hypothetically, let's imagine that he adjusts and deals with the kicks more effectively in the 3rd fight.

That basically changes the circumstance and sequence which led to him being cornered up against the cage and taken out with a flurry from hell.

I think a trilogy is interesting and could potentially look very different.

 

[Substance Abuse]

Dustin landed a few strikes but Conor was pretty handily winning the striking up until the very end.

Hypothetically, let's imagine that he adjusts and deals with the kicks more effectively in the 3rd fight.

That basically changes the circumstance and sequence which led to him being cornered up against the cage and taken out with a flurry from hell.

I think a trilogy is interesting and could potentially look very different.

Dustin was winning that second round before the finish. Let's say they fight again and Dustin decides they're going to grapple more for two rounds and presses that issue? Conor does not have a great tank and he wilts as a fight goes on. I don't see him beating Dustin outside of catching him early, which is what a lot of people thought would happen.

 

[The Chosen]

That's not the only deciding factor. If you think so, you're delusional. The grappling, tie-ups and clinch work took a lot of power and steam off of those strikes from Conor. Conor's defense, especially on the counters from Poirier and the kicks were porous and led to that leg issue. Dustin's intelligence and ability to work his plan - which he said he and MTB worked on - that included those kicks were a big part of it too. There's so much that went into that finish.

Dustin used that first round to set up that win. He didn't win the round, but he established his plan early and it unfolded perfectly.

No shit, still doesn’t change the fact the calf kicks were the deciding factor. The ability to write so much without saying anything is profound, truly.

 

[Substance Abuse]

No shit, still doesn’t change the fact the calf kicks were the deciding factor. The ability to write so much without saying anything is profound, truly.

 

[No Skill Gap]

Poirier may not be a vastly superior fighter but he's vastly superior in approach. Conor wanted to treat him like Cerrone.

Unfortunately for him, Dustin is what Conor isn't: tough, gritty, willing to take punishment to dish out his own. He will follow a plan. He will fight a diverse fight. He is mentally tough. He has good cardio. He isn't deterred easily. He can handle adversity and will come back in a fight he's losing.

Conor wanted to beat him like he beat everyone else and while he did have a few good moments and outstruck Dustin in the first, Poirier showed better head movement, worked a good jab and landed some good counter strikes. He was talking in there. He was comfortable. I don't see a rematch going any differently.

The gameplan was the biggest factor imo. Porier getting that takedown early surprising McGregor then draining him of energy to get up. Then pressing him into the cage, cage wrestling, draining him yet again.

Putting money in the bank and tearing up his lead leg, McGregor having a wide stance with heavy weight on the front front/leg. And then he simply put it on him after he faded due to cardio and toughness, as you said.

I'm not sure about a rematch going differently. It easily could, but who knows. Porier himself said that he was hurt from a straight left and if McGregor pressed forward he might have been really hurt or finished in the post-fight presser.

I think this is what McGregor is. It's always what he's been. Outside of the Mendes fight and Holloway fight can we even name a time where he's faced adversity and came back and won? Or lasted a whole fight? Diaz II is the only other fight. And going 5 rounds and beating Diaz in a close decision at that time period wasn't exactly an awesome win or anything.

He's a front runner. I was actually thinking of making a thread about this, but there's far too many McGregor threads and aids so I decided not to but - McGregor is extremely similar to Mike Tyson as a comp.

 

[The Chosen]

 

[Hardkore]

Lol MescalineDreams in denial almost as bad as @D 1 Wrestler

 

[Kb7]

Conor did look good, but to say he was handily out striking Poirier is a stretch but I expect nothing
less from a poster with your history TS. Poirier kept it competitive and clearly it was going to be different fight once calf kicks and the takedown. The point is this, Poirier is a better fighter at LW than Conor Mcgregor, living off Conors one and only win in the LW division is all well and good, but that's just 1 win. Not enough data to show Conor is capable of doing that to the rest of the fighters in the most competitive division in the history of MMA. With that said Conor clearly needs a tune up fight, I think Dustin would beat him again.

 

[Substance Abuse]

The gameplan was the biggest factor imo. Porier getting that takedown early surprising McGregor then draining him of energy to get up. Then pressing him into the cage, cage wrestling, draining him yet again.

Putting money in the bank and tearing up his lead leg, McGregor having a wide stance with heavy weight on the front front/leg. And then he simply put it on him after he faded due to cardio and toughness, as you said.

I'm not sure about a rematch going differently. It easily could, but who knows. Porier himself said that he was hurt from a straight left and if McGregor pressed forward he might have been really hurt or finished in the post-fight presser.

I think this is what McGregor is. It's always what he's been. Outside of the Mendes fight and Holloway fight can we even name a time where he's faced adversity and came back and won? Or lasted a whole fight? Diaz II is the only other fight. And going 5 rounds and beating Diaz in a close decision at that time period wasn't exactly an awesome win or anything.

He's a front runner. I was actually thinking of making a thread about this, but there's far too many McGregor threads and aids so I decided not to but - McGregor is extremely similar to Mike Tyson as a comp.

We're in agreement. I've stated that he's a front runner numerous times. Dustin knew exactly what he was doing. He fought a very smart and composed fight. I also saw that Dustin said Conor hurt him, but he might be going out of his way to be kind to Conor. I could be wrong. Good post, though.