Nate's chin. Conor walked Nate into several vicious left hands that landed hard and flush, turning Nate's head. That is in addition to the glancing lefts that scraped and cut Nate up. The more I watch it over and over, the more impressed I am by Nate's ability to shake off those crucial power shots. I don't think anyone Conor has fought before could stand up to and roll off his punches so well. That, to me, is the biggest advantage to Nate's training with world-class pro boxers. Conor's hands and Nate's hands are not worlds apart (in fact, they seem to be at a similar level of boxing ability), but Nate's ability to take and roll off punches is greater than anyone Conor has dealt with, and that factor is not going to change with this rematch.
My take: The key to Conor in this fight is going to be mixing his kicks with his punches, commanding respect with his feet, so he can land those left hands and right hooks and do damage. If he plays the same game, goes punch-for-punch with Nate, he will basically be doing the same thing as before, and hunting for the left cross or uppercut to finish it. And we know that most likely won't cut it with Nate. I think round 1 will tell us the tale of the fight. If Conor is moving, mixing up kicks left and right, high, middle, and low, and finding success with his hands as a result, it could be a different fight. But if the horn sounds and he's done nothing but stalk and spam the left straight, he will be in for another long night, because Nate can chew those shots up and spit em back at him all night.
If it goes to decision, I gotta believe that Nate will keep it close or win. Conor can win on points, but he'll have to do a lot of damage to keep Nate from storming back late with his unreal Diaz cardio and heart.
This rematch is a big roll of the dice for Mystic Mac. I cannot expect less than the most dogged, headstrong effort from him. Since that's what we almost always get with Nate, this fight could end up being more than a cool story, bro; it could end up being the Gatti/Ward I written into an MMA novel in front of the world.
This shit is exciting. Conor is really putting his nuts on the table here. Nate's already chillin in the catbird seat either way this fight goes, because a trilogy would also put fat chips on his table despite the loss, and a win puts a pen in his hand to start writing TALL checks.
Can't. Fucking. Wait.
