Conor McGregor - Title Challenger or Untested Prospect?

[Skydome]

Have to go with title challenger. There are a couple guys with better arguments to be getting the next shot, but you can't call someone untested after they KO a top 5 guy.

Edgar and who?

 

[kphizzle]

there has been a lot of fighters who have talked there way into a championship fights and not deserved them with that being said u can only beat the people they put in front of u and he has done so in impressive fashion so why shouldn't he get a tittle shot? Do people really want to see Frankie lay on Aldo for 25 more minutes or 2 brawlers who are gonna let there hands go?

 

[jko1355]

you forgot Mendes ranked above Conor.

 

[Azure]

Still a little of both..

 

[jko1355]

They bumped him up a spot or two in the rankings before the fight, added with Dustin being a bit chinny , and a good stylistic match up for Connor, you can understand why not everyone is sold on it.

wtf... Dustin is CHINNY now?!?!?!? man never got KO'ed or TKO'ed before Conor... I have barely even seen him rocked.. haters make up some crazy shit.

 

[thetan]

Conor has the best argument for a TS over anyone in the division, the only other is Frankie, who already lost to the champion pretty convincingly.

Add that to his insane marketability and a TS to Conor is a no brainer.

Sure, he hasn't fought a wrestler, but he will. Why derail a huge PPV fight to answer this question? He's clearly deserving, he's on a 15 fight win streak with 3 of his last 4 fights being brutal stoppages, one over a top 5 in under 2 minutes, who's never been KOd (who KZ got a TS off beating).

He's clearly a title challenger, but he's also untested against one facet of MMA. But, the dude also trains with some slick BBJ guys, plus he's a brown-belt, so I'm sure he's no slouch in the ground game.

 

[LHWBelt]

Conor McGregor - Title Challenger or Untested Prospect?
by CR0W


Conor McGregor.... you hear the name and instantly it brings heat, hype and excitement.

Fluent in his speech and movement, accurate with his predicitons and strikes, McGregor is a phenom. The Irishman has marketed himself better than anyone in the UFC, and now approaching his 5th fight in the UFC a title shot looks imminent. Has he earned it? Is it being gifted? Has he faced the strongest available opposition?

Coming into the UFC with a picture perfect knockout of Ivan Buchinger, holding both the Featherweight and Lightweight Cage Warriors titles McGregor was already carrying a lot of promise, visible to many of MMA's harcore fans, and beginning to reach more casual fans with the release of 'The Rise of Conor McGregor' which featured on MTV.

McGregor dominated and outclassed Marcus Brimage, finishing the Alabama based fighter in just over 1 minute. Displaying fantastic charisma in his post fight interview, he had already won over a majority who had just watched him, displaying humour, humblenss and confidence, calling Dana out for Knockout of the Night. McGregor has since dispenced of young prospect Max Holloway, dangerous TUF veteran Diego Brandao and WEC veteran Dustin Poirier, 2 of which were finished in the first round.

The one criticism from the start has been "He hasn't faced a wrestler." Which is true, he hasn't. Currently 5th in the featherweight rankings, Cub Swanson, Ricardo Lamas and Frankie Edgar lie ahead of him behind reigning champion Jose Aldo. In his upcoming fight McGregor will take on veteran striker Dennis Siver, ranked 10th. Again it's not a wrestler but Siver is dangerous and the fight will showcase a little more McGregor's ability.

Under normal circumstances I'd be all for McGregor facing either Ricardo Lamas or Frankie Edgar if he beats Siver, but here's why I'm not. Aldo has already beaten Edgar, Lamas and Swanson, aleit Swanson being nearly 6 years ago. So providing McGregor beats Siver, it would make sense for the hyped superstar to have his crack at the title. McGregor vs Swanson would be a fantastic match-up but would leave Aldo without a worth adversory in the mean time.

At the end of the day everyone wants to see McGregor vs Aldo whether it's to see McGregor dethrone the champion and continue to prove the hype is real or to see Aldo put on another dominant display and fight off another contender. The Notorious one has followed through with every claim he has made so far, to the point where you find it hard to believe anyone can stop him. His confidence is sky high and it's not hard to see why. He's now the poster boy of the UFC, making big money and gaining more and more hype as times goes on.

For me, McGregor deserves the next shot with a win over Dennis Siver. What do you think? Should he have to prove himself once more or will a dominant victory over Siver cement a deserved title shot?​

If he beats Siver ya I say give him a shot. Sure he hasn't fought a wrestler but who says you have to beat every style b4 facing the champ? Also, Aldo isn't a wrestler so who cares?

 

[Mixedfights]

Title contender and imo the next champ. The guy is a rare talent and gifted fighter.I dont think wrestling will be a factor whoever he faces because Im sure hes worked hard as hell at all aspects of MMA.

 

[jeremyemilio]

 

[That209]

Title challenger.

Soon he will have 5 fights, 4 first round finishes via KO/TKO. He's on the best streak in the division besides Jose Aldo's streak of title defenses.

I remember when everybody was saying he has to fight a top 5, and then he destroyed Dustin Poirier (#5) in less than two minutes and people started acting like Poirier was never that good and now they're saying he needs to fight a top 3.

It's pretty ridiculous.

He will prove the haters wrong again when he takes that belt from Jose Aldo in Ireland and everybody is going to jump on his nuts. Conor is going to have so many fake fans by the end of the summer.

 

[Mister7]

wtf... Dustin is CHINNY now?!?!?!? man never got KO'ed or TKO'ed before Conor... I have barely even seen him rocked.. haters make up some crazy shit.

He got wobbled in almost everyone of his last fights, including against Jonathan Brookins. You're right though, chinny might not be the best term.

 

[Mixedfights]

"A gust of wind and he takes a knee" lol...callin it like he sees it.

 

[Jorge Luis Borges]

Oddly enough, he is both

I would say he is neither.

 

[Project 86]

untested prospect

connor looks all good when ufc pairs him with a bunch of strikers

but the last time connor faced a grappler irish joe duffy subbed him in 38 seconds

 

[frandie2b]

untested prospect

connor looks all good when ufc pairs him with a bunch of strikers

but the last time connor faced a grappler irish joe duffy subbed him in 38 seconds

Lol! So Brandao isn't a grappler ? Do you remember when he subbed Bermudez but couldn't do anything to Conor on the ground ?

 

[Sjb1888]

Conor has shown every MMA fighter the way to get paid in this sport, most won't have the talent in the cage or out of it to do it, but to be a millionaire before he's even had a title shot is a great achievement.

It takes some of the pressure off the rest of his career.

He is without doubt the no.1 contender, he basically was even before this fight but he didn't want to wait 6 months on aldo so he took another fight.

Frankie is the only other fighter with any real claim and he fought Aldo too recently so I'm not sure what people are complaining about.

 

[Donny White]

He's a tested prospect.

Imo, you're not a true title challenger until you've beaten a top five opponent - which he hasn't.

 

[Jorge Luis Borges]

Me too.

I would consider him a champion.

Perhaps in time. But a man's potential is not the same as his current state.

To the extent that McGregor is the top contender for the title, it is because Aldo has run rough shod over the division for some time now. I would argue that at present, Edgar has a better claim to a title shot than Conor, but I would prefer to see McGregor fight Aldo, given that Edgar lost to Aldo. Still, that fight was two years ago, and both fighters have fought three times since then.

On the other hand, to call McGregor untested is in no way entirely true. There is some merit in pointing out we do not know how he would fair against a great wrestler, but we are also sure that he is a top notch striker.

 

[Jorge Luis Borges]

He is without doubt the no.1 contender, he basically was even before this fight but he didn't want to wait 6 months on aldo so he took another fight.

Frankie is the only other fighter with any real claim and he fought Aldo too recently so I'm not sure what people are complaining about.

More than two years and three fights each since their first fight is not too soon for Aldo-Edgar 2. I favor seeing McGregor fight Aldo over Edgar getting the next shot, but why pretend McGregor has any case over Edgar other than being a fresh face and interesting personality?

 

[Broder]

Untested prospect. He hasn't fought anyone yet.