Conor McGregor vs. Dennis Siver(Spoliers)

[beaglepuss]

Does anyone know if Aldo's fought a guy with the height and reach advantage that Conor will bring to the fight? It was my first time watching him and I was surprised that he's 5'9 with a 74" reach in that division.

Chan Sung Jung is 5'9 with a 72" reach. The difference being that Conor will avoid blowing out his shoulder winging punches around.

I also think Mendes and Frankie are far harder fights for Conor than Aldo from a stylistic standpoint.

 

[Human Bass]

Does anyone know if Aldo's fought a guy with the height and reach advantage that Conor will bring to the fight? It was my first time watching him and I was surprised that he's 5'9 with a 74" reach in that division.

KenFlo.

 

[Steve08]

But his control of distance was good as always, his punches were crisp and he did exactly what he was supposed to.

Could you elaborate on this? Siver's attempts to close the gap seemed noticeably ineffective, but I am not sure what action(s) of McGregor's led to that fact, at least not without rewatching the fight.

 

[Cyclone Mike]

Aldo has been slowing down. He isn't the same guy who was crushing dudes in WEC. In my opinion, he's been winning the majority of the rounds, but he hasn't been winning them by much. I feel that he's won all of his most recent rounds by one good exchange and his reputation.

Conor McGregor can win this fight. He moves better than Aldo and punches harder. Better offensive/defensive positioning. The real question in the fight is whether or not he can defend kicks. If Aldo eats Conor's leg up with low kicks and takes away his movement... it's Aldo's fight to win. Otherwise, C McG all day. I'm a Conor McGregor stan, but that's my objective opinion. He will be a champ.

 

[Steve08]

Aldo has been slowing down. He isn't the same guy who was crushing dudes in WEC. In my opinion, he's been winning the majority of the rounds, but he hasn't been winning them by much. I feel that he's won all of his most recent rounds by one good exchange and his reputation.

Your criticisms can easily be attributed to noticeably improved strength of competition though. It's hard to win fights completely one-sided when your opponents are Edgar and Mendes (although the Edgar fight was pretty close to one-sided) instead of Chris Mickle and Urijah Faber (a bantamweight, if we are being honest).

I don't think it's fair to say that Aldo's been slowing down when he is clearly much better standing in pretty much every respect than he once was. Here's a dude who went from being outjabbed and body-shot by Hominick, to dropping Super Mendes three times in one round. He doesn't really seem to be as aggressive, but that's about it. He still jumps on people and finishes them when he sees the opening (the Mendes KO was vicious), but I don't think he cares about creating that opening as much as he once did.

If anything is slowing down it's his body, not his skill.

 

[RafailNadull]

If anything is slowing down it's his body, not his skill.

Of course. That's what people are referring to. He does seem to be past his prime physically. Not very unlikely even at his young age, because he has been fighting for a very long time. I think Aldo's reaction time isn't as good as it once was.

Skills wise, I think he is better than ever.

 

[WillW]

That will be a great fight if it happens.

Conor has the best St. Left in the game, hands down.
But he will be going up against Aldo's excellent Leg Kicks.

Interesting thing about this is that Aldo is usually fighting someone who wants to get him down, that is where he shines. stopping and punishing the takedowns. but what will happen when he fights a striker like Conor who is trying to put him out.

 

[MuffinGod11]

I don't see the decline of Aldo, rather Aldo is in his prime, at least as a martial artist.

Chad Mendes fight showed that, He went 5 rounds and it was war yet Aldo won decisevely even being rocked badly once.

Aldo before was crazy and used his athelticism to get by, now he's a technical master in the game of MMA.

Probably the same path as GSP.

Don't forget the fact that Aldo can take him to the ground.

 

[GOATMOON]

That will be a great fight if it happens.

Conor has the best St. Left in the game, hands down.
But he will be going up against Aldo's excellent Leg Kicks.

Interesting thing about this is that Aldo is usually fighting someone who wants to get him down, that is where he shines. stopping and punishing the takedowns. but what will happen when he fights a striker like Conor who is trying to put him out.

I think it could be an opportunity for Aldo to showcase more of his striking skills once again, as he is usually pretty conservative with his kicks/overall striking due to the risk of being taken down. Obviously Conor doesn't pose the same kind of TD threat as someone like Mendes or Edgar so it will be interesting seeing his striking vs someone going in with the intent to keep it standing.

 

[Discipulus]

Aldo has been slowing down. He isn't the same guy who was crushing dudes in WEC. In my opinion, he's been winning the majority of the rounds, but he hasn't been winning them by much. I feel that he's won all of his most recent rounds by one good exchange and his reputation.

Conor McGregor can win this fight. He moves better than Aldo and punches harder. Better offensive/defensive positioning. The real question in the fight is whether or not he can defend kicks. If Aldo eats Conor's leg up with low kicks and takes away his movement... it's Aldo's fight to win. Otherwise, C McG all day. I'm a Conor McGregor stan, but that's my objective opinion. He will be a champ.

I've got to disagree with this. Aldo continues to grow and improve technically. It's likely true that he doesn't possess the same explosive athleticism that he did in his younger years, but that doesn't make him worse. He's less dangerous, you might say, but definitely better all around.

For one, his boxing has improved by leaps and bounds. He now has arguably the best jab in MMA, and his combination punching is better than ever before. So, too, is his footwork, and the way in which he uses it. He can pivot and side-step like few others in MMA, and his cagecraft is great. He used to back himself into the cage all the time, but that happens less and less with each fight. He's also an excellent counter puncher, both going forward and retreating, and that makes him dangerous no matter where the fight goes.

Honestly, I think the majority of his fights being "close" has to do with his nature as a fighter. He loves beating people in their element, and opponents are so afraid of attacking him that he never feels pressured to push the pace. When Mendes brought the war to him, we saw a level that Aldo hasn't shown in years, because he hasn't had to. This is a sort of weakness in itself, but the fact that Aldo is a tactician doesn't mean that he's regressing.

 

[nvs1985]

thing people overlook is conor chin, dude has taken clean shots from brimage...holloway..brandao...poirier and siver

Ability to eat shots is not a good feat against Aldo. Means you are there to be hit when those people you mentioned were able to land on him cleanly.

 

[MuffinGod11]

I've got to disagree with this. Aldo continues to grow and improve technically. It's likely true that he doesn't possess the same explosive athleticism that he did in his younger years, but that doesn't make him worse. He's less dangerous, you might say, but definitely better all around.

For one, his boxing has improved by leaps and bounds. He now has arguably the best jab in MMA, and his combination punching is better than ever before. So, too, is his footwork, and the way in which he uses it. He can pivot and side-step like few others in MMA, and his cagecraft is great. He used to back himself into the cage all the time, but that happens less and less with each fight. He's also an excellent counter puncher, both going forward and retreating, and that makes him dangerous no matter where the fight goes.

Honestly, I think the majority of his fights being "close" has to do with his nature as a fighter. He loves beating people in their element, and opponents are so afraid of attacking him that he never feels pressured to push the pace. When Mendes brought the war to him, we saw a level that Aldo hasn't shown in years, because he hasn't had to. This is a sort of weakness in itself, but the fact that Aldo is a tactician doesn't mean that he's regressing.

This. You see his fights in WEC and you see tons of holes and Aldo going wild.

Connor, do you think Aldo would take him down or would he go tit for tat against McGregor?

 

[a guy]

Could you elaborate on this? Siver's attempts to close the gap seemed noticeably ineffective, but I am not sure what action(s) of McGregor's led to that fact, at least not without rewatching the fight.

Nothing particularly fancy, just basics. He measured distance with his lead hand, then stayed right there. If Siver moved in, he would move back the equivalent amount to maintain his distance. Then when there was an opening (if Siver tried to pivot too big, if Siver stepped in to kick, if Siver reacted to his jab, etc) he would time it and throw his left hand, but not let his feet step forward after. So he would just pop in range long enough to attack then pull just back out. That way he was generally only entering the range where Siver could hit him at the times when Siver wasn't ready to throw back.

What would be interesting is to see McGregor fight someone who will walk him down without going crazy and running into punches. Someone stylistically similar to Weidman. That won't likely be Aldo though.

 

[Discipulus]

This. You see his fights in WEC and you see tons of holes and Aldo going wild.

Connor, do you think Aldo would take him down or would he go tit for tat against McGregor?

My best guess is that Pederneiras will be telling him to take McGregor down, while Aldo himself will be looking to humiliate McGregor on the feet. Which means that Aldo will likely hit a takedown in the first round, then slowly fall into a pattern of exchanging with McGregor until getting into trouble on the feet, at which point Dede will have him shooting takedowns again later in the fight.

 

[a guy]

You're underselling McGregor here. McGregor's head movement is well above average for a UFC fighter, he's just been the one initiating the action and others have been countering. When in that fight did Siver actually initiate the action for McGregor to slip anything?

I doubt McGregor beats Aldo, but it won't be because he came in with his chin in the air and got knocked out. Aldo couldn't put away people with significantly worse striking habits than McGregor has (Mendes and Florian come to mind. Chang was coming in with flurries way sloppier than McGregor has ever thrown, and that was only stopped because CSJ dislocated his shoulder) so why would McGregor, who blocks well, judges distance like a champ and has clearly underrated head and body movement be dropped so easily?

Just wanna point out that Aldo has fantastic head movement, and McGregor is pretty vulnerable after his left straight. He leans his head forward and very rarely follows it up with anything. I fully believe Aldo can slip it then counter it with a straight right or right uppercut and hurt McGregor if not drop him.

 

[MuffinGod11]

My best guess is that Pederneiras will be telling him to take McGregor down, while Aldo himself will be looking to humiliate McGregor on the feet. Which means that Aldo will likely hit a takedown in the first round, then slowly fall into a pattern of exchanging with McGregor until getting into trouble on the feet, at which point Dede will have him shooting takedowns again later in the fight.

Damn, no bueno for Aldo. Conor packs a punch, Aldo took some punishment from Mendes but Conor is just too good.

 

[yookfarb]

5 years from now, people will compare WEC Aldo to Pride Shogun

Athleticism counts for a lot, so does putting your opponents in the hospital every fight

Aldo is practically a cripple with all of his injuries. You can talk about the fine intricacies of his technique until you go blue in the face, but with each fight, the end results are getting less and less impressive and that's all that matters in the end.

 

[Frode Falch]

Connor is still a novice kicker. With that i mean that it takes just a few hours for a athletic body to learn the mechanics of the most fancy kicks.. Its the timing and set-ups that take time and experience..

But he uses them to cover up his very good boxing for a mma fighter.

 

[Jukai]

stop saying GOAT.. this is the stand up forum. serious and adult discussions FTW

Connor is still a novice kicker. With that i mean that it takes just a few hours for a athletic body to learn the mechanics of the most fancy kicks.. Its the timing and set-ups that take time and experience..

But he uses them to cover up his very good boxing for a mma fighter.

I wouldn't say 'novice' kicker. His setup is rather poor, but the fact that he fires these out from nearly anywhere and is almost always balanced when he lands is pretty impressive.

 

[Jukai]

Just wanna point out that Aldo has fantastic head movement, and McGregor is pretty vulnerable after his left straight. He leans his head forward and very rarely follows it up with anything. I fully believe Aldo can slip it then counter it with a straight right or right uppercut and hurt McGregor if not drop him.

His head doesn't really lean too far forward, and there is absolutely zero telegraphing of that straight left. No step, no windup, he just fires it out like a bullet. If anyone can time it, Aldo can, but I wouldn't say "fully believe." That cross is a killer move.