Conor McGregor vs. Dennis Siver(Spoliers)

[Aikidoka]

Jose Aldo is well rounded, unline McGregor. This is gonna be a very close fight, both have very similar styles of fighting, but as I said earlier this fight goes to Aldo, either by UD or triangle choke.

 

[Phlog]

If Aldo neutralises Conors straight left he wins. I love how fluid Conors game is and how it all funnels down to one move.

 

[aries]

The thing is that Conor is an excellent counter striker, and some would say even better at it than pressuring. I don't think someone who pressured him back would have a lot of success for that reason alone. However, if he keeps pressuring as well, instead of stepping back and countering, then obviously it becomes more of a game of chins.

Connor applies pressure in a steady fashion. I'm envisioning more of a fast paced pressure fighter like Cain would give Connor trouble. Someone like Edgar has a much higher work rate than Connor and would force Connor to work plus his speed will nullify some of Connors counter ability.

 

[flanellograf]

Connor applies pressure in a steady fashion. I'm envisioning more of a fast paced pressure fighter like Cain would give Connor trouble. Someone like Edgar has a much higher work rate than Connor and would force Connor to work plus his speed will nullify some of Connors counter ability.

The question is how would Eddie react to getting tagged a couple of times with that left? I know he has good recovery, but Conor isn't stiff-ox-Maynard.

 

[PivotPunch]

The question is how would Cub react to getting tagged a couple of times with that left? I know he has good recovery, but Conor isn't stiff-ox-Maynard.

McGregor is possibly even a better pure boxer than Cub so I don't think he would win Mcgregor is the better kicker and if he has even a small advantage in pure boxing Cub can't do anything else and is fucked and i think McGregor is a better boxer than Cub.
Frankie Edgar or Mendes would be great fights and if he somehow beats Aldo those fights would happen.
Edgar also is Bj Penn's nemesis and Bj Penn and McGregor are a little bit similar. Both good boxer with a very long and side on stance and this stance is horrible against fighters with lateral movement the only difference is that Mcgregor might be able to stop Edgar from mving laterally with kicks but then again Edgar could capitalize on that and try to catch a kick to take McGregor down

 

[Forever Changes]

Jose Aldo is well rounded, unline McGregor. This is gonna be a very close fight, both have very similar styles of fighting, but as I said earlier this fight goes to Aldo, either by UD or triangle choke.

You mean he's better at bjj? I think they are as well rounded as each other standup wise.

 

[aries]

I don't think so. Aldo is the superior boxer, though he doesn't hit as hard. He's got better footwork, a better jab, and he can punch with both hands, whereas McGregor is mostly left-side dependent. Aldo is also incredibly diverse, and loves to pressure. I don't doubt that McGregor will try to pressure him early, but it remains to be seen how he'll react when he gets caught by a few Aldo counters.

Essentially, Aldo used to be how McGregor is now: a dynamic powerhouse who loved to knock people out. Meanwhile, McGregor used to be a lesser version of what Aldo is now: an aggressive counter striker who excels at pressuring an opponent, drawing his lead, and then punishing him. Personally, I'll take a technically brilliant veteran over a young dynamo any day of the week.

What's more, Aldo has shown that he fights harder the harder he is pushed. He was all over Mendes after being dropped in the first round, and when Mendes put him on skates with that level-change uppercut, Aldo knocked Chad down with a left hook mere moments later. Aldo's pride is his strength, whereas I think McGregor's pride may very well be his greatest weakness. Aldo refuses to be beaten, while all we've seen from McGregor is that he refuses to believe that he can be beaten.

I agree Aldo is the technically better boxer and all things being equal he'd beat Connor in a boxing match but they are not equal as Connor has a not insignificant 4" reach advantage and I believe he has a slight edge in speed and definitely in foot speed. And the way he fights just on the edge of range I think that will give him an advantage in avoiding Aldos attacks. I think Aldo will catch him early on because he's great at slipping incoming punches and Connor has tendency to lunge a bit but I think Connor will adjust to this, just like he adjusted to Sivers low side kick.
I think Mcgregor has quite an advantage in terms of power though and I think he has a better chin. I can see him getting a little bit flustered if he gets countered early on but I don't see him cracking or falling apart. This is the guy who ripped his ACL mid fight, adjusted and carried on to a dominant victory. I don't see him being phased by much.

Mendes hits hard but he really didn't have much success apart from that shot. Most of the time he was just punching air. It certainly didn't help Chad that he had a 4" reach disadvantage to Aldo. The situation will be reversed if Aldo fights McG. McGregor would land far more regularly than Mendes.

I think the reach and the speed of movement in and out will give Connor the advantage if it turns into a boxing match. And he has shown he has the mettle to take adversity in his stride which he will surely need against Aldo. I don't think Aldo has any advantage in terms of warrior spirit over McG.

 

[Jukai]

I do think Mendes is great at finding his range and timing though. He turned into an extremely talented striker very quickly. I wanna see another fight or two from him against good opposition to get a better idea of how skilled he actually is.

He turned into an extremely talented striker?

Your criticism of Conor could literally be the same thing for Mendes--- all Mendes has is uppercuts from both hands and an overhand right. The rest of his striking is all winging, long winded hooks and jabs that he brings down and fires back up. Mendes has a ridiculous amount of speed and he likes to square up in what looks like a shot, and he gets away with a LOT. Take away his athleticism and his striking look rudimentary.

The difference between Conor's striking and Mendes is that Conor has a host of kicks where I have never seen Mendes fire anything but powerless low kicks.

 

[a guy]

He turned into an extremely talented striker?

Your criticism of Conor could literally be the same thing for Mendes--- all Mendes has is uppercuts from both hands and an overhand right. The rest of his striking is all winging, long winded hooks and jabs that he brings down and fires back up. Mendes has a ridiculous amount of speed and he likes to square up in what looks like a shot, and he gets away with a LOT. Take away his athleticism and his striking look rudimentary.

The difference between Conor's striking and Mendes is that Conor has a host of kicks where I have never seen Mendes fire anything but powerless low kicks.

That's way too harsh on Mendes. He has a nice left hook, a murderous overhand right, and strong leg kicks. But what I really appreciate about him is his timing and sense of distance. Nobody has ever put hands on Aldo like he did, he's the first guy to ever knock out Guida and he went on a nice streak of clean knockouts that all involved him timing shots, getting inside and countering. He's a dangerous counter striker now, and is at worst in the top 5 strikers of the division (Aldo, McGregor and Cub being the only guys who I think it can be argued are better).

 

[Jukai]

That's way too harsh on Mendes. He has a nice left hook, a murderous overhand right, and strong leg kicks. But what I really appreciate about him is his timing and sense of distance. Nobody has ever put hands on Aldo like he did, he's the first guy to ever knock out Guida and he went on a nice streak of clean knockouts that all involved him timing shots, getting inside and countering. He's a dangerous counter striker now, and is at worst in the top 5 strikers of the division (Aldo, McGregor and Cub being the only guys who I think it can be argued are better).

He put Aldo on his ass because Aldo jumped in with a hook to the body with no setup, and he positioned his head right above Mendes' guard. Mendes has good timing and distance but Cathal Pendred could have landed that uppercut.

Make no mistake, what Mendes did to Aldo was incredible--- but a lot of that is attributed to Mendes incredible speed and strength. Dude is a blur.
Take a look at this: outside of the awesome uppercut, do you consider this winding up, constantly squaring up hooking to be amazing striking?

 

[shpboris]

Connor has a not insignificant 4" reach advantage and I believe he has a slight edge in speed and definitely in foot speed. And the way he fights just on the edge of range I think that will give him an advantage in avoiding Aldos attacks

I also think so - especially the highlighted part.

P.S.
IMO, style-wise Edgar is a worse match up for Connor, than Aldo due to Edgar's speed, pace and wrestling.

 

[PivotPunch]

I agree Aldo is the technically better boxer and all things being equal he'd beat Connor in a boxing match but they are not equal as Connor has a not insignificant 4" reach advantage and I believe he has a slight edge in speed and definitely in foot speed. And the way he fights just on the edge of range I think that will give him an advantage in avoiding Aldos attacks. I think Aldo will catch him early on because he's great at slipping incoming punches and Connor has tendency to lunge a bit but I think Connor will adjust to this, just like he adjusted to Sivers low side kick.
I think Mcgregor has quite an advantage in terms of power though and I think he has a better chin. I can see him getting a little bit flustered if he gets countered early on but I don't see him cracking or falling apart. This is the guy who ripped his ACL mid fight, adjusted and carried on to a dominant victory. I don't see him being phased by much.

Mendes hits hard but he really didn't have much success apart from that shot. Most of the time he was just punching air. It certainly didn't help Chad that he had a 4" reach disadvantage to Aldo. The situation will be reversed if Aldo fights McG. McGregor would land far more regularly than Mendes.

I think the reach and the speed of movement in and out will give Connor the advantage if it turns into a boxing match. And he has shown he has the mettle to take adversity in his stride which he will surely need against Aldo. I don't think Aldo has any advantage in terms of warrior spirit over McG.

You seriously think Connor is faster than Aldo? really? Just ebcause McGregor says that he's faster than anyone else doesn't make it true.

He put Aldo on his ass because Aldo jumped in with a hook to the body with no setup, and he positioned his head right above Mendes' guard. Mendes has good timing and distance but Cathal Pendred could have landed that uppercut.

Make no mistake, what Mendes did to Aldo was incredible--- but a lot of that is attributed to Mendes incredible speed and strength. Dude is a blur.
Take a look at this: outside of the awesome uppercut, do you consider this winding up, constantly squaring up hooking to be amazing striking?

Mendes set the uppercut up by faking a TD he didn't wind up on it Cathla Pendred would ko himself with an uppercut and that would be about the only significant strike he could land. Also it was an uppercut not a hook to the body you can clearly see how Aldo's punch comes up from below



Aldo has a better jab than Mcgregor but aaginst a southpaw it will be different same the the left hook not every fighter can adapt his jab and left hook to make it work against a southpaw.
McGregor has the better straight punch even though Aldo has a good streight but Connor has better timing on it and is incredibly accurate.
Aldo ahs better headmovement than Connor.
McGregor has better timing and beside his bigegr reach he is simply better at controlling range.
McGregor is better at using angles Aldo attacks in straight lines.

Who has more power is hard to say I don't get why everyone says that McGregor punches so much harder than Aldo. Who has Connor fought? The best fighter was Siver who's notorious for getting stopped with strikes. he hits hard but it's too early to say he hits harder than Aldo.
And simply no way he's faster than Aldo he just isn't Siver is a slow fighter especially at FW.
McGregor's side on stance will be a bit tough against Aldo's kicks especially against front/lead legkicks.
Aldo's slows down in fights and against Mcgregor with his power accuracy and boxing it can be dangerous.
Mcgregor is the first true sandup fighter on his level Aldo ahs fought. mendes only recently discovered his boxing and Hominick beside not having great power is good but just not that good.
McGregor has an amateur boxing background and you can see it his striking and especially boxing is much more fluid than anyone else's in the FW division and he stays calm even when under fire which Mendes couldn't.
The toughest part will be to deal with the leg kicks.
Also who is the last southpaw Aldo has fought?
But Aldo is 3 levels above Siver and McGregor hasn't fought anyone with that speed and I'm really sure Aldo is even faster than him, anyone with that power and anyone on that level or that striking we don't even know how hard McGregor really hits because brandao, Poirier and Siver have all shaky chins and leaky defence and Siver took a lot of punches until he was stopped for good

 

[a guy]

He put Aldo on his ass because Aldo jumped in with a hook to the body with no setup, and he positioned his head right above Mendes' guard. Mendes has good timing and distance but Cathal Pendred could have landed that uppercut.

Make no mistake, what Mendes did to Aldo was incredible--- but a lot of that is attributed to Mendes incredible speed and strength. Dude is a blur.
Take a look at this: outside of the awesome uppercut, do you consider this winding up, constantly squaring up hooking to be amazing striking?

That was an uppercut though. And most guys either would have run from that uppercut or ducked into it. Very few would stay in range and fire back such a short, precise counter. And very few can slip a jab then counter with an uppercut. Especially Aldo's jab.

I think that hook is pretty well executed. Aldo pivots away while jabbing, so Mendes slips and switches stances to change directions, steps his right foot out and cracks him with it. I absolutely appreciate the defense and footwork going on there.

Mendes is definitely flawed, but his improvement is amazing and he's very talented. Again, he went from a pure wrestler to one of the top 5 (at the absolute worst) strikers in his division. Possibly top 3.

 

[a guy]

You seriously think Connor is faster than Aldo? really? Just ebcause McGregor says that he's faster than anyone else doesn't make it true.



Mendes set the uppercut up by faking a TDhe didn't wind up on it.

I'm really sick of everyone repeating this. He slipped a jab to set that uppercut up. He was in literally perfect position to counter when that jab went over his left shoulder, but then he kept going down another foot. He took so long to throw it that Aldo had time to think it was a takedown, process that it wasn't and try to pull back. That's why his head moves so far back and he didn't go down. He rode it and took a lot of the heat off, plus he had great posture. Mendes definitely wound up on that uppercut, and he threw it with pretty bad mechanics (straight legs, exaggerated arc, weight off the right leg).

Aldo has a better jab than Mcgregor but aaginst a southpaw it will be different same the the left hook not every fighter can adapt his jab and left hook to make it work against a southpaw.
McGregor has the better straight punch even though Aldo has a good streight but Connor has better timing on it and is incredibly accurate.
Aldo ahs better headmovement than Connor.
McGregor has better timing and beside his bigegr reach he is simply better at controlling range.
McGregor is better at using angles Aldo attacks in straight lines.

McGregor attacks on straight lines, and defends on them a good amount of the time. Aldo defends on angles much better. The only time McGregor used angles on the same level as Aldo was when he stopped Brimage.

 

[devante]

mendes improved alot; but his lack of activity footwork and mgmt of distance are areas he is not strong in, as offensively gifted as he is in range of tech and physical ability. He doesn't have the cage i.q. or balance in overall striking skillset to be def responsible when purely defending or being def responsible when attacking.

mendes had a hard time consistently getting into range and staying in range, esp doing so w/out getting lit the f*ck up on the way in and out; conor has greater range..he can do work from farther out. He is much better at entering and exiting, WITHOUT getting pasted; aldo can land on conor..can counter conor. But he is going to have to work to do so and one thing we haven't seen him deal w/is trying to attack or counter a guy who is gonna make him work to land, make him work to find the opening.

 

[devante]

that being said conor will finally be dealing w/a guy who has the tools to take adv of that stance and that approach.. not to mention aldo is by far the most dynamic and diverse striker that conor has deal w/in the ufc, he also has a chin/temperament that SHOULDNT allow for him to be bullied..easily backed up or controlled w/power..abuse.

not to mention aldo has excellent footwork, counters and angles; he won't be easy to push back..corral or overwhelm w/offense.

 

[Jukai]

Mendes set the uppercut up by faking a TD he didn't wind up on it Cathla Pendred would ko himself with an uppercut and that would be about the only significant strike he could land. Also it was an uppercut not a hook to the body you can clearly see how Aldo's punch comes up from below

He did not set up that by faking a TD. He leaned his elbow to the left to block the body shot. Is that what made you think he went for the TD?

And fair point about Pendred. But my point still stands that Aldo put himself in a particuarly dangerous spot--- he 'shovel hooked' (happy?) a shot to Mendes stomach, putting his head directly under Mendes' guard, and then moved backwards. If you do that to a guy with the speed of Mendes, you're giving him the shot. Nothing about distance there.

That was an uppercut though. And most guys either would have run from that uppercut or ducked into it. Very few would stay in range and fire back such a short, precise counter.

That is Mendes style. He covers or slips and counters, rather than uses his movement. And it gave Aldo fits--- which may be a bad sign for Conor. But that is out of the scope of the conversation.

I think that hook is pretty well executed. Aldo pivots away while jabbing, so Mendes slips and switches stances to change directions, steps his right foot out and cracks him with it. I absolutely appreciate the defense and footwork going on there.

Mendes is definitely flawed, but his improvement is amazing and he's very talented. Again, he went from a pure wrestler to one of the top 5 (at the absolute worst) strikers in his division. Possibly top 3..

I appreciate it too, but again, we're nitpicking in the same way you nitpicked Conor. Aldo was either dazed by the hook or just wanted to reset, because after Aldo pivoted and jabbed, there is a whole half second where Mendes is out of position (in that wide, crooked southpaw stance) and Aldo is looking straight forward at him. Instead, Aldo keeps backing up and gives Mendes time to step forward with that hook... It's the same Kyokushin inspired stance switching that Bang loves to teach, but unlike Dillashaw, Mendes tends to pause and keeps his head straight out and doesn't angle off at all, just follows his opponent.
Now, it's still super effective and a lot of that does have to do with good positioning and timing... but it also has to do with speed and the threat of a takedown when he is shooting off that opposite leg.

 

[a guy]

He did not set up that by faking a TD. He leaned his elbow to the left to block the body shot. Is that what made you think he went for the TD?

And fair point about Pendred. But my point still stands that Aldo put himself in a particuarly dangerous spot--- he 'shovel hooked' (happy?) a shot to Mendes stomach, putting his head directly under Mendes' guard, and then moved backwards. If you do that to a guy with the speed of Mendes, you're giving him the shot. Nothing about distance there.


That is Mendes style. He covers or slips and counters, rather than uses his movement. And it gave Aldo fits--- which may be a bad sign for Conor. But that is out of the scope of the conversation.



I appreciate it too, but again, we're nitpicking in the same way you nitpicked Conor. Aldo was either dazed by the hook or just wanted to reset, because after Aldo pivoted and jabbed, there is a whole half second where Mendes is out of position (in that wide, crooked southpaw stance) and Aldo is looking straight forward at him. Instead, Aldo keeps backing up and gives Mendes time to step forward with that hook... It's the same Kyokushin inspired stance switching that Bang loves to teach, but unlike Dillashaw, Mendes tends to pause and keeps his head straight out and doesn't angle off at all, just follows his opponent.
Now, it's still super effective and a lot of that does have to do with good positioning and timing... but it also has to do with speed and the threat of a takedown when he is shooting off that opposite leg.

Yes I nitpicked Conor, but never did I say he wasn't an extremely talented striker as well. Both guys are flawed and also very, very good. You could say that McGregor wouldn't be as good without his reach and power just like you could say Mendes wouldn't be as good without his speed and athleticism.

 

[Jukai]

Yes I nitpicked Conor, but never did I say he wasn't an extremely talented striker as well. Both guys are flawed and also very, very good. You could say that McGregor wouldn't be as good without his reach and power just like you could say Mendes wouldn't be as good without his speed and athleticism.

True, but I think if you take away Conor's reach and power, and take away Mendes speed and takedown threat, Conor is still the better boxer

Mendes is ridiculous, and you are right that he is a top-5 striker. I just think the criticism against Conor here isn't fair, in my mind at least. I want to respond to the fact that Conor only has a straight left and only moves straight, but I don't have energy right now and I will do that later. I will say that if you watch Brimage and a bit of Poirer, you will see that isn't true, but if his opponents keep getting smashed in the face with the straight left and move straight back, why do anything else?

 

[PivotPunch]

I'm really sick of everyone repeating this. He slipped a jab to set that uppercut up. He was in literally perfect position to counter when that jab went over his left shoulder, but then he kept going down another foot. He took so long to throw it that Aldo had time to think it was a takedown, process that it wasn't and try to pull back. That's why his head moves so far back and he didn't go down. He rode it and took a lot of the heat off, plus he had great posture. Mendes definitely wound up on that uppercut, and he threw it with pretty bad mechanics (straight legs, exaggerated arc, weight off the right leg).





McGregor attacks on straight lines, and defends on them a good amount of the time. Aldo defends on angles much better. The only time McGregor used angles on the same level as Aldo was when he stopped Brimage.

Mendes straightened the legs as he punched not while he threw the punch it was bad mechanics in that it made him vulnerable defensively had Aldo countered not in the way that it took power off the punch power he made defensive mistakes not power wise the uppercut had 100% power behind it.
Aldo threw his upperbody forward while he jabbed which means it's liekly that he was trying to sprawl on the non existent TD he pulled back which took some power off it but before that he still ducked a bit in the uppercut it was still a super hard punch.

McGregor attacks in straight lines when he fights totally overmatched opponents and decides to come forward but McGregor is at his bst as a counterpuncher and when he does that he uses angles not only did he do it vs Brimage but also in that fight with that guf everyone keeps posting where he threw that left straight counter agaisnt a sloppy overhand his opponent wasn't high level and he threw a super sloppy punch but Mcgregor still took an angle and he did it in many other fights as well.
Both guys when aggressive attack in straight lines hte idfference that Mcgregor is at his best offensively when he counters which blends both offense and defense together.
Aldo does counter well but differently and doesn't change as fluidly between offense and defense he either stands his ground and counter while using headmovement and/or a little bit of distance or he moves his head and takes an angle to egt away btu when he does that he doesn't punch back he doesn't use angles offensively