Conor's Besmirching: A Case of Cherrypicking Gone Wrong

[Final Say]

But that’s because you understand the situation correctly; Conor did not. I agree that Poirier is one of the toughest available fighters. But I believe that Conor thought it was a more favorable matchup for him. He was familiar with the the opponent and had stopped Poirier in the 1st last time.

too much armchair psychoanalysis for me. i think the most obvious answer is likely the truth, that conor just took the highest ranked guy available to keep him in contention.

if he took gaethje or ferguson, people wouldve been way more upset and said hes taking guys coming off Ls.

 

[13 others]

How much money did you put on it?

500$

 

[KoreanZawmbie]

it was obvious prior to the fight that dustin was the toughest available fight. obvious.

in fact i wouldve been way, WAY more confident in a conor win over both of those guys. talking about cardio? lol, dustin just had a five round war and took a ton of damage and barely slowed down. his cardio is just as good, i would say even better than justins.

True true, either way...Conor would have had to fight either one of those guys. The only guy he had complete confidence in beating was Poirier, thinking he was the same fighter he knocked out 7 years ago.

 

[BFoe]

too much armchair psychoanalysis for me. i think the most obvious answer is likely the truth, that conor just took the highest ranked guy available to keep him in contention.

if he took gaethje or ferguson, people wouldve been way more upset and said hes taking guys coming off Ls.

That’s fair. But I also think it’s fair to say that Conor has a pattern of doing this—guys with no camps, 50-50 short notice fighters like Nate Diaz, tiny hittable Alvarez for the LW title, shot chinny Cowboy, Poirier for his last fight because he has a win over him already. At some point it’s not just armchair psychoanalysis, it’s a discernible pattern.

 

[Judoka_DR]

For years Conor has cherry-picked fighters who would stand with him while avoiding wrestlers. The exception to this was Khabib, a wrestler, but he had to fight Khabib because he wanted the title shot, and Khabib probably would have held the belt for years if he wanted to.

There's a reason why he chose to fight against Diaz twice. There's a reason why he chose Cerrone as his comback fight. And there's a reason why he chose Poirier this time.

He expected Poirier to stand with him like he did in the first fight. Things started to go wrong when Poirier took him down. Things started to go even more wrong when he hit Poirier with the same shoulder strikes that made Cerrone's spirit wilt like a cut tulip out of water. But Poirier wasn't about to give up from a few shoulder strikes. Conor thought he could outbox everyone in the UFC who would stand with him, but this time he just bit off more than he could chew. He tried to cherrypick, but he ended up starched and besmirched.

The moral of the story, young ones, is that you can only pad your record for so long.

Don’t forget also he and the ufc probably thought that after Dustin and Hooker war dustin chin probably was shot.

 

[Final Say]

That’s fair. But I also think it’s fair to say that Conor has a pattern of doing this—guys with no camps, 50-50 short notice fighters like Nate Diaz, tiny hittable Alvarez for the LW title, shot chinny Cowboy, Poirier for his last fight because he has a win over him already. At some point it’s not just armchair psychoanalysis, it’s a discernible pattern.

also took chad mendes on ten days notice, which even tho chad had no camp was considered a terrible match up at the time, then took the aldo fight again, then wouldve fought any LW champ at the time imo

floyd, khabib? both considered almost unwinnable fights.

i think he gets too much flack. conor has taken the toughest available guys time and again from where im sitting. respect to his career if you ask me

 

[xhaydenx]

Dude he clearly did. He wanted to no part of Gaethje or Ferguson. He chose Poirier because he’s a top ranked LW than Conor beat before and believed he could beat again.

Didn't he actually call out Gathje but Gathje was then in line for a title shot and told him to fuck off?

And why would he fight Ferguson, when he can fight someone like Dustin who is right up there biting for a title shot.

 

[BFoe]

also took chad mendes on ten days notice, which even tho chad had no camp was considered a terrible match up at the time, then took the aldo fight again, then wouldve fought any LW champ at the time imo

floyd, khabib? both considered almost unwinnable fights.

i think he gets too much flack. conor has taken the toughest available guys time and again from where im sitting. respect to his career if you ask me

I respect his featherweight run for sure. He was great at that weight class, no denying that. It’s his fights outside of that weight class that I question. Respect to his career for sure, for a variety of reasons. But anyone who thinks he’s anything more than a great FW is overrating him imo.
That said, there was still some good shit shown from him in the first few minutes of that fight. He’s clearly a very good striker.

 

[NaughtyBoy]

Lol at cherry-picked.

 

[g*r*b]

Things started to go even more wrong when he hit Poirier with the same shoulder strikes that made Cerrone's spirit wilt like a cut tulip out of water.

I am struck by how specific this simile is. Not flowers in general, but a cut tulip...

 

[Eszopiclone]

You're speaking as if Khabib didn't do the same. Khabib cherry picked AN ENTIRE DIVISION, there was no one that could match his wrestling.
"There's no one who can face Khabib" There is at 170 but he's too afraid to risk his record despite cutting so much weight. Best grappler he faced was RDA and he got demolished in 170. The more I think about Khabib's record the more I realize how ridiculous it is