Could the secret to out-striking McGregor be simply walking him down?

[Area809]

I know it sounds ridiculously easy, and I understand that it definitely isn't, but I genuinely think fighters give way too much respect to Conor's hands. We've not seen one fighter tuck the chin and walk him down, take away his range, throw hooks in close and try to nail him.

Nate has underrated power, but he's not exactly a power puncher, he throws arm punches a lot of the time, he's a true volume puncher. Chad Mendes did try to implement this plan a bit in their fight but his stamina just couldn't hold up and he was considerably shorter than Conor, very tough to get in close with those T-Rex arms.

I know it was a boxing ring and I understand that the gloves are smaller in terms of your ability to guard, but I think Floyd showed a blueprint of how to get to him in boxing exchanges.

I agree with Conor, he's very tough to beat at range, and that really is his method of victory most times.

I would love to see someone go full Paulo Costa on him and just walk him down with true power shots, smother his shots and get in tight. Would be fascinating to see how he would react to that gameplan.

Nate did that already. Conor reacted by turning his back to run—oops I meant to say “reset”.

 

[chinarice]

I don’t think any other LW in the division could take those punches. Eddie couldn’t..

Tony is the only other LW I can think of... He would get dropped too but his recovery time is excellent and his ground game is top notch that it is hard to pursue him with success even if you knock him down.

 

[Airdack]

The problem with swarming is that Conor still has great movement. And he can throw a good uppercut.

Yea idk where people are getting this notion that no one has stormed him. He just uses footwork, angles, and slick counters to negate it. He koed aldo off the back foot, who has never been hurt, let alone knocked out.

 

[Nightmaree]

Didnt Marcus Brimage try the pressure style? Didnt end well for him though

 

[markg171]

You can't point me to one example where Conor does well when someone smothers him with a high guard. Floyd and Nate are two solid examples where you cover your chin with a high guard and get in close, take the extension and power off his straight punches, Conor loves a straight he doesn't even really throw that many hooks.

 

[ocfightfan]

Walking forward and letting Conor tee off on you is not a good plan. Most guys don't have the deflection skills or the boxing rules to hide behind to play Floyd.

 

[Human Bass]

Who do you think I'm referencing? Khabib? Because I'm not.

I think he always finds success countering in open space, look at Aldo, Poirier, Alvarez, Mendes etc. he never knocks these guys out as they have him on the cage backed up for example.

I think you're misconstruing my angle here. I'm talking about a ultra aggressive Paulo Costa type of approach.

Paulo Costa got his face mangled against a much inferior puncher on Uriah Hall.

 

[SherdogJoe]

Walk him down. Just like Eddie and Jose!

 

[C0NCH3TO]

not with 4oz gloves

 

[markg171]

The real reason why this game plan sucks is because Conor walks his opponents down and puts them on the back foot with his superior accuracy and power, and is precisely waiting for them to try and come forward to stop his pressure, which only helps his accuracy and power.

It's one of the biggest things people don't seem to notice when they're considering a second Holloway fight. They'll pretend Holloway lost simply because he was young and not because he couldn't get off his back foot as Conor cracked him every time he tried. Which is the same issue he has in the rematch as Conor hasn't gotten any less accurate or powerful.

 

[CPH]

Walking him down is a great idea, but your defense has to be on point.

Somewhat related to this: in the second fight, Nate realised that Conor does not deal well with the high guard. I think that this is because a) he likes to throw down the pipe and b) he likes to keep opponents at the end of his punching range, isn't all that comfortable getting in close



Note that this gif shows a sequence that took place EARLY in the 3rd round, and already, you see Conor standing flat-footed, throwing much slower, with less power, and likely even more weary of stepping in, falling into the clinch and possibly getting taken down.

Conor commented on Diaz' high guard himself after the fight, and again mentioned being frustrated by Mayweather's high guard, stating that "We weren't expecting that."

But of course, the high guard will not protect you if you allow Conor to step in and hook around it, as he did vs Poirier:

 

[TriangleMonkey]

Nate walked him down with his face eating shots, tired him out and won, I see your point.

 

[ArtOfDrowning]

Getting the ring cut off by a diaz brother is not a sign of good footwork and i love the diaz bros

Of course. Diaz are terrible at it. Just speaks how bad Conor footwork actually is. He is great when moving foward. When someone backs him up against the cage he has to run. Bad sign since Khabib will come forward and not give a fuch about Conor's punches.

 

[ArtOfDrowning]

Where are these posts about his footwork? I am not seeing them.

Seriously? Read threads about him, people are yapping like he has some amazing footwork. He actually doesn't.

 

[YellowBanenoo]

Floyd did something very basic in there, I literally just rewatched the fight.

He's obviously a great fighter, but Floyd didn't outclass Conor necessarily, he made it his mission to get a stoppage and knew that he needed to fight that style. I think a half decent power puncher could take that approach and with some element of being able to cut a cage off, would have success with this approach.

It requires superior footwork and a sense of distance to employ such strategy while getting away from sharp straight from Conor. Do you think Conor is some sort of retard to just let some random joe to walk him down? lol

 

[SourPatchKid]

if you’re a striker you gotta fight like TJ to beat Conor. Fast footwork, switch stances, chin tucked/shoulders high/hands up


If you’re gonna walk him down like Nate you gotta rope a dope first to get him tired

 

[ArtOfDrowning]

Walking him down is a great idea, but your defense has to be on point.

Somewhat related to this: in the second fight, Nate realised that Conor does not deal well with the high guard. I think that this is because a) he likes to throw down the pipe and b) he likes to keep opponents at the end of his punching range, isn't all that comfortable getting in close



Note that this gif shows a sequence that took place EARLY in the 3rd round, and already, you see Conor standing flat-footed, throwing much slower, with less power, and likely even more weary of stepping in, falling into the clinch and possibly getting taken down.

Conor commented on Diaz' high guard himself after the fight, and again mentioned being frustrated by Mayweather's high guard, stating that "We weren't expecting that."

But of course, the high guard will not protect you if you allow Conor to step in and hook around it, as he did vs Poirier:

Nate is very slow. Conor had time to throw something back at him. Nate gave him problem with high guard and Khabib is actually very good at it as well. Khabib is much faster than Nate and more athletic.

Conor is amazing when moving forward or when you run at him with your chin up in the air. When you slowly drown him and back him up against the cage then it's a different story. Much like Pettis.

 

[Deleted member 549255]

It’s more complicated than that...Conor is a great striker

 

[YellowBanenoo]

People talking how Conor has amazing footwork. Not true

He looked very flatfooted against both Nate and Eddie. His counter are fast but if you walk through them he is there to be cornered. He had to literally turn his back away and run from Nate because all Nate did was push him to the fence. Eddie was just running with his chin up in the air.

If Khabib pressures Conor in a smart way he can definitely Conor him. People act like Conor has Dominick Cruz or TJ footwork but it's simply not true. Go watch his fights.

Da fuck?

The very reason why Conor is so successful as a offensive counter striker is because of his footwork lol

He makes subtle footwork, sliding in and out every time his opponents engages while getting just out of the his opponents punching range . I think you have this weird idea that being mobile indicates good footwork and not other way around. It's not necessarily about how busy you are with the footwork. It's about the obtaining an optimal efficiency while maintaining effectiveness that is imperative.

 

[ArtOfDrowning]

Da fuck?

The very reason why Conor is so successful as a offensive counter striker is because of his footwork lol

He makes subtle footwork, sliding in and out every time his opponents engages and getting just out of the range of his opponents. It's not about how busy you are with the footwork. It's about the obtaining an efficiency while being effective.

Like he was sliding in and out against Nate? He looks slow as fuck in both fights.
Yeah, he does that subtle footwork...when he has the size advantage that gives him the chance to dictate the range in that way. See how he was overreacting to Nate's feints in their fights. He knew that Nate can reach him. And he used not footwork but movement from the hip to duck and avoid punches which means spending a lot of energy. Conor is not light on his feet when he is pressured. He slows down a lot.

Yes, he can finish Khabib but he has around 2 or 3 minutes. After that he is done.