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As you watch the fight immediately one of the first things you will notice was that Conor was as light as a feather on his feet.
This was not the same "Conor" who fought Mendes..or Nate.
What we saw against Aldo was a return to true form for Conor. "The real Conor" i.e the movement/angles/High IQ/adjustments/countering. This breakdown will showcase all of that: )
All the adjectives above is what Conor has truly been about for 98% of his career (Its Conor described down to a tee in just those 5 words). It was the Mendes and 1st Nate fights that were the rare extreme anomalies
So lets get to it: )
Lets educate. Lets satisfy those who want that deeper understanding of what they were watching...and of course lets do some debuking: )
You might ask but why now?
In recent times, ever since Conor lost one fight via upset, I have seen a growing number of posts trying to go back re-write history and discredit all things Conor, things along the lines of:
"Now the Aldo win means nothing. Aldo only just rushed in too. Aldo was reckless. Conor did nothing. Fluke"
This is why I have decided to do this thread now. Lets debunk all the non sense together: )
*This will be a complete and thorough breakdown of not only the entire fight, not only the KO, but everything - all the boxing techniques utilised, all the benefits of said positions or tactics, and everything in between.
1. Conor opens up with a lead left + a bend at the waist to pre-emptively duck any return fire. Aldo's attempted left hook counter misses
"A shoot and duck"
Great boxing+defensive responsibilty by Conor.
A smart fighter is always aware that there will be return fire when coming forward or when leading, or just when throwing in general. By ducking after the lead left, Conor pre-emptively avoids any return fire that could come his way.
Conor is very defensively responsible/defensively savvy.
Conor will also use shoulder rolls, head control and stiff arms to stiffle return fire, which we can see in many other of his fights. Not to go too off topic but thats why Conor has the best most complete defensive skill set in MMA. Robbie Lawlor suprisingly also has the IQ to use stiff arms to stiffle return fire. Robbie will lean back behind lead shoulder and counter. Lawlor has under rated defense and great awareness of feet positioning/outside angle, but he simply lacks the other defensive skills that Conor has. Domick Cruz is probably second to Conor in defensive skill set. While Cruz has great slips and pre-emptive ducks too, Cruz really doesnt have the shoulder rolls and or stiff arms or lead hand game. Cruz may get hit less (takes much fewer risks) but Conor remains the MMA fighter with the most defensive tools/skills in his arsenal.
Anyway, now lets pay closer attention to how it started.
Here you can see Conor's lead foot outside of Aldo's lead foot. Conor stepped his lead foot to the outside.This is attaining the outside angle.
When a fighter steps to the outside angle, not only does it line up his power rear hand perfectly with his opponents head, the fighter is now off the center line in a safer position defensively. Outside of his opponents lead shoulder
The outside angle is typically a superior position. Its an offensive measure that is a built in defensive safe guard.
(However when we get further into the fight we will be talking about the inside angle)
Conor is a mastermind high IQ tactician who will make use of the inside angle, and still beat outside-positioning with superior IQ)
Its often said superior feet positioning always wins...and thats very true...but even more then that, superior IQ and superior tactics always win. We will get into it soon: )
Now lets talk about HOW after Conor had stepped his lead foot to the outside, had an outside angle, how he shot the lead left to what looked like the inside of Aldo's shoulder.
In the post fight interview Aldo said it hit him in the chest so it def did hit Aldo in the chest.
But this was actually a smart move by Conor.
We get an idea of why in Aldo's aforementioned post fight interview "It threw me off balance and I didnt know what to start expecting" - something along those lines
Now if you go back and watch the gif. Pay attention to Aldo now
- What was simultaneously going on on Aldo's end was that Aldo was looking to slip to the outside while simultaneously shooting a left hook counter
(See, Aldo WAS prepared for Conor's lefts)
-This is another reason why Conor's left lead to Aldo's inside shoulder was actually quite brilliant. It disrupted Aldo's left hook.
-Also because Conor had taken a defensive pre-measure to duck after leading, Aldo's left hook misses as covered before.
Great defense and boxing by Conor
Conor wins the very first boxing exchange of the fight...And it had nothing to do with Aldo "doing anything wrong"
We went over what Aldo was trying to do. It was actually smart. From the opening bell you can see Aldo calm and prepared for the left. Its just that Conor was far smarter, and had far superior skill and superior everything. We will start to get into all of that soon.
The next moment that occurs is this
2. Conor shows his lead hand then side kicks to Aldo's thigh
This is to re-establish range, keep control of tempo etc. Its like the same benefits of a jab but with more range
Another interesting thing is that Conor's teammate on the mma hour said that kicking to Aldo's lead leg was going to be a big part of the gameplan (IF Aldo had had the skills to last longer with Conor)
The plan was to utilise kicks to the lead leg to pre-emptively prevent Aldo from leg kicking. While also by continuing to kick Aldo back (every time Aldo stepped in) it would make Aldo feel more and more desperate to close distance...and right into a counter.
It was all the little things Conor was doing that lead Aldo into that final exchange. Nothing more telling of that then this moment:
3. Pay close attention to this one. Even though it appears nothing is happening. A lot is actually going on.
-Conor probes lead hand and they almost touch lead hands
-Conor bounces back out of range
-Conor back in range bouncing in place
-Conor probes lead hand again, and again they almost touch lead hands
-Conor bounces back out of range
(the trap has been set which we will get into in a bit)
-As soon as Conor bounces back in range Aldo steps his foot to the outside of Conor's lead foot, this is where the gif ends, as Aldo steps to the outside, it repeats after that, the final exchange starts from there.
-Its like tap/probe....bounce....bounce...tap/probe....bounce...all in rhythm..
Conor often fights in broken rhythm and varrying speeds to completely disrupt his opponents ability to time him
So why was this time different?
We must look to what Conor said about Aldo pre-fight to see how Conor adjusted accordingly
Conor said Aldo is a very predictable pattern based fighter like Mendes. That Aldo and Mendes are both the same. Explosive fighters who explode at the same speed, the same time - every time in the same rhythm
This is the mastermind IQ of Conor
Breaking down Aldo's game beforehand and setting him up
-Conor knew Aldo explodes same speed every time in intervals. This is why Conor taps, bounces, then taps, bounces etc.
Conor is literally using tempo to bait Aldo in, prepare and anticipate.
Watch it again and again. How Conor is probing and bounching in rhythm in intervals. It couldnt be any more obvious. Using an "Aldo" to draw Aldo in. Aldo goes on que and on rhythm just like Conor was expecting...and how Conor dictated, and waited in anticpation for. This is also why Conor was also able to react so quickly to it...already knew..
Conor is like the MMA version of Floyd. You blink and Conor is reacting. Conor's mental speeds and reaction speeds are otherwordly
This along with the side kick to the thigh dictated Aldo into that final exchange. Again credit to Conor.
Now lets look at the final nail in the coffin itself....
Everyone has seen the KO. Use a mental picture as I break it down piece by piece. I will post the gif of it when its time to look at Conor's feet adjustments/positioning.
Conor was dictating, Aldo REACTED TO CONOR, Aldo did nothing wrong with the shot selection in that final exchange
You will notice after Aldo was drawn in to step out and combo, Aldo actually came at Conor with a textbook combo thats known to be very effective vs southpaws
Aldo steps out to the outside angle and fients the right attempting to set up the left hook.
Here is an example of how $ similar combos like that have been vs southpaws
The brilliant video done was done by LeeWylie1 btw. Go check out his channel if you can.
Fient the right to drop the southpaws guard and left hook
Again Aldo did nothing wrong.
Aldo was dictated to BY CONOR but was actually smart to lead with that combo....
As memtioned Aldo had a very dominant outside angle on Conor too
So Aldo did everything he could at that time to ensure good things....and against anyone else that wouldve been a money combo....but yet again, Conor was just much smarter, more skilled, much quicker reaction speeds, much quicker mental speeds, and made all the adjustments quicker to the punch. Conor is too much of a mastermind skillsmen and brilliant high IQ technician
So to summarize...
-Conor after dictating, probing, luring, and anticpating any rush, has made his read and is already reacting a step ahead
(Conor makes the adjustment)
-Conor locked and thinking counter, Conor steps back to his left INSIDE of Aldo to line up his counter and bam...shoots and executes flawlessly.
Thats the brilliant IQ and insane skill level of Conor.
Earlier we talked about how Conor can still make the inside angle work for him. That was it right there.
Conventionally there is a benefit to the inside angle though. You typically want to step in to the inside when jabbing. Lead hand lines up better and gets their quicker as well.
But usually its outside angle>>>inside angle
Its only been the all time special fighters who have been able to use the inside angle very effectively.
Against Holloway, Conor was even actually GIVING up the inside angle AS BAIT to lure in and create countering oppurtunities. People still have no clue just how insanely slick and skilled Conor is. Conor will take whats conventional wisdom and use it to set a fighter up without them knowing it...then its murder she wrote all on their ass via Conor's superior IQ
Despite Aldo having what conventional wisdom states is superior positioning - the outside angle, Conor already anticipating after dictating - makes his read, adjusts his feet, steps back at an angle inside of Aldo and lines up his counter kill.
Mind you Conor actually PREDICTED the exchange the exact way it happened
"Aldo will over extend and I will counter him in the first exchange"
I mean...just wow....
Insane level of boxing skill, fight IQ, adjustment ability and countering ability demonstrated by Conor all in all.
Now here it is to really see it all in action. Read the breakdown above as you watch
But now pay closer attention to Conor's feet. Just look how Conor stays balanced in his stance and feet movement threw out.
Perfect balance. Feet planted ready to counter. Strong base.
Conor just kind of "glides" back in toward his left at an angle and into the position to line up the counter. Smooth movement+punch mechanics. Just drops that left with no wind up on the button buttery smooth
Absolute perfection by Conor. Conor's feet movements in unison with his body and mind are graceful. Conor is like poetry in motion
That was the real Conor against Aldo. The same Conor who also schooled Bunchinger, Brimmage, Brandao, Holloway etc. Thats the real Conor thats going to tool Nate in the rematch
Anyway, hopefully this thread has educated. Hopefully this has shed the proper light.
It wasnt Aldo rushing in "recklessly"
This was Conor being the far superiorly more skillled, more intelligent tactician with the superior quicker reads and adjustments
We can see how Conor knew Aldo's game better then Aldo himself did, how Conor qas dictating the whole fight, how Conor out anticipates, out smarts, out skills, adjusts to anything Aldo has, and just completely counter fucks Aldo into bolivia while making it look easy. Pure skill by Conor. Pure out classing by Conor. One of the slickest counter KOs in MMA history.
IF Aldo had stood back, that exchange wouldve simply just happened later on. Conor KNEW all of Aldo's flaws (over reacting to fients, over extending in boxing exchanges) Conor was always going to be able to easily manipulate Aldo and set up easy countering oppurtunites. With Conor's slick boxing skill, high IQ, slick countering skill Conor is always going to be able to ruthlessly counter the fuck out of Aldo in boxing exchanges. Conor is Aldo's worst nightmare brought to life in skill/style/IQ
IF Aldo had also managed to survive that KD then it wouldve been Ronda vs Holm. wouldv been Ronda vs Holm
Conor simply schooled via pure skill and IQ...Conor was so overwhelmingly more skilled then Aldo that Aldo couldnt last more then 13 seconds. The only shot Aldo ever had was grappling. Yes Nate upset a heavy Conor fighting uncharacteristically unlike himself at a higher weight. But it takes nothing away from Conor's accomplishments or skills
Cheers. Hope you guys stuck with me on this long read and enjoyed
This was not the same "Conor" who fought Mendes..or Nate.
What we saw against Aldo was a return to true form for Conor. "The real Conor" i.e the movement/angles/High IQ/adjustments/countering. This breakdown will showcase all of that: )
All the adjectives above is what Conor has truly been about for 98% of his career (Its Conor described down to a tee in just those 5 words). It was the Mendes and 1st Nate fights that were the rare extreme anomalies
So lets get to it: )
Lets educate. Lets satisfy those who want that deeper understanding of what they were watching...and of course lets do some debuking: )
You might ask but why now?
In recent times, ever since Conor lost one fight via upset, I have seen a growing number of posts trying to go back re-write history and discredit all things Conor, things along the lines of:
"Now the Aldo win means nothing. Aldo only just rushed in too. Aldo was reckless. Conor did nothing. Fluke"
This is why I have decided to do this thread now. Lets debunk all the non sense together: )
*This will be a complete and thorough breakdown of not only the entire fight, not only the KO, but everything - all the boxing techniques utilised, all the benefits of said positions or tactics, and everything in between.
1. Conor opens up with a lead left + a bend at the waist to pre-emptively duck any return fire. Aldo's attempted left hook counter misses
"A shoot and duck"
Great boxing+defensive responsibilty by Conor.
A smart fighter is always aware that there will be return fire when coming forward or when leading, or just when throwing in general. By ducking after the lead left, Conor pre-emptively avoids any return fire that could come his way.
Conor is very defensively responsible/defensively savvy.
Conor will also use shoulder rolls, head control and stiff arms to stiffle return fire, which we can see in many other of his fights. Not to go too off topic but thats why Conor has the best most complete defensive skill set in MMA. Robbie Lawlor suprisingly also has the IQ to use stiff arms to stiffle return fire. Robbie will lean back behind lead shoulder and counter. Lawlor has under rated defense and great awareness of feet positioning/outside angle, but he simply lacks the other defensive skills that Conor has. Domick Cruz is probably second to Conor in defensive skill set. While Cruz has great slips and pre-emptive ducks too, Cruz really doesnt have the shoulder rolls and or stiff arms or lead hand game. Cruz may get hit less (takes much fewer risks) but Conor remains the MMA fighter with the most defensive tools/skills in his arsenal.
Anyway, now lets pay closer attention to how it started.
Here you can see Conor's lead foot outside of Aldo's lead foot. Conor stepped his lead foot to the outside.This is attaining the outside angle.
When a fighter steps to the outside angle, not only does it line up his power rear hand perfectly with his opponents head, the fighter is now off the center line in a safer position defensively. Outside of his opponents lead shoulder
The outside angle is typically a superior position. Its an offensive measure that is a built in defensive safe guard.
(However when we get further into the fight we will be talking about the inside angle)
Conor is a mastermind high IQ tactician who will make use of the inside angle, and still beat outside-positioning with superior IQ)
Its often said superior feet positioning always wins...and thats very true...but even more then that, superior IQ and superior tactics always win. We will get into it soon: )
Now lets talk about HOW after Conor had stepped his lead foot to the outside, had an outside angle, how he shot the lead left to what looked like the inside of Aldo's shoulder.
In the post fight interview Aldo said it hit him in the chest so it def did hit Aldo in the chest.
But this was actually a smart move by Conor.
We get an idea of why in Aldo's aforementioned post fight interview "It threw me off balance and I didnt know what to start expecting" - something along those lines
Now if you go back and watch the gif. Pay attention to Aldo now
- What was simultaneously going on on Aldo's end was that Aldo was looking to slip to the outside while simultaneously shooting a left hook counter
(See, Aldo WAS prepared for Conor's lefts)
-This is another reason why Conor's left lead to Aldo's inside shoulder was actually quite brilliant. It disrupted Aldo's left hook.
-Also because Conor had taken a defensive pre-measure to duck after leading, Aldo's left hook misses as covered before.
Great defense and boxing by Conor
Conor wins the very first boxing exchange of the fight...And it had nothing to do with Aldo "doing anything wrong"
We went over what Aldo was trying to do. It was actually smart. From the opening bell you can see Aldo calm and prepared for the left. Its just that Conor was far smarter, and had far superior skill and superior everything. We will start to get into all of that soon.
The next moment that occurs is this
2. Conor shows his lead hand then side kicks to Aldo's thigh
This is to re-establish range, keep control of tempo etc. Its like the same benefits of a jab but with more range
Another interesting thing is that Conor's teammate on the mma hour said that kicking to Aldo's lead leg was going to be a big part of the gameplan (IF Aldo had had the skills to last longer with Conor)
The plan was to utilise kicks to the lead leg to pre-emptively prevent Aldo from leg kicking. While also by continuing to kick Aldo back (every time Aldo stepped in) it would make Aldo feel more and more desperate to close distance...and right into a counter.
It was all the little things Conor was doing that lead Aldo into that final exchange. Nothing more telling of that then this moment:
3. Pay close attention to this one. Even though it appears nothing is happening. A lot is actually going on.
-Conor probes lead hand and they almost touch lead hands
-Conor bounces back out of range
-Conor back in range bouncing in place
-Conor probes lead hand again, and again they almost touch lead hands
-Conor bounces back out of range
(the trap has been set which we will get into in a bit)
-As soon as Conor bounces back in range Aldo steps his foot to the outside of Conor's lead foot, this is where the gif ends, as Aldo steps to the outside, it repeats after that, the final exchange starts from there.
-Its like tap/probe....bounce....bounce...tap/probe....bounce...all in rhythm..
Conor often fights in broken rhythm and varrying speeds to completely disrupt his opponents ability to time him
So why was this time different?
We must look to what Conor said about Aldo pre-fight to see how Conor adjusted accordingly
Conor said Aldo is a very predictable pattern based fighter like Mendes. That Aldo and Mendes are both the same. Explosive fighters who explode at the same speed, the same time - every time in the same rhythm
This is the mastermind IQ of Conor
Breaking down Aldo's game beforehand and setting him up
-Conor knew Aldo explodes same speed every time in intervals. This is why Conor taps, bounces, then taps, bounces etc.
Conor is literally using tempo to bait Aldo in, prepare and anticipate.
Watch it again and again. How Conor is probing and bounching in rhythm in intervals. It couldnt be any more obvious. Using an "Aldo" to draw Aldo in. Aldo goes on que and on rhythm just like Conor was expecting...and how Conor dictated, and waited in anticpation for. This is also why Conor was also able to react so quickly to it...already knew..
Conor is like the MMA version of Floyd. You blink and Conor is reacting. Conor's mental speeds and reaction speeds are otherwordly
This along with the side kick to the thigh dictated Aldo into that final exchange. Again credit to Conor.
Now lets look at the final nail in the coffin itself....
Everyone has seen the KO. Use a mental picture as I break it down piece by piece. I will post the gif of it when its time to look at Conor's feet adjustments/positioning.
Conor was dictating, Aldo REACTED TO CONOR, Aldo did nothing wrong with the shot selection in that final exchange
You will notice after Aldo was drawn in to step out and combo, Aldo actually came at Conor with a textbook combo thats known to be very effective vs southpaws
Aldo steps out to the outside angle and fients the right attempting to set up the left hook.
Here is an example of how $ similar combos like that have been vs southpaws
The brilliant video done was done by LeeWylie1 btw. Go check out his channel if you can.
Fient the right to drop the southpaws guard and left hook
Again Aldo did nothing wrong.
Aldo was dictated to BY CONOR but was actually smart to lead with that combo....
As memtioned Aldo had a very dominant outside angle on Conor too
So Aldo did everything he could at that time to ensure good things....and against anyone else that wouldve been a money combo....but yet again, Conor was just much smarter, more skilled, much quicker reaction speeds, much quicker mental speeds, and made all the adjustments quicker to the punch. Conor is too much of a mastermind skillsmen and brilliant high IQ technician
So to summarize...
-Conor after dictating, probing, luring, and anticpating any rush, has made his read and is already reacting a step ahead
(Conor makes the adjustment)
-Conor locked and thinking counter, Conor steps back to his left INSIDE of Aldo to line up his counter and bam...shoots and executes flawlessly.
Thats the brilliant IQ and insane skill level of Conor.
Earlier we talked about how Conor can still make the inside angle work for him. That was it right there.
Conventionally there is a benefit to the inside angle though. You typically want to step in to the inside when jabbing. Lead hand lines up better and gets their quicker as well.
But usually its outside angle>>>inside angle
Its only been the all time special fighters who have been able to use the inside angle very effectively.
Against Holloway, Conor was even actually GIVING up the inside angle AS BAIT to lure in and create countering oppurtunities. People still have no clue just how insanely slick and skilled Conor is. Conor will take whats conventional wisdom and use it to set a fighter up without them knowing it...then its murder she wrote all on their ass via Conor's superior IQ
Despite Aldo having what conventional wisdom states is superior positioning - the outside angle, Conor already anticipating after dictating - makes his read, adjusts his feet, steps back at an angle inside of Aldo and lines up his counter kill.
Mind you Conor actually PREDICTED the exchange the exact way it happened
"Aldo will over extend and I will counter him in the first exchange"
I mean...just wow....
Insane level of boxing skill, fight IQ, adjustment ability and countering ability demonstrated by Conor all in all.
Now here it is to really see it all in action. Read the breakdown above as you watch
But now pay closer attention to Conor's feet. Just look how Conor stays balanced in his stance and feet movement threw out.
Perfect balance. Feet planted ready to counter. Strong base.
Conor just kind of "glides" back in toward his left at an angle and into the position to line up the counter. Smooth movement+punch mechanics. Just drops that left with no wind up on the button buttery smooth
Absolute perfection by Conor. Conor's feet movements in unison with his body and mind are graceful. Conor is like poetry in motion
That was the real Conor against Aldo. The same Conor who also schooled Bunchinger, Brimmage, Brandao, Holloway etc. Thats the real Conor thats going to tool Nate in the rematch
Anyway, hopefully this thread has educated. Hopefully this has shed the proper light.
It wasnt Aldo rushing in "recklessly"
This was Conor being the far superiorly more skillled, more intelligent tactician with the superior quicker reads and adjustments
We can see how Conor knew Aldo's game better then Aldo himself did, how Conor qas dictating the whole fight, how Conor out anticipates, out smarts, out skills, adjusts to anything Aldo has, and just completely counter fucks Aldo into bolivia while making it look easy. Pure skill by Conor. Pure out classing by Conor. One of the slickest counter KOs in MMA history.
IF Aldo had stood back, that exchange wouldve simply just happened later on. Conor KNEW all of Aldo's flaws (over reacting to fients, over extending in boxing exchanges) Conor was always going to be able to easily manipulate Aldo and set up easy countering oppurtunites. With Conor's slick boxing skill, high IQ, slick countering skill Conor is always going to be able to ruthlessly counter the fuck out of Aldo in boxing exchanges. Conor is Aldo's worst nightmare brought to life in skill/style/IQ
IF Aldo had also managed to survive that KD then it wouldve been Ronda vs Holm. wouldv been Ronda vs Holm
Conor simply schooled via pure skill and IQ...Conor was so overwhelmingly more skilled then Aldo that Aldo couldnt last more then 13 seconds. The only shot Aldo ever had was grappling. Yes Nate upset a heavy Conor fighting uncharacteristically unlike himself at a higher weight. But it takes nothing away from Conor's accomplishments or skills
Cheers. Hope you guys stuck with me on this long read and enjoyed
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