Did Conor Ditch His Flashy Strikes?

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superpunch

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I didn't see him throw any spinning kicks and he added leg kicks to his game. His leg kicks are great.

It seems like he moved towards a more traditional style to win the fight. Do you think this is something that we can expect to see from him going forward?
 
In a fight where a huge factor is cardio, flashy strikes are a recipe for disaster.
 
superpunch said:
I didn't see him throw any spinning kicks and he added leg kicks to his game. His leg kicks are great.

It seems like he moved towards a more traditional style to win the fight. Do you think this is something that we can expect to see from him going forward?
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only for nate, those works great against same height or shorter opponents
 
He definitely fought more tactically. He found the weakness, and kept exploiting it until Diaz stopped giving him the leg.
 
Greedy Dana said:
In a fight where a huge factor is cardio, flashy strikes are a recipe for disaster.
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Yeah, this. He was being realllly reserved this fight cause of his cardio issues. If he didn't have cardio problems, we'd probably have seen a lot more spinning shit.
 
those things are smoke and mirrors anyway, only casuals thought they had any use whatsover other than throwing people off a little bit.
 
He was trying to be more "efficient with his energy" and he still gassed badly in a fight where he didn't have to cut weight.

Honestly, when have his flashy strikes ever actually been effective. Everything he does is to setup and disguise the straight left. All the flashy stuff is just a distraction. His striking is all about the left. Give it up to the guy, because he's damn good at it, but Nate has been able to hold his own with Conor standing because he has decent boxing fundamentals and doesn't get distracted by the nonsense. If you can avoid getting KO'd by the left in the first 8 minutes, Conor becomes a very different fighter and both of the Diaz fights have shown that.
 
He threw one spinning kick to the body and Nate caught it. :D

Diaz brothers are pretty terrible at checking leg kicks as well.

I doubt he'd be able to out leg kick Barboza if they end up fighting.
 
He should. Nate is tough as hell, and even he got dropped 3 times in two rounds. Against most people, Conor probably would have gotten a finish.

Especially since his cardio was exposed. It's below average for a guy at his level. He's got to fight smart from now on while also trying to get finishes. He's going to want to avoid having to go 5 rounds as much as possible. A guy like Frankie Edgar who would not get as tired as Nate would would be a bad match-up.
 
In a word: Yes.

Connor can do those flashy strikes and maintain a good pressure/expenditure ratio but even tonight, at about the same time, Connor started gassing out. I think it's just a limitation of carrying that kind of muscle mass on his frame, where everything Connor does early on is like cobra-strike in terms of how quick it is. Make no doubts, he is lightning quick.

You'll notice, that's his A game plan. He wanted that knockout on Diaz BAD. Standing him up even. I just think that Connor doesn't have as good as "I'm tired, shoulders are hanging down, I'm fighting loose" like the Diaz' and it's purely something genetic. The Diaz bros carry a decent amount of body fat and I think that helps in their ATP production fueling that incredible level of endurance.
 
Yeah those spinning kicks he threw in the first fight were such a waste. They look cool but never landed. And it just was a waste of energy.

Replaced that with leg kicks which really helped him.
 
I thought it was interesting Conor didn't throw one kick towards Nate's midsection.

Conor was definitely in counter striking mode most of this fight and put in a lot of energy just to slip and rip Nate. Against smaller guys Conor is confident with, he's free of pressure and is more creative.
 
linvillegorge said:
He was trying to be more "efficient with his energy" and he still gassed badly in a fight where he didn't have to cut weight.

Honestly, when have his flashy strikes ever actually been effective. Everything he does is to setup and disguise the straight left. All the flashy stuff is just a distraction. His striking is all about the left. Give it up to the guy, because he's damn good at it, but Nate has been able to hold his own with Conor standing because he has decent boxing fundamentals and doesn't get distracted by the nonsense. If you can avoid getting KO'd by the left in the first 8 minutes, Conor becomes a very different fighter and both of the Diaz fights have shown that.
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Conor's flashy kicks have been an asset throughout his career. His spinning back kicks really fuck guys up at 145.
 
Thank fuck. This is the McGregor i want to see. He drew the taller / outside fighter in so he kills his own reach advantage and countered him. Much better than trying to leap the distance and pressure Diaz. Functional kicks, nice bodyshots and pinpoint counters. Not winding up on uppercuts every other exchange.

I think this just shows the level of preparation Conor has for his opponents. I think he fought the first fight like he was still going against RDA.
 
What a fight. Great job for Conor.
 
Apollo33 said:
those things are smoke and mirrors anyway, only casuals thought they had any use whatsover other than throwing people off a little bit.
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Stephen Thompson, Lorenz Larkin, Edson Barboza, Anthony Pettis, Lyoto Machida, etc...are all about flashy kicks.
 
linvillegorge said:
He was trying to be more "efficient with his energy" and he still gassed badly in a fight where he didn't have to cut weight.

Honestly, when have his flashy strikes ever actually been effective. Everything he does is to setup and disguise the straight left. All the flashy stuff is just a distraction. His striking is all about the left. Give it up to the guy, because he's damn good at it, but Nate has been able to hold his own with Conor standing because he has decent boxing fundamentals and doesn't get distracted by the nonsense. If you can avoid getting KO'd by the left in the first 8 minutes, Conor becomes a very different fighter and both of the Diaz fights have shown that.
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When Wonderboy or Lyoto Machida use them. Also, they're really good for zapping cardio. Like the Mendes fight demonstrated.
 
ReasonableMMAFan said:
When Wonderboy or Lyoto Machida use them. Also, they're really good for zapping cardio. Like the Mendes fight demonstrated.
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Flashy techniques are effective for those guys because they're better overall strikers. They're not effective for Conor because he's only throwing then as a distraction. Everything he does is meant to setup that straight left.
 
xP said:
Thank fuck. This is the McGregor i want to see. He drew the taller / outside fighter in so he kills his own reach advantage and countered him. Much better than trying to leap the distance and pressure Diaz. Functional kicks, nice bodyshots and pinpoint counters. Not winding up on uppercuts every other exchange.

I think this just shows the level of preparation Conor has for his opponents. I think he fought the first fight like he was still going against RDA.
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Was still waiting to see teeps and front kicks. Thought he would try shutting down Nate's cardio w/ body shots.
 
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