Do you think you have a clear sense of how good Conor McGregor really is?

[Dream20]

He's had a bunch of fights in the UFC now and I still don't know if he is the GOAT, great, good or average (Is the grappling question 100% answered?)

For almost all other fighters, with that many fights in the UFC, you kind of know where they stand. But for Conor I'm still on the fence. How about you?

 

[chitoortiz]

Mendes laid the groundwork to beat Conor.

I'm curious to see how Conor fairs when a fighter follows that game plan, (but maybe more cardio than Chad had to offer).

That said, if RDA stands with Conor, he's going to sleep.

 

[Mifojei]

No, I don't. His striking is obviously top-notch but I need to see how he fares in the other areas as well. He looked decent vs Holloway, but not too good off his back vs Mendes. I believe RDA beats him (if he sticks to a proper gameplan and leaves his ego at the door), but I hope Conor can pull it off just to see how far he can go, since it is a very interesting situation

 

[Pterodactyl]

I agree with you. I know he is very good, but how good is still a question to me.

 

[mmafan559]

The Mendes fight showed us more than the Aldo fight.

 

[B-Man]

He's still pretty untested. His striking is obviously superb and I think he's ahead of the curve in a lot of his training methods. However, how he copes with wrestlers is still a question mark.

 

[The Hound]

No, no idea.

I say this because in the Mendes fight he was very stationary and was taking shots in order to land his own, because he had an injured ACL. That also plays a factor when it comes to hip escapes, attacking from your guard and especially in stopping takedowns.

In the Aldo fight he looked much more elusive and fluid than he has ever looked, but unfortunately that fight didn't last long enough for us to find out how good he really is.

 

[Deleted member 479811]

Interestingly I think thats part of why he wins. Fighting long term is a chess game based on information -- when you finish all your fights in the first you avoid showing people everything in your toolkit.

We have a sense that he's KTFO several very good fighters, with some question marks over his wins, and honestly thats probably a best case scenario for him.

 

[The Hound]

The best fights to watch to gauge Conor's true skill are Brimage, Brandao and Siver. Unfortunately all these fights are against much lesser opponents.

The rest either he was injured(Mendes, Holloway) or ended weird and quick (Porier, Aldo)

Like someone said, this is honestly a plus for Conor, because it makes him even harder to prepare for.

 

[Jack V Savage]

No.

 

[Quinton Fields]

Chael beat the shit out of anderson for 5 rounds via wrestling & he still has a plausible claim to GOAT.

 

[JMG1134]

I don't know. He might be every bit as good as he says he is, and as good as many on this site believe he is. But, I think back to the hype around Johnny Hendricks, when he was knocking everyone out. Look at him now. Will Conor suffer the same fate? I don't know, but it's certainly possible. If he really IS that good, I hope we get to see him continue knocking people out the way he has. I'd really like to see a longer fight though, just to see how he copes with adversity against a top tier opponent. I take no credit away from him for his wins, but some of those fights could very well have gone a different way.

 

[Bad Karate]

I don't believe we understand at all how good Conor is ... reminds me of the beginning of Jon Jones' epic title run.

 

[IMSAYIN]

TBH... I know he is elite. I don't think he's anywhere near GOAT conversation. He's a one-time UFC champion. While capturing the LW belt would be a massive accomplishment. He would then be a two weight, one-time UFC champion. I'm totally old school in the belief that you aren't a true champion until you defend.

That said... This next fight should give me a better sense of how good he really is. Lose for instance, and he's not ever entering the GOAT convo. Win, and he will solidify the run he's on. Then if he could defend those two belts he's in GOAT convo.

 

[ncboy]

Definitely has a great chin, good movement and big left. His grappling and takedown defense are huge question marks.

As is his response to being pressured, falling behind, handling a 5 round fight, if his power translates to higher divisions, how he handles bigger opponents...

 

[DaffodilMcWoozy]

Mendes laid the groundwork to beat Conor.

I'm curious to see how Conor fairs when a fighter follows that game plan, (but maybe more cardio than Chad had to offer).

That said, if RDA stands with Conor, he's going to sleep.

All that showed me is Conor has heart for days

 

[Henghist]

From what I've seen I'd rate him:

Striking *****
Wrestling ***
BJJ ***

 

[helltoupee]

The days of one-dimensional fighters being dominant are over. If Conor has developed a ground game or good TDD he will continue to be successful. If not, he will be exposed soon enough. There are just too many variables involved in mma for a striking only combatant to dominate for any length of time.

 

[christer]

I think he will be better at 155 than 145. Not speaking better relative to the divisions - I think Conors body will work even better fighting in the 155 division.

What we do know is that he punches very hard, has good timing, kicks. Seems like he can take a punch because he has taken a few decent ones. He did not seem discouraged after a bit of adversity against Mendes.

Fighting RDA seems like hell though, so we will see. I have no idea who wins. I don't think the people whose prediction right now will end up becoming reality really knows either. One can make edjucated guesses, especially when looking at odds and analyzing fights more in depth than what I've done. No way to be sure yet who wins.

 

[ncboy]

I don't believe we understand at all how good Conor is ... reminds me of the beginning of Jon Jones' epic title run.

nope. we knew how well rounded and athletic jones was before his run. Lot of questions about Conor. He's still been kept away from bad match-ups. We should know a lot more by the end of the year.