Dominick Cruz is the worst match up for Conor 145 and under

[Toco]

Like it is for everyone else right...?

Also...FW Dom would have even more power.

50 year old faber. but he does have some. SOME

he wouldn't KO connie, that's for sure
but make this fight

 

[Drake]

Dom has no pop. He cant just evade for 5 rounds for a decision while Conor throws bombs. Not a good matchup for Dom, he should never fight 145, much less the 145 champ.

Conor wont be able to throw bombs for five rounds & Dom's power is underrated & he'll be even more powerful at FW(which he's fought at before). His movement would frustrate the hell out of Conor.

 

[Drake]

50 year old faber. but he does have some. SOME

he wouldn't KO connie, that's for sure
but make this fight

Hey, Rivera couldn't even drop him...among many others.

Never know, man. Pretty unlikely but you just never know. Especially if he got Conor tired. People didn't think Bisping could KO Luke or come close to KOing Andy.

 

[Slapchoppin]

Cruz is also really good at using his footwork to get a takedown and he's way ahead of Conor on the ground

 

[Toco]

Hey, Rivera couldn't even drop him...among many others.

Never know, man. Pretty unlikely but you just never know. Especially if he got Conor tired. People didn't think Bisping could KO Luke or come close to KOing Andy.

he probably never goes back to 145, especially if he beats nate

 

[Deleted member 196663]

Conor's most important weapon against "midgets" is his rather telegraphed straight left and even more telegraphed kicks.

It works against stationary targets who stand there and want to trade with Conor, often irritated by his trash talk and mind games.

Cruz would absolutely destroy Conor verbally before the fight and then dance around for a comfortable decision 50-44 win (Conor gets a point deducted after he tries to disqualify himself with kicks to the groin out of sheer frustration).

Conor doesn't have the wrestling to impose his size advantage and his power wouldn't mean anything against someone he can't hit. It would look like Floyd vs Canelo.

I honestly can't see a way Cruz loses this. If much faster 135 fighters can't land on him how could Conor? If Conor tries to walk through punches he'd get knocked down by Dominick's underrated power like Faber was. Dom would probably even be able to take him down at will.

Aldo would be a much worse match up for Cruz because he would leg kick him and use his speed and grappling.

If Conor is fighting midgets at 145, what in the fuck is Cruz fighting against??

 

[Drake]

he probably never goes back to 145, especially if he beats nate

Very true. Even if he doesn't, it's going to be pretty hard to get back down there after not cutting to it in such awhile.

 

[Superzorro]

With the way people say that Conor only thrives because he's fighting smaller opponents, I really don't see how Dom would pull this one off. Cruz would be his smallest opponent to date. And while I do think he clearly won over TJ, it was still tooth and nail, and TJ hit him more times than it would take Conor to put a 145er out.
And I consider Dominick to be one of my favorite fighters ever. I just think he should stay at 135, and not try to get ahead of himself. Stay in his lane. That's the type of mentality that could lead to him getting blindsided by guys like Garbrandt.

 

[Drake]

With the way people say that Conor only thrives because he's fighting smaller opponents, I really don't see how Dom would pull this one off. Cruz would be his smallest opponent to date. And while I do think he clearly won over TJ, it was still tooth and nail, and TJ hit him more times than it would take Conor to put a 145er out.
And I consider Dominick to be one of my favorite fighters ever. I just think he should stay at 135, and not try to get ahead of himself. That's the type of mentality that could lead to him getting blindsided by guys like Garbrandt.

Yes but Conor wouldn't be fighting a Dom who had only fought for 60 seconds in four years.

 

[HelloJapan]

Dom would gas out Conor within a round, just from movement. Never mind being a better MMA fighter.

 

[Hi-Tech]

Conor wont be able to throw bombs for five rounds & Dom's power is underrated & he'll be even more powerful at FW(which he's fought at before). His movement would frustrate the hell out of Conor.

I agree. As I said, in a pure boxing match a guy like Dom wouldn't have a big size disadvantage over Conor. It wouldn't be anything out of the ordinary. People should watch Floyd absolutely toy with Canelo for 12 rounds and the size difference was bigger than that between Dom and Floyd.

In MMA Conor's size should win the fight 90% of the time because of grappling, but in this case it's styles make fights where Dom can probably neutralize Conor's grappling and actually initiate the grappling if he wants.

Dom isn't your ordinary MMA brawler who would get into a brawl with Conor and be there to be hit by some overhands. He would move around constantly. Even if Conor lands a lucky clean bomb Dom probably has the chin to survive it. Conor wouldn't be landing on him constantly like he did against Mendes and Dom for sure isn't walking into a counter punch in a straight line like Aldo did.

 

[Superzorro]

Yes but Conor wouldn't be fighting a Dom who had only fought for 60 seconds in four years.

We don't know how much that played on his in-cage abilities, though. Maybe it would have hardly made a difference for him, maybe it would have been substantial. However, if we're basing this on words that he himself said, ring rust is not a thing.

 

[Drake]

We don't know how much that played on his in-cage abilities, though. Maybe it would have hardly made a difference for him, maybe it would have been substantial. However, if we're basing this on words that he himself said, ring rust is not a thing.

You are correct. Ring rust is just mental weakness as Dom says & has shown. But the facts about that fight build up are that Dom had to start camp as he was still recovering & was unable to do any strength & conditioning & you can see the difference when he did do it for his fight at 199(plus not recovering). Then there was his plantar faschitis & lack of ankle/foot wrap that the Massachusetts athletic commission didn't allow him to wear.

 

[Superzorro]

You are correct. Ring rust is just mental weakness as Dom says & has shown. But the facts about that fight build up are that Dom had to start camp as he was still recovering & was unable to do any strength & conditioning & you can see the difference when he did do it for his fight at 199(plus not recovering). Then there was his plantar faschitis & lack of ankle/foot wrap that the Massachusetts athletic commission didn't allow him to wear.

Wasn't aware of any of those factors, fair points.

 

[deviake]

I would be super stoked to see Cruz fight Conor. The press alone would be entertaining, let alone the fight.

 

[Drake]

Wasn't aware of any of those factors, fair points.

 

[Redeemer]

I am not nutthugging, but Cruz is a stud. To comeback from one ACL is not an easy feat almost impossible for many but three of them..wins the belt and defends it. Cruz is a real fighter natural fighter, high fight IQ etc...very impressed

 

[Jawbox01]

Cruz IS the worst matchup, in terms of ratings.

In terms of providing actual competition, well I'm enjoying the stupidity of the people agreeing with TS. Cruz is ONE step ahead of Faber and TJ Dillashaw. 135 pounders. Meanwhile Conor is wrecking LWs like Poirier and Aldo. Aldo is a glorified LW fighting at 145 he made Frankie look like a small child. Conor is a beast of a man who would tear Cruz apart. Sorry to offend the manlets on here.

 

[Drake]

Cruz IS the worst matchup, in terms of ratings.

In terms of providing actual competition, well I'm enjoying the stupidity of the people agreeing with TS. Cruz is ONE step ahead of Faber and TJ Dillashaw. 135 pounders. Meanwhile Conor is wrecking LWs like Poirier and Aldo. Aldo is a glorified LW fighting at 145 he made Frankie look like a small child. Conor is a beast of a man who would tear Cruz apart. Sorry to offend the manlets on here.

By definition Conor is a manlet himself. Apologize to yourself.

 

[Rittsy]

Preach it.