How did Khabib's fight with Al sway people's opinions towards McGregor?

[RayA]

Al was a collegiate wrestler and last night, actually took a wrestling stance the entire time. Hunched over, hands low, he was practically treating it as a wrestling match, and still couldn't stop Khabib's single leg.

If Conor doesn't land a hail Mary left, and Khabib shoots in, he won't be able to stop it, and unlike Al, is not ground savy enough to not squirm his way into a submission for Khabib.

 

[RayA]

People look towards the later rounds for K1 Khabib, but what about 1 and 2? Conor wouldn't survive that.

 

[Rea_ctor]

Conor always stood a chance even before this, Khabib is unbeaten but isn't the best striker technically, and with it being Conor's main weapon of course he has a shot at landing with his accuracy, in the same way there's a good chance he could spend most the fight on his back.

 

[RayA]

Conor always stood a chance even before this, Khabib is unbeaten but isn't the best striker technically, and with it being Conor's main weapon of course he has a shot at landing with his accuracy, in the same way there's a good chance he could spend most the fight on his back.

I'm not saying he doesn't stand a chance, I'm just saying that if anything, last night showed Khabib is even harder to keep from implementing his game plan.

 

[Rea_ctor]

I'm not saying he doesn't stand a chance, I'm just saying that if anything, last night showed Khabib is even harder to keep from implementing his game plan.

I think it just showed he can slow down a tiny bit, and that weathering his storm and getting some shots in is possible, so with Conor being so accurate logically people give him a better shot now.

 

[Orochimaru 大蛇丸]

I think people are just mad at Khabib for taking two rounds off, logically Khabib should still be a giant favorite. Maybe Khabib slowed down a bit, but nothing like Conor when he slows down lol. Conor will be gassed out by the time he has a chance to stand imo.

 

[blaseblah]

I think it just showed he can slow down a tiny bit, and that weathering his storm and getting some shots in is possible, so with Conor being so accurate logically people give him a better shot now.

Except Conor is also known for slowing and doesn't have the same power in the later rounds. I'd favor Tony having a better chance.

 

[greenhawk]

You can thank Joe Rogan for that. If you were blind you would've thought that Al is toying with Khabib.

 

[Rea_ctor]

Except Conor is also known for slowing and doesn't have the same power in the later rounds. I'd favor Tony having a better chance.

You don't necessarily need the same power against a gassed opponent though, mayweather and nate didn't really slow down as they have amazing engines, Conor was tired against Chad but still managed to put him away.

 

[Leonard Haid]

Al was a collegiate wrestler and last night, actually took a wrestling stance the entire time. Hunched over, hands low, he was practically treating it as a wrestling match, and still couldn't stop Khabib's single leg.

If Conor doesn't land a hail Mary left, and Khabib shoots in, he won't be able to stop it, and unlike Al, is not ground savy enough to not squirm his way into a submission for Khabib.

My opinion towards Conor took a nosedive after the bus incident, but now that Khabib is the champ I'm thinking that Conor's antics were a perfect (though probably unintentional) marketing ploy to set up a Khabib vs. Conor match. You watch....all of those who have sworn off Conor of late will tune in for that fight. It will be massive. MASSIVE. Especially if it's in Russia.

 

[Heelhook71]

Conor doesn’t have the heart to beat someone like Khabib. To beat Khabib you need to be mentally strong enough to still want to get up and fight after being taken down and punched for 5 minutes + (and also have amazing TDD). He just keeps coming.

If Diaz could break Conor’s will Khabib will take his soul.

 

[Soul On Ice]

Majority of Khabib's wins in the UFC are decisions, has finished 4/10

He's a methodical position over submission guy

I'm very confident Conor could survive on the ground and draw Khabib into some striking exchanges later.

 

[RayA]

You don't necessarily need the same power against a gassed opponent though, mayweather and nate didn't really slow down as they have amazing engines, Conor was tired against Chad but still managed to put him away.

The problem with waiting for Khabib to slow down is, Conor himself is the one to slow down. Chad could get Conor down, and as amazing a wrestler as Chad is, he's not too well known for his top game.

Khabib won't stay in full guard, he will transition, and pepper in strikes, and pass, and pepper in more strikes, and break Conor's post trying to get up, and transition, and pass, all the while Conor squirms around for dear life. That is extremely taxing on someone to struggle like that. Al was able to stay remarkably calm and intelligently defend himself the entire time, I'm not sure if Conor can do the same. I don't think Conor has the option to weather the storm as he'll be the one weathered down.

 

[Rea_ctor]

The problem with waiting for Khabib to slow down is, Conor himself is the one to slow down. Chad could get Conor down, and as amazing a wrestler as Chad is, he's not too well known for his top game.

Khabib won't stay in full guard, he will transition, and pepper in strikes, and pass, and pepper in more strikes, and break Conor's post trying to get up, and transition, and pass, all the while Conor squirms around for dear life. That is extremely taxing on someone to struggle like that. Al was able to stay remarkably calm and intelligently defend himself the entire time, I'm not sure if Conor can do the same. I don't think Conor has the option to weather the storm as he'll be the one weathered down.

I'm not saying any of this can't happen, you wanted to know why people after this fight give Conor a better chance and I said why that was, there's always the chance Khabib just grinds him down, Conor could also work on his cardio and fix that hole in his game, it's a fight at the end of the day and anything can happen.

 

[MuayThaiBX]

People saw Al survive on the ground and then stop some takedowns. It proved Khabib can't run over anybody whenever he wants. But Al is a better wrestler, has better cardio, and can take a beating better than McGregor. Conor has shown that if he doesn't get it done early he will fade and be much less dangerous. He may survive the early Khabib onslaught and Khabib will probably slow down later but Conor himself will be gassed by that point too - probably more so than Khabib. Conor's best chance is to land that big left early when he is fresh as a daisy.

 

[RayA]

I'm not saying any of this can't happen, you wanted to know why people after this fight give Conor a better chance and I said why that was, there's always the chance Khabib just grinds him down, Conor could also work on his cardio and fix that hole in his game, it's a fight at the end of the day and anything can happen.

I feel like I'm shutting down Conor too much. It's just I kept seeing so many exposed threads with people in agreement of the sentiment, and I just didn't understand how this fight hurt Khabib's chances in peoples eyes.

Yesterday did indeed show that Khabib can slow down, but to insert Conor into those later rounds ignores everything it took to get there.

 

[Newave]

People are factoring how Khabibs striking was surprisingly terrible (even though he was killing AI with that jab all night). And they think he gassed and couldn’t get takedowns, but I think this is bullshit, it was just a weird week and after round 2 he felt like having fun and coasting to the end.

If Conor could get into the later rounds with Khabib and still be fresh he could ko him. But Conor has abysmal cardio and if his takedown defense is anything like it was against Mendes he will get murdered.

 

[Rea_ctor]

I feel like I'm shutting down Conor too much. It's just I kept seeing so many exposed threads with people in agreement of the sentiment, and I just didn't understand how this fight hurt Khabib's chances in peoples eyes.

Yesterday did indeed show that Khabib can slow down, but to insert Conor into those later rounds ignores everything it took to get there.

If anything it just showed his human mate, I couldn't care who wins between the two of them either I'm a fan of both.

 

[Wicked_1]

Because khabib took it easy on al, and tested himself against a 5 round timer.. People instantly say.. Oh.. He has holes.. Conor would sleep him.. When in fact he had same holes long be4 this fight, and would never expose himself to Conor like that. If the fight happens.. Conor will get taken down and mauled until he quits. Khabib wont take it easy on him.. Nor will he try to test his jab. Get real people.. Never has khabib even tried most of the stuff he did vs al. He could have easily.. And I mean Easily.. took down all and mauled him all 5 rounds.

 

[Congo66]

Conor is terrible on the ground.
Conor has a terrible gas tank.

Khabib has poor standup.

*IF* they fight I can't see it going to the 3rd anyway so gas tanks aren't going to come into it. Conor could take Khabib apart on the feet and knock him out or he could get taken down and smashed like Mendes r1 or give up his back and quit like Nate #1 r2.