How good is Conors Jujitsu/grappling skills?

[kflo]

Based on observation. You may obviously disagree, but he doesn’t look like a brown belt in BJJ. Highest level I’d put him at is purple, if we’re talking competition based practitioners, then he could very well be a blue belt since modern blues are so much more professional and knowledgeable compared to 10 years ago.

But again, people are saying he’s a legit brown, which does seem gifted to him as another mentioned.

I don’t see how you can believe that. Blue?? I’d guess he’d run through most purples in his weight class. Not sure why he wouldn’t be a legit brown belt with the years of training he’s had.

 

[Blayt7hh]

He’s a great grappler, but probably only average when you compare him to champions

 

[GrantB13]

All of his losses are by submission either after being grinded on the ground the whole fight (Khabib) or by getting quickly subbed once it hits the mat.

 

[kflo]

All of his losses are by submission either after being grinded on the ground the whole fight (Khabib) or by getting quickly subbed once it hits the mat.

surely you’re not judging his grappling from fights 10-12 years ago?

 

[GrantB13]

surely you’re not judging his grappling from fights 10-12 years ago?

A little bit but I know those aren't the best examples. Yet, people usually do that with other fighters if they don't change. Conor's probably learned way more, but all of his losses are still by submission.

 

[Coconutwater]

I don’t see how you can believe that. Blue?? I’d guess he’d run through most purples in his weight class. Not sure why he wouldn’t be a legit brown belt with the years of training he’s had.

His BJJ looks defensive in nature, he doesn’t threaten at all. At purple belt, you should be attacking somewhat, IMO. Straight no-gi, gi or MMA, competition purples are dangerous. Conor just seems to have a good base. It’s obvious he’s just trying to survive and get into a position to throw punches as he truly doesn’t try to advance position or submit.

His brown belt looks like a “Hollywood” brown belt, the kind gifted, not earned.

 

[MescalineDreams]

I don’t even think he’s a purple. His ability to ball up, or sweep Nate one time, has people overrating him.


* and Nate didn’t care about being swept onto his back, he trusts his guard game and long limbs against anything Conor had on the mat, IMO.

Conor, if anything, is decent at TDD which isn’t emphasized in BJJ much but on the mat, his base and shrimping movements are decent and enhanced by his thinness and athleticism.

But 75% of his BJJ knowledge is blue belt level.

if you asked

Based on observation. You may obviously disagree, but he doesn’t look like a brown belt in BJJ. Highest level I’d put him at is purple, if we’re talking competition based practitioners, then he could very well be a blue belt since modern blues are so much more professional and knowledgeable compared to 10 years ago.

But again, people are saying he’s a legit brown, which does seem gifted to him as another mentioned.

I understand you're speaking in the context of modern level purple belts who are probably more like black belts from 10 years ago.

Out of curiosity where would you rank someone like Poirier?

Outside of submissions I think Conor is actually the better grappler from what I've seen.

If Conor is a purple then I think we need to take an honest look at the credibility of a large number of MMA fighters and the ranks they hold.

 

[Kertol]

I think Eddie Bravo said a few years ago he is at brown belt level.

 

[Mentallooser]

Defensively excellent when he's not gassed. Offensively, I'm not really sure. He's pulled off some fantastic sweeps and escapes over the years.

 

[MescalineDreams]

His BJJ looks defensive in nature, he doesn’t threaten at all. At purple belt, you should be attacking somewhat, IMO. Straight no-gi, gi or MMA, competition purples are dangerous. Conor just seems to have a good base. It’s obvious he’s just trying to survive and get into a position to throw punches as he truly doesn’t try to advance position or submit.

His brown belt looks like a “Hollywood” brown belt, the kind gifted, not earned.

Just in terms of positional IQ, fluidity, defense, etc.

I think he has the correct mindset, spirit and approach to building / loosening his body which lends itself very well to being an evolving student of jiu jitsu.

A lot of great minds in that realm have spoken highly of him. His coach for the last 5 years has been Danis, who's a black belt under Marcelo Garcia.

Even with the limited flow rolling weve seen from them, I'd be interested in how you came up with the idea that hes around a blue, maybe a purple.

I think if you asked a few jiu jitsu schools, the majority would likely disagree with that sentiment.

 

[MescalineDreams]

His BJJ looks defensive in nature, he doesn’t threaten at all. At purple belt, you should be attacking somewhat, IMO. Straight no-gi, gi or MMA, competition purples are dangerous. Conor just seems to have a good base. It’s obvious he’s just trying to survive and get into a position to throw punches as he truly doesn’t try to advance position or submit.

His brown belt looks like a “Hollywood” brown belt, the kind gifted, not earned.

Sorry for the multiple posts, cant edit.

But to close off, if what you're saying is true, he would've had his ass handed to him on more than a few occasions rather quickly.

So again I'm interested in the criteria and references you're basing this on.

 

[crodor3]

prob as good as Crocops was..good enough to not get humiliated and good enough to keep most fights standing where he wants them. so, good enough.

 

[MescalineDreams]

Dude he grappled here is the son of Marcelo Behring, grandson of Carlos Garcia and a purple under roger grace at the time.

Currently a black belt and competing for Bellator.

 

[REVOFEV]

If anything he's doubled down on his grappling training since the first Diaz fight. So he's a lot better than he was let's say when the Aldo fight took place.

 

[kflo]

His BJJ looks defensive in nature, he doesn’t threaten at all. At purple belt, you should be attacking somewhat, IMO. Straight no-gi, gi or MMA, competition purples are dangerous. Conor just seems to have a good base. It’s obvious he’s just trying to survive and get into a position to throw punches as he truly doesn’t try to advance position or submit.

His brown belt looks like a “Hollywood” brown belt, the kind gifted, not earned.

The average purple belt isn’t grappling against khabib in an mma fight. Top purple belts would be embarrassed on the ground against khabib in an mma fight.

 

[Strijfy]

Conor is phenomenal grappler but his skills are more suited for real fighting rather than against something like leghump and cage exploit rule abuse thats unfortunately possible inside the octagon.

yes we saw the legitimacy of his grappling right here folks

 

[cshireman4]

Good and only getting better would be my educated guess.

 

[Dirge]

Striking aside, how good is his jujitsu skills. I know John was the first Irish BJJ black belt and so I assume he is probably Conors original BJJ mentor. But aside from that, has he competed in grappling matches? Did he have a pure wrestling/judo/sambo/submission coach outside of BJJ?

He has 5 losses on his record and 4 of them are submission losses.

If you look at other fighters that are striker centric, Wonderboy for example he has 4 losses and none by sub.

I'd say BJJ is his weakest attribute (other than his cardio)

 

[UFCIsNOTRigged]

He might as well be a white belt.

If you aren't competent enough to use your jiu-jitsu offensively it doesn't mean anything.

Anyone who is fighting in the UFC has drilled defensive jiu-jitsu hundreds if not thousands of times.

Connor can clearly defend himself against most submissions, its the lack of anticipatory forethought that has gotten him into trouble and submitted.

That ability though only comes from having submitted people, which Connor does not attempt to do during his fights. So its about as good as its ever going to be.

This is the exact same reason why Israel Adesanya is eventually going to be submitted.

 

[arcadeperfect]

Conrad’s BJJ brown belt is equivalent to Rashad Evans’ black belt...it’s just handed to them

Conrad is at most a purple belt on the mat

Rashad has never been submitted in MMA.