How Would Conor McGregor Fare In Kickboxing?

[Gunni]

McGregor would do good against RVR. He would probably lose, but he would not be humiliated. People are stupid. Kickboxing is not a big sport, and the talent is just not extremely good. If he were to box, lets say Mayweather he would not survive long.

Kato ktfo Schilling, and we have seen several mma fighters transition to kickboxing and doing good. Cro-Cop, the bellator guy on glory 23, Paul Daley to mention a few. Some of those started out in kickboxing, but competed in mma with various sucsess.

 

[IWANTTOTRAINUFC]

Aldo yes with a better kickboxing coach. Anderson no, he relied on counter boxing with 4oz gloves and never applied pressure except for his early UFC days. Condit maybe, but he would not be athletic enough. Rorys MMA striking is very good but dont think he could compete with solid kickboxers, but u never know

I was more thinking of Anderson's early days. Back before he became known as Neo and was known for his clinch. I threw Rory in there because his Thai is looking more and more impressive each time he fights. I don't think he's ready yet, but in a year or two his KB could be very scary.

 

[CPH]

...or MMA fighters go to kickboxing and KTFO elite level kickboxers.

...go ahead and list 5 of the best examples. This should be good.

 

[ocfightfan]

In general I think not well.

 

[Tibbles]

The kickboxing talent pool in 2015 is so shallow. Conor wouldn't hang with the top guys, but the drop off in talent after that is dramatic...he'd do fine.

 

[Fatal Catro]

lolwut? He's in a combat sport and ko's everybody with unorthodox kicks and great boxing.

He is a great striker no doubt, however to call him "World class " is disingenuous.
When was the last time Conor scored a KO ?.

 

[slyslickNwicked]

Who uses 16oz gloves outside of sparring/the gym?

U right, have u also seen some people dont even use head gear

10oz gloves still more than double the padding of 4oz gloves. Also creates better defense. Barboza muy thai record 28-3, plus his footwork and athleticism i would like his chances in kickboxing.

https://sargentmuaythai.wordpress.com/2014/03/21/glory-vs-muay-thai/

 

[Winbot]

its always hard to say how a fighter will do in a different sport because you're basing your judgement off of their performance under an entirely different rule set. People always say the reason kick boxers dont come in to mma and destroy people because they are forced to change the way they fight due to having to take grappling into account. I dont think any one competing in mixed martial arts would be able to simply switch to another sport and immediately be a top ranked athlete, with work and adjustments it's not out of the question because the things that are apparent are their ability to learn and utilize techniques, their athleticism and their mental ability to compete at a high level. So if we are basing our opinions on those things I believe that yes, McGregor and probably a lot of other highly ranked guys in mma could make the switch and find success.

 

[JKS]

In general kickboxing tournaments in the US and europe he may do well. But vs the guys you mentioned would would get beaten quite easily.

 

[legkicktko]

Id give Barboza the best chance, 16oz gloves have more padding and can produce better defense

Yeah I agree.

He is 25-3 in kickboxing and had a K1 offer but decided to try mma first.

 

[James L]

He fights like a fan of kickboxing (the poor Andy Hug Tornado attempt) and capoeria (all the attempts) but he doesn't fight like a kick boxer nor capoeria-practicioner. He has a very long stance, and if he for some weird reason fought in that stance, he would get murked harder than otherwise. Muay Thai would be his worst nightmare.

 

[RandomUser12]

 

[Fatal Catro]

10 - 9 : For the Ufc bag.

But to be fair that bag is world-class.

 

[Hagelslag2]

He'd get handled by the elite. He'd be fighting between 65 and 70kg, weights that house some of the best fighters in the world, even now, while kickboxing is going through a shit period. People tend to forget that a guy like Aldo, who's famous for his striking in MMA, doesn't actually have anything for someone like Souwer, who is several years past his prime, when it comes to straight up kickboxing.

 

[Toco]

well, he TRAINS mma

give him 2 years kickboxing only and he would be a different beast

 

[RandomUser12]

10 - 9 : For the Ufc bag.

But to be fair that bag is world-class.

He's no Ben Askren, that's for sure:

 

[ForbiddenSun]

People love to hate on Conor but the fact is this has been done before, Overeem owned kickboxing for awhile and his movement isn't half as good as Conor's. Conor is a master at spacing, angles and accuracy, there is no reason to think that if he chose to go the route of kickboxing that he couldnt rise in the ranks with the proper training. The pool of Kickboxing athletes are not that great right now.

 

[So Fresh]

This guy would destroy Conor

 

[Fatal Catro]

He's no Ben Askren, that's for sure:

Hard to compare the two as Ben is clearly fighting a lesser quality bag.

 

[Air Lats]

People rave about his hands, his flashy kicks, his knockout power, so how would he fare against some of the elites around the same size? You know, against the Petrosyan's, Ristie's & van Roosmalen's of the world?

Think this thread is fair game considering he's such a pure striker & fights entirely like a kickboxer in his MMA bouts. He clearly enjoys the striking aspect of fighting far more than he does grappling (hence the repeated & desperate pleas to the referee in his last fight to stand them up when he was flat on his back.)

You think Conor fights like a kickboxer? I think he fights like a karate fighter who is extremely worried about being taken down.

He would have to change his stance completely or he'd get leg kick anhillated. If he changed his stance he'd have to change his style and it's not really Conor anymore. He's an MMA fighter. His skills and athleticism would get him through low levels but the guys you are talking about are on a totally different level of pure KB.