Loss says more about Conor's standup than his ground game

[eagles1139]

People seem to be harping so much on the end of the fight and the fact that McGregor got submitted. To me this fight didn't speak that much to Conor's ground game beyond what was already assumed.

McGregor got submitted after shooting for a takedown -- Think about how scrambled his brain must have been that he had to resort to shooting for a takedown on Nate Diaz. He was ROCKED. I'm not making excuses for McGregor. I think he is a solid striker that looks way more innovative than he is. He got out-boxed by Diaz and beaten on the feet. I'm just not so ready to say that McGregor has garbage submission defense because someone like Diaz made quick work of him when he was rocked from the minute-long beating he took before the submission.

 

[soulless80]

i expected Conor to land more of his punches on Nate. Even at close distance, Conor was punching air quite a lot.

 

[wildchild88]

He looked really good before being rocked though,

If he played it safer he probably would have won...

It's very hard to KO / TKO a Diaz..

 

[Faceplanter]

People seem to be harping so much on the end of the fight and the fact that McGregor got submitted. To me this fight didn't speak that much to Conor's ground game beyond what was already assumed.

McGregor got submitted after shooting for a takedown -- Think about how scrambled his brain must have been that he had to resort to shooting for a takedown on Nate Diaz. He was ROCKED. I'm not making excuses for McGregor. I think he is a solid striker that looks way more innovative than he is. He got out-boxed by Diaz and beaten on the feet. I'm just not so ready to say that McGregor has garbage submission defense because someone like Diaz made quick work of him when he was rocked from the minute-long beating he took before the submission.

Conor was soundly outboxing Nate for the first round and a half and won the 1st round on strikes (punches). Getting rocked and not dropped doesn't mean outboxed. He busted Nate up badly to where his face was nothing but blood and a nearly shut/swollen right eye.

 

[Bmurray]

I think Conor's standup is great, but he thought he was even better than great.

To beat Nick or Nate in a boxing match you've got to do like 3x as much damage as them, because they'll take it and keep coming.

 

[mangokush]

Should have fought Nate like how Condit fought Nick.

Going toe to toe with a Diaz brother with just punches only will never work.

 

[Flabby 6 pack]

i expected Conor to land more of his punches on Nate. Even at close distance, Conor was punching air quite a lot.

HE missed a lot and only for the cut on Diaz's I would have thought he wasn't hitting him at all

 

[Baba Ghanoush]

I think Conor was genuinely shocked Nate wasn't going down with some of the shots he landed. He looked flustered and absolutely confused after that.

 

[ThunderStruck]

He was headhunting without setuping his bombs. Tried way too hard to land that uppercut. Diaz' standup style isn't pretty to the eye but it proved extremely efficient against a Conor who seemed to have no gameplan for that night other than making sure his facial hairs looks good on TV.

Also, peoples says he was fresh when round 2 started but i think he was already starting to gas in round one. Head hunting without finding the prey... doing spinning shits... fighting against a cardio machine with a really nice jab... fighting someone of his size for the very first time in the UFC... perfect recipe for emptying the gas tank.

His main mistake : avoiding his natural weight class for since he came into the UFC. What the hell is he doing at FW? I mean yeah man good job dwarfing those guys, good job being much stronger and hitting harder than them. You won the weight cutting championship. Bravo!

Diaz is the better, smarter fighter.

 

[Bendo MMA Hero]

Conor didn't look particularly bad, especially in the first. It seemed like he was loading up on his shots. Strange, because he usually throws smooth strikes. Maybe Diaz was in his head.

We shouldn't be surprised, who has ever out struck Nate Diaz? Bendo did it, because he is awesome, but that could have had something to do with the grappling threat. Thompson doing it is kind of an anomaly. Still, beating Diaz with only your hands is something that is nearly impossible, yet fighters still fall into the trap (MJ, Conor, Cowboy).

 

[Bmurray]

Conor was soundly outboxing Nate for the first round and a half and won the 1st round on strikes (punches). Getting rocked and not dropped doesn't mean outboxed. He busted Nate up badly to where his face was nothing but blood and a nearly shut/swollen right eye.

If you can reliably absorb a high amount of damage, it just contributes to your overall boxing style.

I think it counts toward a saying like "out-boxing" someone.

 

[ThunderStruck]

He was headhunting without setuping his bombs. Tried way too hard to land that uppercut. Diaz' standup style isn't pretty to the eye but it proved extremely efficient against a Conor who seemed to have no gameplan for that night other than making sure his facial hairs looked good on TV.

Also, peoples says he was fresh when round 2 started but i think he was already starting to gas in round one. Head hunting without finding the prey... doing spinning shits... fighting against a cardio machine with a really nice jab... fighting someone of his size for the very first time in the UFC... perfect recipe for emptying the gas tank.

His main mistake : avoiding his natural weight class for since he came into the UFC. What the hell is he doing at FW? I mean yeah man good job dwarfing those guys, good job being much stronger and hitting harder than them. You won the weight cutting championship. Bravo!

Diaz is the better, smarter fighter.

 

[The Can Opener]

Conor's post fight comments about the subject were exactly right. He blew all his energy thinking he would knock Diaz out and it didn't work. He punched himself out then started getting sloppy and got picked off by Diaz standing up. One guy was paced for an actual fight and the other paced himself for a quick blowout.

 

[branvan16]

I was drunk when I watched, so my memory could be jumbled... But I think the the most part he out landed Diaz. He underestimated the Diaz durability and loaded his shots heavy, which played a factor in Diaz landing better.

 

[eagles1139]

Conor was soundly outboxing Nate for the first round and a half and won the 1st round on strikes (punches). Getting rocked and not dropped doesn't mean outboxed. He busted Nate up badly to where his face was nothing but blood and a nearly shut/swollen right eye.

He did bust Nate up and outbox him up until he got rocked, but he was throwing with a power and volume that would only be sustainable if he landed an early knockout. That proved to be a striking error against a durable fighter like Diaz, and when Diaz's window of opportunity came he landed the necessary shots to bring the fight to an end. That's what I meant by out-boxed.

 

[billharford]

Says more about his fight IQ. No gameplan, no attempt to probe Nate's weaknesses, just winging thinking guys are gonna fall because he's the great Conor. Sorry, Nate don't give a fuck

 

[Alphafail]

I'd say it says more about his chin, not his standup. He put a clinic on Diaz on the 1st round and half of the second.

 

[wellplayed]

All respect to Conner, he landed some great shots, but Diaz was right, conner has power behind his shots, but it doesn't translate at 170. But it is more than enough to put most 145 and 155 fighters to sleep.

War Diaz

 

[808nEffect]

Should have fought Nate like how Condit fought Nick.

Going toe to toe with a Diaz brother with just punches only will never work.

The problem with that is Condit is the same size as Nick. And he has much better cardio than Conor seems to have as well.

 

[AWKWARD]

Good thread. What about Diaz's comment after the fight that he knew he'd start slow because he didn't get to spar in camp and would need time to find his rythm? I think it's kind of bullshit...he started landing when Conor started to fatigue to my eye.