Media McGregor Has 'Bad Grappling: Myth?

[stipeszn]

It's a myth.
He has decent grappling.
Khabib needed 4 rounds to finish him.
Eddie, who is considered a good grappler here, I don't know why, couldn't take him down and beat him on the ground (I remember he tried)

Eddie is a good grappler. Go watch his last fight with folayang, it saved him from certain defeat.

 

[markg171]

Why would you use a gif of Conor cheating to get out of a submission as evidence of good grappling?

Lol Brandao lost the sub on Conor because Conor spun out of it and so Brandao lost control of Conor's legs with his own, not because he briefly grabbed the cage after Brandao no longer had Conor's legs secured with his own.

You'd make a much better slap against his grappling if you argued that his method of escape left him open to Brandao potentially transitioning the new position into a straight kneebar, which does show the difference between his grappling skill and that of an experts. Conor got out of the first one, only to find himself in the position for a potentially different one.

 

[Local Plata]

I don't know if anyone has called it 'bad' per se, just that for his entire career the UFC keeps him away from grapplers/contenders because it's likely his biggest weakness, as evidenced in his fights against 10-day Mendes and Khabib.

 

[Andreh]

Conor's TDD is not so good. But, in general, he is ok.

 

[markg171]

Look at it this way.

Offensively: He was able to take Holloway down and beat him to a decision with this. This is not an easy feat, because Holloway is almost impossible to take down; however, this occurred a long time ago, and Holloway may have improved significantly (albeit truth be told, fighters don't really improve all that much, and can in fact deteriorate because of the damage that they take in fights; MMA is kinda like bodybuilding in the sense that you improve tremendously over the first couple of years, and then progression slows down quite a lot to the point of improvements being negligible - training is still important, however, to maintain a certain level of skill even if not to improve).
Defensively: Alvarez tried to take him down multiple times, and he couldn't. If you watch that fight, McGregor displayed elite TDD.

Personally his grappling probably "looked" overall best against Siver. He was smooth as fuck that fight.

Of course I say "looked" as one could fairly reasonably argue he's displayed better grappling when he's successfully (or neutrally) grappled with better grapplers than Siver, even if he wasn't as smooth as he was here.

 

[jx820]

The sweep on Diaz is probably one of his most noteworthy grappling moments. It was a high level technique against a high level grappler. Though some of that could be the same kind of thing as Khabib dropping Conor in the stand up. It's the thing you don't expect, that you're not afraid of that can really catch you.

 

[GreatSaintGuillotine]

Actually no

He did openly say Conor was really good


Basically praised his ability and tried to silence the talk about his grappling being poor. Along with the other stuff

Having some dejavu here lol

Jesus Christ, ok, let me explain this one more time.

Eddie says Conor is Good. Goes into no further detail.

ON A SEPARATE NOTE

Eddie tells the story about Conor rolling with his guys and respects his work ethic.

We went over this before. They are 2 separate things as I have said EVERY SINGLE TIME IT IS MENTIONED!

 

[Colageneration]

Once again, I doubt you actually listen to the podcast. Eddie speaks very highly about Conor's willingness to challenge himself. The story has nothing to do with Conor's BJJ skills. Just that he is willing to test himself.

Before the story is told Eddie very briefly talks about his skills to deny the claim that he is bad. Eddie thinks highly of Conor as a fighter. Not his grappling. Not sure why you're so uppity about that.

Just rephrase your own argument. No need to directly address anything I said, right?

 

[Dionysian]

Yeah his grappling is underrated. Showed it at 145 multiple times / Khabib outgrappling you doesn't mean shit in terms of your grappling prowess

 

[GreatSaintGuillotine]

Lol Brandao lost the sub on Conor because Conor spun out of it and so Brandao lost control of Conor's legs with his own, not because he briefly grabbed the cage after Brandao no longer had Conor's legs secured with his own.

You'd make a much better slap against his grappling if you argued that his method of escape left him open to Brandao potentially transitioning the new position into a straight kneebar, which does show the difference between his grappling skill and that of an experts. Conor got out of the first one, only to find himself in the position for a potentially different one.

It got lose when he spun. He got out when pulled the cage. Just saying there are multiple better examples from that fight.

 

[MescalineDreams]

Jesus Christ, ok, let me explain this one more time.

Eddie says Conor is Good. Goes into no further detail.

ON A SEPARATE NOTE

Eddie tells the story about Conor rolling with his guys and respects his work ethic.

We went over this before. They are 2 separate things as I have said EVERY SINGLE TIME IT IS MENTIONED!

It's just the way you said it comes off like he only spoke highly of his work ethic and willingness to evolve as a martial artist

When most of what he said was basically intended to give praise to his grappling skill and dispel the myth that he has no ground game.

 

[GreatSaintGuillotine]

Personally his grappling probably "looked" overall best against Siver. He was smooth as fuck that fight.

Of course I say "looked" as one could fairly reasonably argue he's displayed better grappling when he's successfully (or neutrally) grappled with better grapplers than Siver, even if he wasn't as smooth as he was here.

You see, all of these are better examples.

 

[MichiganMMA1978]

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. I had a discussion on a show I run about Conor McGregor's grappling. In particular, the common assertion that it's bad. I find that most analysts (and fans) go back to this talking-point when assessing his skills. And I think that it's unfounded based on the evidence that we have.

Here's the short clip.



In my view, his grappling overall is quite good. The word itself, 'grappling', is used in a very broad sense, because there's a lot to it. And he's better at certain things than others. But I don't see it as being a major hole in his game. And he's proven that over the years.

He was submitted by Diaz, but, let's be real, he lost that fight on the feet. He resigned himself to his fate because he was about to get smashed by strikes. And even if you disagree with that, I'd argue that getting subbed by Diaz isn't a suitable measuring stick. And the same applies to Khabib. He did OK in some exchanges against him (minus the blatant fouls). But, either way, context is key, and the context is he was fighting Khabib.

I think he has many problems, perhaps his cardio above all else, but I don't think his grappling is his primary concern.

What do you think?

All 4 losses by submission should sum it up for ya.... That and cardio are his Achilles heals.

 

[jx820]

To say Conor's grappling is suspect exclusively based on being subbed by Diaz and Khabib, would also open the door to saying Jim Miller's grappling is suspect because he got subbed by Diaz and Olivera. Only factoring in the times someone was subbed omits so much context.

 

[GreatSaintGuillotine]

It's just the way you said it comes off like he only spoke highly of his work ethic and willingness to evolve as a martial artist

When most of what he said was basically intended to give praise to his grappling skill and dispel the myth that he has no ground game.

I specifically wrote in every post that he commented on his BJJ separately.

 

[MescalineDreams]

I specifically wrote in every post that he commented on his BJJ separately.

Acknowledging that hes legit and dispelling that myth was the main point

I know where you're coming from tho. Prob just could've been worded a bit better

 

[GreatSaintGuillotine]

Just rephrase your own argument. No need to directly address anything I said, right?

Christ, the children on here sometimes...I addressed everything you have said. I'm not even arguing. I'm clarifying the context of the podcast which you and many others misrepresent.

 

[GreatSaintGuillotine]

Well whatever

Acknowledging that hes legit and dispelling that myth was the main point tho

Conor's BJJ being good was an end point in a conversation about the Nate fight.

It had nothing to do with the other story, other than it sparking Eddie's memory of it.

IDK why I always get a million quotes when I point this out. I make an effort to point out that Eddie says he is good and yet I still get these damn quotes.

 

[kalabula]

The two world class grapplers he faced sliced through his TDD with ease.

He has fought mostly strikers.

He made khabib work for it.

 

[MescalineDreams]

Conor's BJJ being good was an end point in a conversation about the Nate fight.

It had nothing to do with the other story, other than it sparking Eddie's memory of it.

IDK why I always get a million quotes when I point this out. I make an effort to point out that Eddie says he is good and yet I still get these damn quotes.

I know you know. Better than most here

Prob just could've been worded a bit better