McGregor is Breakthrough Fighter of the Year; Coach talks his power & foes' fear

[Got GOAT]

Congratulations to 'The GOAT' on winning Breakthrough Fighter of the Year from Sherdog! He even beat out TJ Dillashaw and Dillashaw put a bad beating on Barao, outclassed and then finished him to take the BW belt + defended it once already.

So, Conor came back from a complete ACL tear and he's never looked better. Many fighters are never the same after tearing an ACL, it's potentially a career-ending injury for athletes to this very day. Since Conor is a striker this isn't as debilitating for him, not like it potentially could be for a wrestler or a fighter that relies a lot on their wrestling. Since coming back he's beaten Brandao and Poirier and finished them both inside the 1st round in dominant fashion.

His coach just made this comment about Conor's frightening power...

“With absolutely no disrespect to him or any future opponents, I don’t think people realize just the difference of ability in Conor and any of these guys,” Kavanagh said, citing McGregor’s punching power as an example. “It’s always something I see when his opponent comes across the cage. When the first even jab lands, I see their eyes opening wider, because you’ve never felt this before; and you can clearly see that in the Dustin [Poirier] fight if you watch it back. After the first contact, he never took a forward step again, and I’ve seen it in most opponents’ fights. They’re used to fighting featherweights and maybe sparring even up to a welterweight in their gym, but they feel like a light heavyweight is making contact, and fear sets in right away … I don’t see anybody for a long time being able to beat him.”

http://www.sherdog.com/news/articles/1/Sherdogcoms-2014-Breakthrough-Fighter-of-the-Year-79825

I noticed this in his last fight against Poirier as well, I think many fans did. Dustin was fearful of his power early and all the way up until Conor dropped him and finished. Here's a picture to illustrate this fear, as he's shelling up and peeking through his forearms at the 'bad man' before him...

This is the shot that hurt Poirier visibly, shook him up and momentarily put him on the run before his destined demise:

[YT]HKvmCulxvQ0?start=238[/YT]​

While it appears to be true that Conor has mentally broken several opponents before they even step into the cage with him (something Anderson was excellent at), he doesn't need to do this to still scare them or have them shook. His power can do this during the fight, in combination with his skills, and it can happen at any point during the fight. Of course, it depends on the specific individual themselves, but we saw it in the Brandao fight too (not that he was mentally strong in the first place). Both Brandao and Poirier looked like they were self-doubting when things got tough and they started to look like they wanted out when the going got toughest (when they tasted his power and got hurt).

Conor isn't just a very bad dude with lots of power, he's a very skilled one. One with enormous confidence that is genuine and not simply put on and played up for the part. Given his size and speed on top of his power, skill and confidence, that's enough to strike fear into opponents that aren't absolutely 100% confident in themselves leading up to and inside the cage with him. He has the psychological warfare down pat pre-fight but he also has the rare ability to scare them inside the fight with the aforementioned combination of his skill, mental toughness, unbreakable confidence and significant physical attributes.

I hope you enjoyed the read. Conor bless!

 

[ScarfaceJr]

Better he won it than Dillashaw.

 

[Evbo]

Well placed confidence/super-strong mentality seems to be one of the most powerful tools in the fight game, and Conor has that for days. Really hoping he puts on a show against Siver so we can see how he matches up against Aldo.

People seem to be convinced that Aldo is on another level, but he's got a lot more mileage on the clock than Conor.

 

[Yolandabecool**]

I've been saying it for a long time. He's going to KO Aldo within 2 rounds. A lot of people just can't see it yet, but I'm very confident. People will be very very surprised.

 

[Got GOAT]

I've been saying it for a long time. He's going to KO Aldo within 2 rounds. A lot of people just can't see it yet, but I'm very confident. People will be very very surprised.

I'm picking him by T/KO stoppage as well, before it hits the championship rounds. I wouldn't say people will really be surprised though since anybody can 'get caught' and Conor has significant power in his hands, especially that left. As this fight gets closer, expect to see many of his fans entertain the idea that this could very well happen to cushion the impact if/when it does. He isn't a guy you trade with for long and only 1 guy in his career that he's beaten has been able to make it the distance. One, in a fight that he tore his ACL in, tore his MCL and sprained his Meniscus.

 

[GordaoPreguico]

I'm picking him by T/KO stoppage as well, before it hits the championship rounds. I wouldn't say people will really be surprised though since anybody can 'get caught' and Conor has significant power in his hands, especially that left. As this fight gets closer, expect to see many of his fans entertain the idea that this could very well happen to cushion the impact if/when it does. He isn't a guy you trade with for long and only 1 guy in his career that he's beaten has been able to make it the distance. One, in a fight that he tore his ACL in, tore his MCL and sprained his Meniscus.

So he does poorly in fights where his legs dont hold up. Yet you are picking him against a guy known for destroying peoples legs?

 

[Gatts]

So he does poorly in fights where his legs dont hold up. Yet you are picking him against a guy known for destroying peoples legs?

That's some specious reasoning.

 

[Captain Aerosex]

No superfluous muscle and strict weight cutting allow him to make FW, but I'd say the dude is a tweener like Benson. He'd be big even at LW. Maybe not tall, but he's got a big frame, good reach, and you can see he gets beefier out of camp. Coupled with his technique, his power doesn't surprise me.

 

[Yolandabecool**]

I'm picking him by T/KO stoppage as well, before it hits the championship rounds. I wouldn't say people will really be surprised though since anybody can 'get caught' and Conor has significant power in his hands, especially that left. As this fight gets closer, expect to see many of his fans entertain the idea that this could very well happen to cushion the impact if/when it does. He isn't a guy you trade with for long and only 1 guy in his career that he's beaten has been able to make it the distance. One, in a fight that he tore his ACL in, tore his MCL and sprained his Meniscus.

I feel a lot of people can't see past the hype and some of the fans hyperbole. I think many people see him more as a 'Chael Sonnen'. I honestly expect Conor to rate about 20% chance of beating Aldo on a Sherdog poll.

That being said, I am seeing more people taking him seriously. No doubt after the Aldo fight he will become 'too big for the division' or something equally ridiculous.

 

[Got GOAT]

So he does poorly in fights where his legs dont hold up. Yet you are picking him against a guy known for destroying peoples legs?

Because he didn't finish one opponent when his knee was blown out, that means he "did poorly"? He knocked that guy around from pillar to post and didn't lose a single round. And Aldo hasn't been a leg kicking machine in a long time. He also won't be kicking a guy's lead leg that is walking him down constantly, forcing him onto his back foot and fighting him from southpaw unless Aldo switches his stance to mirror his or relies on lead leg kicks, which won't pack much power. He isn't going to be putting on a leg kicking clinic without addressing these issues first.

 

[DetroitRob]

I think he beats everyone except maybe Aldo (and Edgar) which is a fight I would have at 60/40 Aldo.

Aldo has a speed advantage and his leg kicks are devastating. Not sure how McGregor will do against that.

Edgar has the heart and drive to push McGregor more than any of his other opponents. I would like to see this fight too

 

[GordaoPreguico]

I feel a lot of people can't see past the hype and some of the fans hyperbole. I think many people see him more as a 'Chael Sonnen'. I honestly expect Conor to rate about 20% chance of beating Aldo on a Sherdog poll.

That being said, I am seeing more people taking him seriously. No doubt after the Aldo fight he will become 'too big for the division' or something equally ridiculous.

There is no denying that he is a good fighter. But people have put him on this pedestal for destroying low level guys that any other time they would have pissed all over the fighter for wanting a title shot.

 

[Gatts]

There is no denying that he is a good fighter. But people have put him on this pedestal for destroying low level guys that any other time they would have pissed all over the fighter for wanting a title shot.

He came in with massive expectations, and he's lived up to and succeeded them.
Ambition is part of his allure and he hasn't been handed tit.

But I think we can all agree It will be interesting to see how far he can go.

 

[Yolandabecool**]

There is no denying that he is a good fighter. But people have put him on this pedestal for destroying low level guys that any other time they would have pissed all over the fighter for wanting a title shot.

Korean Zombie got a title shot off a 4th round win versus Poirier.

Mendes got both his title shots off an easy schedule.

Conor is on par with the rest of the division re: What it takes to get a crack at the belt.

 

[GordaoPreguico]

Because he didn't finish one opponent when his knee was blown out, that means he "did poorly"? He knocked that guy around from pillar to post and didn't lose a single round. And Aldo hasn't been a leg kicking machine in a long time. He also won't be kicking a guy's lead leg that is walking him down constantly, forcing him onto his back foot and fighting him from southpaw unless Aldo switches his stance to mirror his or relies on lead leg kicks, which won't pack much power. He isn't going to be putting on a leg kicking clinic without addressing these issues first.

He has been facing people looking to take him down. With CM that isnt an issue so he will feel free to blast away.

 

[GordaoPreguico]

Korean Zombie got a title shot off a 4th round win versus Poirier.

Mendes got both his title shots off an easy schedule.

Conor is on par with the rest of the division re: What it takes to get a crack at the belt.

KZ got a title shot because someone pulled out.

Mendez couldnt fight anyone of note because they all got injured preparing for him.

 

[Yolandabecool**]

KZ got a title shot because someone pulled out.

Mendez couldnt fight anyone of note because they all got injured preparing for him.

Doesn't matter. Conor had the title shot locked up after KO'ing Poirier.

Mendes just lost - Edgar was facing Cub. Both guys have been beaten by Aldo. Conor made the most sense.

Almost 10 years ago a guy named Anderson Silva KO'd a fringe top 10 fighter in Chris Leben. They put the next title shot to a vote & the fans picked the Spider.

Essentially the fans have done the same thing [Except Conor Ko'd a top 5 guy]. They have voted Conor into a title shot in a division which is light on options [Aldo's beaten everyone].

 

[Got GOAT]

No superfluous muscle and strict weight cutting allow him to make FW, but I'd say the dude is a tweener like Benson. He'd be big even at LW. Maybe not tall, but he's got a big frame, good reach, and you can see he gets beefier out of camp. Coupled with his technique, his power doesn't surprise me.

He's a huge Featherweight and a large LW. I actually liked him better at LW in Cage Warriors, he had noticeably more strength and power there which isn't surprising since he isn't cutting as much. His size and technique explain the power, or at least contribute a lot for sure, but his opponent's reactions to getting cracked hard the first time it happens is something you'd expect to see from a guy far larger than him. They seem pretty surprised when he connects and that turns into fear immediately after. The look on their faces and their defensive posture says a lot about that.

Enjoyed that.

I picked out my favorite parts above. I'm new to this so don't know how to do gifs. What I would like to point out is that Poirier's Octagon walk was a dead give away. The man, and in particular his team were clearly beaten. If you watch it back there was no confidence there, they rushed in there and the whole team looked very nervous. They had obviously studied Conor pre fight and knew what they were up against. Even post fight, the brief capture of Poirier holding the back of his head is looked upon with acceptance by one of his coaches.

I just think since he returned from injury he's much more powerful and the game plan is to move less, cut them off and blow them away. Its a frighting task for most at featherweights to face that. I don't think Jose or Frankie would be afraid but they are certainly concerned and as you said, once they feel the power......

Good observation. Yeah Conor is straight to the point since coming back. He isn't fighting like he did against Holloway, trying to show off as much with ineffective techniques that are just meant to piss his opponent off, like those low hook kicks to the legs he was throwing at him. He just wants to blow them away from the very start as you said. He's more than happy to do that without much of a feeling out process too, which makes him that much more dangerous.

 

[Coyotexx***]

lol @ hitting like a LHW ..if he had said a WW that would be more believable that being said i wonder how much Mcgreg weighs on a normal day i think Porier is about 165? so hes probably around 170 himself

 

[GordaoPreguico]

Doesn't matter. Conor had the title shot locked up after KO'ing Poirier.

Mendes just lost - Edgar was facing Cub. Both guys have been beaten by Aldo. Conor made the most sense.

Almost 10 years ago a guy named Anderson Silva KO'd a fringe top 10 fighter in Chris Leben. They put the next title shot to a vote & the fans picked the Spider.

Essentially the fans have done the same thing [Except Conor Ko'd a top 5 guy]. They have voted Conor into a title shot in a division which is light on options [Aldo's beaten everyone].

I think you are misreading my post. I dont care if he gets the shot because I think Aldo starches him easily. What I am commenting on is that any other fighter would get laughed at for wanting a shot while beating low level competition. Im calling out some fans for being hypocrites more than anything.

PS - Silva was highly ranked before coming to the UFC. So it wasnt a surprise to see him get the shot even if it was fans voting for it.