Mcgregor's ground game is underrated

[Sexy Jesus]

You're right TS.

Most MMA fans think McGregor has NO ground game when he has, in fact, a bad one!

 

[Paynebringer]

Nate Diaz has the 2nd most submission wins in UFC history. He is also the naturally bigger man yet Conor easily prevented him from taking him down in their 2nd fight. Even in the first fight Nate easily got swept in the 1st round. It was only when Conor hit a wall and completely gassed in the 2nd that he got subbed.

Also Mcgregor's first submission loss was to a guy who's 15 wins were all by submission and 14 of them in the 1st round. And eveyone knows his 2nd loss by sub to Duffy. 10 of Duffy's 15 wins are by submission.

And after he blew out his acl against Holloway, he took the fight to the ground and basically beasted Holloway for the rest of the fight.

His ground game is underrated.

edit: more proof that its underrated ---> http://forums.sherdog.com/threads/mcgregors-ground-game-is-underrated.3327349/page-4#post-120646695

 

[Paynebringer]

Even his stand up isn't that great. He's a good boxer has great timing and hits hard, but the fact that he just seriously started training leg kicks for the 202 fight says enough. His spinning kicks are also garbage... He barley ever lands them. But having said that he's been very effective with his current skill set.

Agreed, agreed, agreed! For the longest time I've been saying them spin and look pretty in the mirror kicks are great for your next action movie role but for the cage leave that sh!t home. Unless you can execute like Edson Barboza don't do it. Conor had to look at RDA chop kicks to see how to cut down Nate and he himself came out on crutches, takes time to practice real kicks in real time, in a real fight.

 

[dmwalking]

Nah I think he's rated fairly. Also, takedown defense is not ground game. But maybe you're right. He did use a nice x guard sweep on nate the first time around.

 

[VirginNose]

Im a diaz fan but preventing the takedown from diaz says nothing, his wrestling is horrible

 

[Bruno César]

Based on what??????

The fact he's been tapped out 3 times? Or the fact he offers no submission threat himself? Or the fact his takedown defence is garbage vs decent wrestlers?

You're just guessing/reaching/hoping.

hater.

 

[Vil7]

Stopping Nate Diaz' take downs isn't indicative of good takedown defense. A UFC fighter stopping the Diaz brother's takedowns is almost a given.

 

[Paynebringer]

People can't attack Conors stand-up. So that's why they focus so much on his ground game (or lack of it).

He holds his hands too low and gets hit quite a bit for guy who's always talking about movement, and will pay for it @LW

I find it kind of funny how people can actually think that McGregor's groundgame outright sucks when his main coach is a BJJ blackbelt and one of the better grapplers in Europe (first ever Irishman awarded a black belt) , and one of his main training partners is Gunnar Nelson who is a highly decorated grappler.

Conor's coach is Bjj blackbelt and one of better grapplers in Europe, his training partner Gunnar Nelson is a highly decorated grappler, so this means Conor is instantly good by association?

 

[caligo]

Conor's coach is Bjj blackbelt and one of better grapplers in Europe, his training partner Gunnar Nelson is a highly decorated grappler, so this means Conor is instantly good by association?

No, it means he's probably at least decent because those are the people he trains with. Like how it would not be that far fetched to assume that someone who is coached by Winklejohn and acts as one of Jones' main training partners has at least decent standup skills. And if Kavanagh has managed to produce one highly successful grappler in Nelson, is it then really that outlandish to assume that the other high level fighter he trains also has some resemblance of a ground game? Does not mean McGregor is automatically a BJJ wiz, but it would be really weird if he didn't have at least good fundamentals with that level of coaching and sparring.

 

[Paynebringer]

No, it means he's probably at least decent because those are the people he trains with. Like how it would not be that far fetched to assume that someone who is coached by Winklejohn and acts as one of Jones' main training partners has at least decent standup skills. And if Kavanagh has managed to produce one highly successful grappler in Nelson, is it then really that outlandish to assume that the other high level fighter he trains also has some resemblance of a ground game? Does not mean McGregor is automatically a BJJ wiz, but it would be really weird if he didn't have at least good fundamentals with that level of coaching and sparring.

It all depends on the individual wouldn't you say? Conor strikes as the kind of martial artist who enjoys working on the stuff that he's already good at striking & speed, but does just enough work on the things he don't enjoy as much wrestling, grappling, jiu jitsu, ground, cardio, and it shows when he actually is forced to fight. I think Conor trains with yes men who tell him what he wants to her, instead of what he needz to hear.

 

[Unbanned_unreformed]

Nate Diaz has the 2nd most submission wins in UFC history(Royce Gracie has the most). He is also the naturally bigger man yet Conor easily prevented him from taking him down in their 2nd fight. Even in the first fight Nate easily got swept in the 1st round. It was only when Conor hit a wall and completely gassed in the 2nd that he got subbed.

Also Mcgregor's first submission loss was to a guy who's 15 wins were all by submission and 14 of them in the 1st round. And eveyone knows his 2nd loss by sub to Duffy. 10 of Duffy's 15 wins are by submission.

And after he blew out his acl against Holloway, he took the fight to the ground and basically beasted Holloway for the rest of the fight.

His ground game is underrated.

edit: more proof that its underrated ---> http://forums.sherdog.com/threads/mcgregors-ground-game-is-underrated.3327349/page-4#post-120646695

So you prove his ground game is underrated by teaching us he has good takedown defence?

 

[Kelman]

Yeah I get that, but when he has more submission wins over guys like that, he's right up there with the top grapplers that the sport has ever seen.

No he isnt. Not at all. Nate clearly is not on the Maia/Jacare level. Clearly not. Not even Nate himself would make such a crazy claim. You are talking bull.

 

[Kelman]

hater.

Nope.

Truth-teller. Educator. Fanboy regulator.

 

[Deleted member 359865]

He "swept" Nate now he's a BJJ black belt..

Lmao!

 

[caligo]

It all depends on the individual wouldn't you say? Conor strikes as the kind of martial artist who enjoys working on the stuff that he's already good at striking & speed, but does just enough work on the things he don't enjoy as much wrestling, grappling, jiu jitsu, ground, cardio, and it shows when he actually is forced to fight. I think Conor trains with yes men who tell him what he wants to her, instead of what he needz to hear.

Well in this case, the individual in question is someone who is by all accounts really gifted when it comes to picking up physical stuff in general and training with a good grappling instructor as his main coach. But we really don't need to guess what his mentality is like. Take for example this clip of Eddie Bravo talking about McGregors mentality when it comes to grappling. McGregor's coaches and training aprtners might talk up his abilities, but there's really no reason for Eddie to make something like this up:

I haven't rolled with McGregor, I have no way to say for sure if his ground game is actually good (not that I'd be able to hold my own rolling with anyone of that caliber, but you get my point). But my educated guess is that it's not that bad, and there are lots of things that make this guess a reasonable one: him training in a good environment for picking up BJJ skills, doing quite well on the ground with Holloway, being able to pull of some high-level stuff like that butterfly sweep he hit both Nate and Mendez with, and of course anecdotes such as the one delivered by Bravo above. McGregor does not really go to the ground that much in his fights and mostly uses his grappling to get back to his feet, so we haven't really seen much of his ground game. And him being submitted by Nate Diaz does not really tell us anything, since that fate has also befallen many fighters with really good BJJ – it's would be like saying Nelson's grappling sucks just because he was dominated by Maia.

 

[MagnusGOAT]

- Has been tapped early 3 times by very basic submissions.

- Offers no submission threat himself.

- Takedown defence was awful the only time he ever faced a top wrestler (that he probably outweighed by 20lbs)


Nah, it isnt underrated at all. It's a clear weakness in his game. You're a biased fan is all.

Mendes is probably the best pure wrestler that ever competed at 145... maybe even 155.

 

[NotoriousMillions]

Of course it's underrated.

There can only be so many experts that praises Conor's grappling, compared to the thousands of bums watching since 196, that are all of a sudden grappling experts.

It's really easy to sit there and say Conor was tapped out here or taken down here, but understanding why, and why he wasn't stopped in another situation is a different story these twerps don't understand. And the fact that he's not a very attack-oriented grappler, and rarely chooses to grapple anyways clouds a lot of novices judgements about what he can and can't do. You don't have to be submission artist to be a great grappler.

But Conor is no grappling wizard, and probably never will be. He possesses enough to keep him around as a top fighter though, and shows a lot of high level technique in certain areas. Some areas he's weaker in such as defending the double-leg and side-control.

He's a solid grappler. About what you'd expect out of a very athletic brown belt.

 

[Kelman]

Mendes is probably the best pure wrestler that ever competed at 145... maybe even 155.

You really think a 145lbs Mendes (clearly undersized at that weight) could outwrestle a 155lbs Nurmagomedov??

I think BS.

Also, Mendes could do nothing vs Aldo in terms of wrestling, so it's not like he was invincible in that sphere. His TD game could be negated if you were good enough. Which Aldo was. Which Conor definitely wasnt.

 

[Big Tuppy Hole]

Jake shields said it was under rated too only haters say it's not...hes no Damien Maia but he's also no frank Trigg either lol

I know Frank is a great wrestler

 

[MagnusGOAT]

You really think a 145lbs Mendes (clearly undersized at that weight) could outwrestle a 155lbs Nurmagomedov??

I think BS.

Also, Mendes could do nothing vs Aldo in terms of wrestling, so it's not like he was invincible in that sphere. His TD game could be negated if you were good enough. Which Aldo was. Which Conor definitely wasnt.

Aldo has the best TDD from 155 and down. Khabib would struggle with Aldo.

Also, Khabib is a better grappler and has much more control over fighters, but he doesn't have the pure takedown game of Mendes.