Nate's Southpaw stance will be a problem for Conor

Good heavens.....the font,please someone ban this slime green font typing mow-ron.
 
JayElectra said:
If there is one thing that Conor hasn't shown while bludgeoning FWs on the feet, it's a consistent threat with his lead hand. He mostly paws with it to set up his left hand and, on occasion, throws a lead uppercut with it. Now, that's when he was a southpaw fighting orthodox fighters. When he fought Poirier, it played very little part in the fight, as well, and Conor took some decent shots and some good lowkicks in that fight, but once he had Poirier willing to stand in the pocket with him, that fight was over. The fact that Nate is a taller southpaw with a half decent lead hand might cause some problems for Conor. On the other hand, Nate isn't particularly difficult to counter, or to hit in any context, so the openings will be there for Conor, but Nate's very durable, bigger than Conor, and throws with a high volume. One would expect Conor to light Nate up, but if he doesn't really hurt Nate early, I can see him getting hit a lot himself.
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Conor's lead hand game is tailored for MMA. He likes to hand trap a lot to remove his opponent's jab, anticipates the cross, slips and comes back with his cross. He smothers their lead hand and takes it away. He did this to Holloway, a taller lanky opponent and to many others (Buchinger, Mendes etc). He does have a good jab but like you said he mostly paws with it or throws it still in a pawing fashion to distract just before he throws his left cross or hook. Against Poirier he pumped a double feint off the lead hand as if he was going to jab to freeze Dustin up and then cracked him with that left hook that ended his night. Against Aldo the second strike Conor threw was his jab to the chest which pushed Jose back. He threw his left with no setup, Aldo slipped, Conor dipped with his chin tucked behind his lead shoulder and pushed him away with his jab to avoid the return fire and to create space. When he had Chad against the fence as he was going for the finish he used his lead right hook to cut off Chad's escape route to his left and to simultaneously steer him into a hard left body kick to his right.

I think we'll see Conor use his lead uppercut-left cross combination against Nate to get inside since we saw him use it plenty against Holloway along with hand trapping to take away Nate's jab. I wouldn't be surprised if Conor changes levels and jabs Nate to the chest a good bit either to stifle and potentially frustrate him. But I don't think this will just be an MMA boxing match, I think Conor will utilize his kicks as well, especially his lead leg lowline sidekick to keep Nate from advancing and to control range as he starts to walk him down, landing while also looking to counter off of Nate's offense. I'm sure we'll see some body shots too and not just to the chest with his lead hand but also his left cross to soften Nate up and open him up even more. Some low to high and maybe high to low attacks with kicks mixed in is what I think we may see and Conor likes to open with kicks, which Nate won't like. I don't think Nate will react well to Conor's linear leg kicks, switch kick to the body or his spinning back kicks which are aimed to the head and body (chest and stomach).
 
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can you guys just ignore the annoying font kid? or maybe a mod will deal with it
 
Faceplanter said:
Volume is inefficient, you do realize this, right? It's a long term strategy and against a one-punch KO artist it's not a good thing. Add in the difference in standup skill and it makes the chances of Conor landing the big shot (or combination) higher. Nate has a basic 1-2 that he drills over and over and uses at range throwing it with terrible posture where he actually throws himself off balance often and dips his down down when he does. Not good for him against such a precise striker with the countering ability and timing Conor has.
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Hey I'm calling a McGregor TKO but I will say it comes in the third. I expect a very competitive first round and won't be surprised if Diaz wins round one. From what I've seen Connor hasn't fight someone who longer and has the reach and boxing advantage. Plus the Diaz style is very unique.
 
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Bend NvR Break said:
Hey I'm calling a McGregor TKO but I will say it comes in the third. I expect a very competitive first round and seeing be surprised if Diaz wins round one. From what I've seen Connor hasn't fight someone who longer and has the reach and boxing advantage. Plus the Diaz style is very unique.
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McGregor has never fought a guy as large with Diaz's reach and skill. This is true, however, I don't give Nate any advantage in the standup at all. He's a high volume striker (boxer mostly) but McGregor is a high output fighter himself but with considerably more power and cleaner striking + variety. Nate's never fought a guy with Conor's footwork, which is excellent. Conor's never fought such a unique striker with his punches in bunches style. But cardio will dictate how long Nate can use that style of fighting and Nate didn't even have a fight camp, despite him supposedly training for a triathlon previously.

Nick and Nate's style is reminiscent of Calzaghe's who was ultra high output with his volume and utilized little power per punch to overwhelm other boxers, he was all about speed and volume. He'd mix some of his slapping shots in with harder ones, similarly, but Calzaghe's boxing skill was legit and he retired as an undefeated champion. He had the footwork and technique along with cardio for days to accompany it though.

I wouldn't call Nate a legitimate boxer but that's just me. He lacks too many of the most important fundamentals for me to consider him as someone that could be defined as a genuinely skilled boxer. But, his style has proven effective so far but that was against fighters that don't have Conor's boxing skill and altogether technical precision striking. This fight certainly could get interesting if it does go to the 3rd round or beyond but I'm not expecting it to. Conor's too dangerous to stand with for that long and Nate isn't exactly Pernell Whitaker with his defense.
 
Gilgamesh_astronaut said:
Unfortunate word choice you use there. While Conor certainly bested Dustin in an athletic competition, he clearly didn't sexually abuse him. Why so many people equate athletic dominance with sexual abuse is really an indictment of our society, and of the people who think as such. Keep it clean, and I'm talking about your thoughts, for they become your actions.
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Don't be ignorant. It is used like that because it comes from the term being used as such throughout history. The "rape" of Nanking, "rape " and pillage. The usage is similar here, McGregor didn't rape him in the sexual sense, but he did utterly dismantle him.
 
Fullmount Triangle said:
This is a valid post. Conor got dinged several times by Poirier and Brimage before eventually capitalizing on their over aggressive face leading. McGregor's game is built around stifling an orthodox opponent's lead hand and leg so they lash out with their rear hand and he can counter, It isn't there with Diaz or any southpaw really.
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Someone who knows what they are talking about.
 
Nate has limited ways to win this fight.

1) Constant pressure and closing the distance - make Conor uncomfortable and/or disheartened and then pick him apart.

2) Work for an opportunity to take it to the ground and then rely on the hope that Conor has no defense for solid BJJ.

I don't personally see either of these happening. Conor is not Michael Johnson and he's certainly not Donald Cerrone. Nate is a basic boxer with very few angles. I think Conor is going to pick him apart in the first and second and finish him in the third.
 
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