No kicks from Conor

[Readybodisready]

That left kick to the body is one of his best weapons. The only kicks I saw from him were those useless energy draining flash moves that missed. Diaz is open to them and attacking the body is something he really needed against the cardio machine. All Conor was interested in was finishing it with one big left which wasn't working. He had too much pride and wanted to beat Diaz at his own game. Should have kicked and paced himself, probably could have gotten a late doctor stoppage win.

 

[Jay philips]

So instead of gassing out and quitting your saying he lost because he did not throw kicks?

 

[Exbawks]

Conor doesn't need to make excuses when he has nuthugger fans to do it for him.

 

[Troublesome10]

Conor doesn't kick especially hard. They are quick but not especially powerful. I've never seen him throw round kicks to the body either, only front kicks, that, while actually very useful in mma generally, probably aren't going to slow Diaz down that much, and they make Conor susceptible to getting a leg caught and taken down- the LAST thing he wanted to have happen against Diaz (as the fight proved).
For all of his flash, Conor's kicking game is still not that good. His capoeira kicks looked pretty clumsy and ineffective to me. Even the casuals I watched with noticed this. His bread and butter is, and always will be his hands.

 

[UPAZWITTS]

Maybe he should have spent time with you developing a game plan instead of playing grab ass in the park with the dork.

 

[squatchi26]

hard to kick when your getting bitch slapped

 

[KONE]

Conor bought into his own hype and thought he could flash KO Nate Diaz within 1 round.

 

[carrythezero]

Maybe he should have spent time with you developing a game plan instead of playing grab ass in the park with the dork.

He never played grab ass. He played touch butt.

 

[Huligani]

That "left kick to the body" wasn't there against southpaw Diaz.

 

[Davemeddlehed]

That left kick to the body is one of his best weapons. The only kicks I saw from him were those useless energy draining flash moves that missed. Diaz is open to them and attacking the body is something he really needed against the cardio machine. All Conor was interested in was finishing it with one big left which wasn't working. He had too much pride and wanted to beat Diaz at his own game. Should have kicked and paced himself, probably could have gotten a late doctor stoppage win.

Or maybe his kicks really aren't as good as alot of his fans thought they were. Lots of posters saw his kicks as little more than a way to control range, as well as keep the opponent guessing, but how many kicks has Conor even landed to this point in his UFC career?

 

[SmilinDesperado]

I agree with you, TS. This was driving me nuts as I watched the fight. Conor can kick, and the only time he threw any was when he was doing the dumb spinning wheel kicks--just wasted a shit ton of energy for nothing. After he got rocked, he should have been throwing kicks so that he could get some range and recover...instead he just went face first into Nate's fists.
I don't know why he wasn't throwing better kicks. As he said, he wasn't being efficient at all. He just kept throwing big power shots that missed a lot. The Diaz bros are notorious for not checking kicks. He should have worn him down, but I think he simply got way too cocky and thought he could finish him with his fists.

 

[Nelly]

Even if he threw the kick Nate would have countered with the 1,2. His kicks aren't as dangerous as Pettis, RDA, or Cerrone. And it was southpaw against southpaw.

 

[Fatal Catro]

He threw plenty of kicks, most just happened to miss.

 

[UPAZWITTS]

He never played grab ass. He played touch butt.

It was clearly a strenuous game of grab ass, Nate was just being PC because he doesn't like to curse.

 

[TRYHARD 2001]

Really thought McG would've taken a page out of RDA's book and brought the pain with big roundhouse leg kicks to Nate's lead leg. He landed one in the first, then stopped bothering. Really would've liked to see him stick with that, as the Diaz boys just do not check leg kicks.

 

[HI SCOTT NEWMAN]

those spinning roundhouse kicks waste so much energy, it was sapping his energy. they rarely land in fights and always hit air, just a waste of energy. occasionally they land but its not often.

 

[Auscon]

Dos Anjos laid out a perfect blueprint for beating Nate. Even if Conor had leg kicks of the same quality as Dos Anjos, which he doesn't, no way he would've risked post fight talk 'just did the same thing Dos Anjos did, where was that left your opponents supposedly can't take' etc

 

[Readybodisready]

Lol the haters just aren't gonna allow any technical discussion huh. There's plenty of threads where both sides can have their moan-fest. We're talking about one of Conor's best weapons, pretending that the Mendes fight never happened where it was on full display is just putting your head in the sand. Diaz' weakness has always been kicks. His legs have been destroyed and he got KTFO by Thompson landing it on his iron head.

 

[Readybodisready]

Dos Anjos laid out a perfect blueprint for beating Nate. Even if Conor had leg kicks of the same quality as Dos Anjos, which he doesn't, no way he would've risked post fight talk 'just did the same thing Dos Anjos did, where was that left your opponents supposedly can't take' etc

It would obviously be him mixing it up, he's a well rounded striker after all. All Conor did was swing wildly with that left going for the homerun. I can see him beating Diaz in a gameplan where he paces himself, moves a lot, attacks the body and legs more than the head and occasionally goes for the hard left which will make sure blood starts pouring into Nate's eyes due to all that scar tissue, while the kicks to the body and legs will undermine Diaz' timing and crazy gas tank. Conor essentially fought Diaz the worst possible way he could have.

 

[Troublesome10]

Really thought McG would've taken a page out of RDA's book and brought the pain with big roundhouse leg kicks to Nate's lead leg. He landed one in the first, then stopped bothering. Really would've liked to see him stick with that, as the Diaz boys just do not check leg kicks.

When has Conor ever thrown hard round kicks? He throws that TaeKwonDo-style kick that's fast but not ultra powerful. He's not that hard a kicker. He could've kicked Diaz's leg all day and never slowed him down enough to make significant difference. You wanna see a guy throw a hard leg kick? RDA.