Media RDA sweeping Colby and Kamaru with a kimura

[ExitLUPin]

Absolutely, RDA is easily a top 7 all time LW and has some great wins at WW too. I think he was the first person in a long time to win rounds against Colby and Usman at the time as well. Very underrated fighter and I think he would have been a terrible match up for Conor and would have submitted him after beating up his legs.

He won a round or 2 against Leon as well.

RDA's WW fights

Saffiedine - Strikeforce champ, incredibly underrated
Magny - GOAT gatekeeper at WW
Robbie - former champ
Colby - interim champ
Kamaru - former champ
Lee - meh
Leon - current champ
Barberena - decent WW Just Bleed disciple nearly KOd Luque in one of the wildest WW fights, lost a close 29-28 to Leon dropped and almost KOd him bad closest Leon came to being finished

5-3 against that schedule is great. The Colby fight was RAZOR close some even thought RDA edged it. The close rounds Colby had him wall n stalled against the cage didnt do a whole lot.

 

[NoBiasJustMMA]

Objectively conors not the easiest matchup for rda either.

the first round he would have rda on the back foot where rda doesn’t excel.
Hes a accurate puncher and could catch rda in the mid range in the first couple rounds.

rdas chin is good but not diaz good, look at rdas record against heavy handed guys thats a large chunk of his loses is from big punchers.

The southpaw stance isn’t a huge factor that left hand was finding a home on dustin in all three fights.
And dustin is a much better boxer than rda especially off the back foot, rda has the leg kicks and wrestling but when conors fresh and pushing him back those kicks wont be easy to get off.

slightly favor rda but its not great matchup for him either objectively

I don't agree that RDA would be on the backfoot, that almost never happens in his fights and he's got good takedowns and a good clinch game. Dustin has better boxing than RDA but that's just fighting fire with fire. RDA is far more likely to neutralize Conor and then just finish him on the ground later. He has better kicks, clinch game and takedowns than Dustin.

 

[FlyingDeathKick]

RDA was in his prime as well and was a bad match up for Conor in a 25 minute fight.

I mean that's assuming it goes into the later rds. Outside of Holloway Conor never went the distance up to that point. Holloway and Nate are the only ones that went the distance with him. In the Holloway fight not only dod he tear his knee but Holloway's chin is legendary. Nate is also known for having an iron chin. RDA doesn't have a bad chin but it's not as good as Holloway's or Nate's.

Aldo had never been finished with strikes, Mendes was only finished by a knee from Aldo, Poirier had never been finished with strikes, Eddie had only been finished once with strikes in 32 fights before Conor and that was nearly 10 years prior.

Strong possibility that Conor would finish him inside the first 2 rds but of course if RDA survived he could potentially win in the later rds.

We will never know and the reason we won't know is RDA pulled out.

 

[NoBiasJustMMA]

I mean that's assuming it goes into the later rds. Outside of Holloway Conor never went the distance up to that point. Holloway and Nate are the only ones that went the distance with him. In the Holloway fight not only dod he tear his knee but Holloway's chin is legendary. Nate is also known for having an iron chin. RDA doesn't have a bad chin but it's not as good as Holloway's or Nate's.

Aldo had never been finished with strikes, Mendes was only finished by a knee from Aldo, Poirier had never been finished with strikes, Eddie had only been finished once with strikes in 32 fights before Conor and that was nearly 10 years prior.

Strong possibility that Conor would finish him inside the first 2 rds but of course if RDA survived he could potentially win in the later rds.

We will never know and the reason we won't know is RDA pulled out.

Holloway was really green at that time, I wouldn't take much from that fight. Holloway and Nate have no offensive grappling threat on the feet, those guys never go for takedowns, you're not looking at the whole picture in your breakdown, you're just focusing on the striking and not how every other aspect of MMA factors in together.

Pretty sure the news at the time was that RDA had a broken foot.

 

[FlyingDeathKick]

I think you're totally ignoring how the stances of the fighters changes this match up and RDA's kicks, cardio, great chin and wrestling/BJJ factors in.

Eddie being an orthodox fighter and being an aggressive brawler who doesn't mix in takedowns, kicks or the clinch much made Conor a bad match up for him. RDA is the opposite of that, he's a southpaw that pretty much every fight mixes up low kicks, takedowns, clinch fighting.

Yeah the southpaw part is a challenge, would have been nice if somebody showed up to the fight. Then we wouldn't have to speculate. I think anybody that says confidently 1 guy would have destroyed the other is nuts. Too many possibilities. I'm leaning Conor but of course RDA could have potentially won as well.

I still think RDA is a better fighter than RDA and would beat Eddie more times than not. If he would have recovered I think he would have rallied back to beat Eddie. Eddie won the only way he could imo which was by tko. In a decision it's RDA all day.

 

[shortlefthook]

I don't agree that RDA would be on the backfoot, that almost never happens in his fights and he's got good takedowns and a good clinch game. Dustin has better boxing than RDA but that's just fighting fire with fire. RDA is far more likely to neutralize Conor and then just finish him on the ground later. He has better kicks, clinch game and takedowns than Dustin.

I cant think of a single fight that conor didn’t start the first round pressuring forward.
I can think of multiple where rda has been on the back foot in the first round like the lawler fight.

rda doesn’t have huge power and conor is very imposing the first couple rounds.

 

[NoBiasJustMMA]

Yeah the southpaw part is a challenge, would have been nice if somebody showed up to the fight. Then we wouldn't have to speculate. I think anybody that says confidently 1 guy would have destroyed the other is nuts. Too many possibilities. I'm leaning Conor but of course RDA could have potentially won as well.

I still think RDA is a better fighter than RDA and would beat Eddie more times than not. If he would have recovered I think he would have rallied back to beat Eddie. Eddie won the only way he could imo which was by tko. In a decision it's RDA all day.

lol, I'm in disagreement with you again, Eddie beats RDA more times than not due to the style match up. I don't think RDA could take Eddie down or keep him against the cage and clinch fight well enough to win most of the time.

 

[NoBiasJustMMA]

I cant think of a single fight that conor didn’t start the first round pressuring forward.
I can think of multiple where rda has been on the back foot in the first round like the lawler fight.

rda doesn’t have huge power and conor is very imposing the first couple rounds.

RDA doesn't need huge power to back people up, his whole style is built around pressure striking and grappling. Other than his WW fights and guys like Khabib and Tibau he's been the guy coming forward in most of his fights most of the time.

 

[Yep]

Based RDA. Anyone, anytime. One of the toughest schedules ever. One of the greatest LWs ever doing this to 2 of the top WWs of this era. All time P4P badass.

I’m always available for some RDA respect.

 

[Noraaq]

RDA proved that Khabibs grappling is much higher level than Usman and Colby

 

[FlyingDeathKick]

lol, I'm in disagreement with you again, Eddie beats RDA more times than not due to the style match up.

I just feel like RDA is much better everywhere outside of power. Eddie wouldn't be able to keep up with RDA's pace imo.

 

[Substance Abuse]

The RDA that got finished by Eddie (who had absolutely nothing for Conor)? Nate was a last minute opponent change (because RDA pulled out) and even tho Nate is not the best fighter he is underrated and typically only loses to fighters that implement a certain style (wrestling and leg kicks).

RDA had the perfect style to beat Nate but Conor did not. Aside from when Thomson caught him with a head kick and the Masvidal fight (he was starting to come on but they stopped it because of a cut) nobody else has beaten him in a standup fight.

Conor is a striker who imo has underrated tdd, Khabib got him down but Khabib is Khabib. I think Conor would have lit RDA up, it's a matter of whether or not RDA could weather the storm.

I think you're also forgetting the fact that RDA passed out for a few minutes before the Alvarez fight yet still took it. I'm not trying to hate on Eddie who's career is stellar and will always be underrated on these boards due to that Conor blowout, but RDA was compromised. His grappling is top tier in his prime. It isn't as elite as some others but it was good enough.

 

[Islam Imamate]

Based RDA. Anyone, anytime. One of the toughest schedules ever. One of the greatest LWs ever doing this to 2 of the top WWs of this era. All time P4P badass.

Friendly reminder that this win in 2018 over RDA is the last time Colby beat someone who wasn't coming off two losses.

 

[shortlefthook]

RDA doesn't need huge power to back people up, his whole style is built around pressure striking and grappling. Other than his WW fights and guys like Khabib and Tibau he's been the guy coming forward in most of his fights most of the time.

Exactly my point early on rda wont be pressure striking because conor is simply longer and more imposing early on.
Until conor starts to gas theres nothing forcing him to fight on the backfoot.
Hes longer and will keep rda on the end of his punches until he starts to feel resistance and tire.
He will pretty much have to get conors respect early and theres nothing rda brings to the table early to stop conor from pressing him back unless he takes him down, even leg kicks wont take effect until the second round.
its a matter if he can weather the storm.
I think he does more times than not, but i think the opening round looks the same most the time and thats conor marching forward mounting offense and rda trying to get his game going and until then hes in danger.

 

[ExitLUPin]

Friendly reminder that this win in 2018 over RDA is the last time Colby beat someone who wasn't coming off two losses.

And wasn't in their late 30s either.

 

[Liverkick-king56]

lol, I'm in disagreement with you again, Eddie beats RDA more times than not due to the style match up. I don't think RDA could take Eddie down or keep him against the cage and clinch fight well enough to win most of the time.

RDA seemed to really make Eddie uncomfortable with those feints.
RDA sadly doesn't have great defence off his backfoot and Eddie blasted him before he could fully set up shop and range.

As a RDA fan I think Eddie got lucky but obviously I'm biased. Eddie's lack of footwork would let RDA excel like he did against a stationary Pettis IMO.

 

[Liverkick-king56]

Exactly my point early on rda wont be pressure striking because conor is simply longer and more imposing early on.
Until conor starts to gas theres nothing forcing him to fight on the backfoot.
Hes longer and will keep rda on the end of his punches until he starts to feel resistance and tire.
He will pretty much have to get conors respect early and theres nothing rda brings to the table early to stop conor from pressing him back unless he takes him down, even leg kicks wont take effect until the second round.
its a matter if he can weather the storm.
I think he does more times than not, but i think the opening round looks the same most the time and thats conor marching forward mounting offense and rda trying to get his game going and until then hes in danger.

RDA at LW was a heavy hitter in his prime, he broke Pettis, dropped Cerrone and finished him in 2 different fights, finished Bendo with strikes and beat the living hell out of Diaz being the only guy to slap Diaz back<45>

He's older now but in his prime he was a physical freak with some good power. That clinch could be enough to slow McGregor down.

 

[Luckyme]

Based RDA. Anyone, anytime. One of the toughest schedules ever. One of the greatest LWs ever doing this to 2 of the top WWs of this era. All time P4P badass.

Both Usman and Colby have sus BJJ. Leon kept giving him his back because Usman never once attempted a submission. Colby, who’s been subbed before, rode Masvidal for 25 minutes and didn’t get close to locking in a sub. Khabib had a complete ground game: takedowns + control + submissions while Colby and Usman are more or less pure wrestlers who went on to develop decent striking.

This would explain why Colby ducked Burns who’s even more dangerous than RDA on the ground.

 

[GoshiShun17]

I disagree, Conor has a much harder time landing his left hands on fellow southpaws and his wide stance left him open to low kicks. I think RDA would have landed low kicks on him and would close the distance to the clinch and repeat until he took Conor down and would eventually submit or TKO him on the ground in a 5 round fight.

People forget how he dogged Pettis. RDA Would have most likely grinded Conor out, and submitted him.

 

[GoshiShun17]

Again... that was one fight.

You can't MMA math your way into Conor being a threat to top LW's when he went 1-3 in division and got bettered by Nathan Diaz.

Nick Thompson beat Eddie as well. Does this mean he can beat RDA?

Not to mention RDA dogged Nate as well. Eddie Alvarez wasn't supposed to win that fight but he has power.