Was Conor's second belt 'lucky'?

[Knuckledragger]

A little luck, a lot of skill, and a huge helping hand from matchmakers and the UFC.

 

[SpoonDogg]

Fuck yes. Khabib should have fought Eddie that night.

We all know the rest is history.

 

[pinero]

Was it luck he won? No
He was lucky to get a title shot though

You are pretty close , but he wasn't lucky getting the title shot, that was the result of his demeanor and his weird relationship with Dana, totally undeserved but not lucky

 

[slicebergjim]

Coincedentally I've just watched this fight back and in the cage that wasn't luck at all. It really looked like Eddie had no business at all being there with him. It was like a glorified sparring match where Conor just waited and picked his shots well without taking any damage in return. He gave a striking masterclass that night.

So no.

 

[BoD 2.0]

The Undergroung King is a legend but Conor was in the zone in that fight. It was his best performance by far IMO. Yep Cormier you are wrong Conor vs. Holloway was not his best performance. He clearly has less in the bag , than Anderson silva in terms of variety of strikes. But that was his peak fight. Since then he hasn't been an active MMA fighter. We won't see another performance from Conor that well executed for a belt ever again IMO. (More impressive to me than his win against Aldo; Still epic but he won early. In the Eddie fight we saw one fighter in the zone calmly destroying his opponent)

Eddie had nothing for him. Eddie is a legend but when he took the belt off of RDA. I thought that was a great moment but I never thought he would be able to hold onto it for long. I see that fight as Conor at the peak of his powers. Still not trying to undermine Eddie but he was a great stylistic matchup for a still young, hungry, driven Conor. If he takes another fight for Instance against Gaethje. I would have Gaethje winning.

He should have cherrypicked Cerrone when he was still on his streak and had name value if he wanted to get a high ranked win at LW with less risk. Still Conor vs Holloway/Aldo/Diaz(Now Masvidal if he wins the against Diaz) will always be there for him and all those fights would sell but at LW.... I don't see Khabib losing to Conor. Ferguson and Gaethje both win unless Conor can just revert back to his prior form and then still he would need to get an early finish. Poirier rematch he might be able to get the W. who knows? Problem is if he loses to Dustin in a glorified kickboxing fight with 4 ounce gloves he may finally actually see a real dip in his cult following.

Good post.

 

[stipeszn]

It wasn't lucky but...... if RDA hasn't got injured and pulled out of the fight with Conor I think RDA would have beaten him.
Nate coming in at late notice and winning meant a Nate rematch and not a RDA fight next for Conor, RDA fought Eddie while waiting and lost and then Conor beat Eddie.

So it wasn't luck that meant he beat Eddie but it was a sequence of events that led up to them fighting as it should never have really happened.

Khabib being injured, fat etc had nothing to do with it. Khabib was on the prelims when Conor beat Eddie.

I probably shouldn't have used lucky as the word, but what can I say, click bait works lol

Khabib had already beaten RDA by the time RDA won the title. You don't think he would've maintained that protection?

 

[stipeszn]

Coincedentally I've just watched this fight back and in the cage that wasn't luck at all. It really looked like Eddie had no business at all being there with him. It was like a glorified sparring match where Conor just waited and picked his shots well without taking any damage in return. He gave a striking masterclass that night.

So no.

In no way did I mean that Conor was lucky to beat Alvarez, I also recently watched the fight and it was an obliteration. What was lucky, or maybe a better word would be fortunate, was that the best lw in the world wasn't the champion when Conor challenged

 

[Airdack]

He fought a far superior wrestler who decided to strike with him, then proceeded to beat the hell out of him. Poor tactics by your opponent is not luck, but a chance to capitalize.

I guess you missed the parts where Alverez tried to take him down and couldn't. Conor's TDD isn't that bad tbh. If you measure the first round of his Khabib fight vs other opponents. Conor nearly reversed the first TD and defended again the cage well enough that Khabib didn't even get Conor's back to the mat until 30 seconds was left in the round.

Compare that to Dustin who has his back taken in like the first minute and Barboze (who is praised for his TDD) that got completely mauled the entire first round.

 

[Tweak896]

Would have been interesting to see khabib vs mcgregor at that moment pre-mayweather Conor was so focused and obsessed. I think if Conor could have caught khabib like dustin did he would have had a finish back then.

 

[Joe Myers]

Lucky? Not in the slightest. Unearned? Absolutely.

 

[Rea_ctor]

No, he went in there and made an absolute fool of the champion lol

 

[Pokemon24]

Eddie is a good fighter, but isn't even close to the caliber of Tony Khabib and Poirer now

 

[MMAMAX]

Totally, 100%.

0 fights at Lightweight in the UFC, instant title shot.

Refused to defend it, stripped of it, then battered when given a shot at it.

Most overrated fighter in MMA history.

Can’t really look at that in a vacuum.

 

[Herwald]

A win is a win.

 

[Taric]

The UFC wanted Conor to be the LW champion by vaulting Conor above Khabib for the belt by going 1-1 with Nate Diaz.

"In September, Nurmagomedov signed two contracts for a title shot against the reigning UFC Lightweight Champion, Eddie Alvarez, on either the UFC 205 or the UFC 206 fight card, with Dana White confirming the bout between the two for UFC 205.[54][55] However, on 26 September, the UFC announced that Alvarez would instead be defending the title against Conor McGregor.[56] Nurmagomedov voiced his displeasure on social media, calling Alvarez a "bullshit champ" for refusing the fight and opting for a bout with McGregor instead,[57] accusing the UFC of being a "freak show".[58]"

So Conor wasn't lucky, he was just privileged.

 

[sdpdude9]

Lucky? No. Fortunate? In a way.

He wasn’t lucky he beat Alvarez, he showed he was definitely superior.

Fortunate though in the sense that he got his title shot based on nothing and the timing worked out perfectly. RDA probably would have been a tougher challenge (although definitely not insurmountable) and if Khabib’s rise wasn’t delayed due to injuries, he very likely would have had a much tougher time getting the second belt.

 

[MRT]

it wasn't luck that saw him beat Eddie...but his path was certainly gifted af.

Does Conor win the LW title if he had to first defend at 145 and beat a couple of contenders at 155? I *highly* doubt it...especially when we remember that Khabib was one of those LW contenders.

 

[ClosetVitorFan]

No, that fight solidified Conor as a huge name and no doubt helped him get the mayweather fight and the proper 12 biz, dude is stupid rich and never has to fight again.

 

[locust rising]

- and RDA's and Eddie Alvarez's, Not in the sense that they won their title fights luckily, but in the sense that Khabib's stretch of injuries and inactivity throughout his early UFC career prevented him from reaching the title sooner. In a different universe, he never gets those injuries, and firmly places himself as champion before Mcgregor even gets the opportunity to go up and challenge.

also we wouldn't have to listen to bj fans pretend he's lw goat bc he has one more title defense, as if beating sherk, florian, and diego sanchez is more impressive than conor and dustin

Sherk is as good a victory as anything on khabib’s record.

 

[ferrisjso]

- and RDA's and Eddie Alvarez's, Not in the sense that they won their title fights luckily, but in the sense that Khabib's stretch of injuries and inactivity throughout his early UFC career prevented him from reaching the title sooner. In a different universe, he never gets those injuries, and firmly places himself as champion before Mcgregor even gets the opportunity to go up and challenge.

also we wouldn't have to listen to bj fans pretend he's lw goat bc he has one more title defense, as if beating sherk, florian, and diego sanchez is more impressive than conor and dustin

Conor and Eddie earned their titles especially Eddie. It is how they got title shots in the first place that's unmerited.