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Serious question which I don't think many have asked.
It's a well known fact that the early losses by submission led to him taking more of an interest in BJJ as a martial art. Many Conor haters like myself like to criticise his grappling, and as much as I don't think it's anywhere close to elite, I do believe he improved in that area since those early losses.
That said, I've never really paid much thought to how his striking developed. You watch some of his earlier bouts and he still seems pretty slick in that area. It almost seems like he somewhat had that skillset before he arrived in MMA. I know he supposedly had amateur boxing experience, but who ever knows how true those credentials are. It appears that everyone and their mother has a golden gloves title these days.
Conor is also renowned for his karate, in and out, style. I can pretty much guarantee that he didn't develop that style in a boxing gym, or from a boxing-centric trainer. He also doesn't have much of a striking presence in his gym with John Kavanagh being a BJJ based coach. I know former-MMA fighter Owen Roddy is his pad-man and somewhat of a striking coach now, but from what I've seen of his training clips and his own bouts he is pretty orthodox with his strikes - nothing of the karate variety.
Honestly, the only karate presence I've seen within 100 metres of Conor is Gunnar Nelson. I know they are teammates but I wouldn't jump to the conclusion that Gunnar taught or influenced this style upon him, but I'm not privy to any other explanation. Perhaps Conor had a karate mentor during his childhood?
It's a well known fact that the early losses by submission led to him taking more of an interest in BJJ as a martial art. Many Conor haters like myself like to criticise his grappling, and as much as I don't think it's anywhere close to elite, I do believe he improved in that area since those early losses.
That said, I've never really paid much thought to how his striking developed. You watch some of his earlier bouts and he still seems pretty slick in that area. It almost seems like he somewhat had that skillset before he arrived in MMA. I know he supposedly had amateur boxing experience, but who ever knows how true those credentials are. It appears that everyone and their mother has a golden gloves title these days.
Conor is also renowned for his karate, in and out, style. I can pretty much guarantee that he didn't develop that style in a boxing gym, or from a boxing-centric trainer. He also doesn't have much of a striking presence in his gym with John Kavanagh being a BJJ based coach. I know former-MMA fighter Owen Roddy is his pad-man and somewhat of a striking coach now, but from what I've seen of his training clips and his own bouts he is pretty orthodox with his strikes - nothing of the karate variety.
Honestly, the only karate presence I've seen within 100 metres of Conor is Gunnar Nelson. I know they are teammates but I wouldn't jump to the conclusion that Gunnar taught or influenced this style upon him, but I'm not privy to any other explanation. Perhaps Conor had a karate mentor during his childhood?
