Why can’t we respect Conor’s huge Accomplishments at Featherweight?

[mahavishnunj]

From what I remember Conor is an undefeated UFC FW who finished one of The guys fighting next week.

He took out José Aldo in one shot, he finished almost all his opponents.

Conor looked unstoppable at FW and fought top competition all the way through.

He only got destroyed at WW and LW.

Why can’t we just remember Conor as one of the greatest FW of all time who got a bit too ambitious?

this is a real thread? really?

 

[JabToucher]

He made short work of Poirier.

 

[TheChosenOne]

The guy who's fighting next week isn't the same as the one Conor beat for starters.

 

[GoshiShun17]

Also he eliminated himself from the GOAT convo. He had a historic run at 145. Just didn't/couldn't stick around long enough.

 

[El Fernas]

Great run, tainted by his running away to LW once he got the belt and never defending it.

Having said that, beating Siver to get the title shot was ridiculous.

 

[Hardkore]

without a doubt the best career trajectory financially he could've taken tho

He could've fought Frankie but Nate at 170 was the tougher fight stylistically. Edgar would've took him down and beat him up for a round and got slept most likely, similar to Chad.

I won't dispute that, but im not going to respect his accomplishments at FW. Yes he took out Aldo in stunning fashion, but that's all I'll concede

 

[fedoriswar37]

without a doubt the best career trajectory financially he could've taken tho

He could've fought Frankie but Nate at 170 was the tougher fight stylistically. Edgar would've took him down and beat him up for a round and got slept most likely, similar to Chad.

Eddie was the easier fight than Frankie stylistically but It was originally supposed to be RDA. I value taking the tougher fights In a higher weight class over defending, for any fighter really.

The logic would make sense if it were not defending to take easier fights. Not challenging for a title In another weight class though.

But I wouldn't call him the FW goat either since he left too quick

Nate was the easiest fight he could take. Everybody knew it. Even Conor said it was. Nate was just skinnyfat.

 

[Davis Pingree]

He didn't finish Holloway.

He won every second of every rd though. With a torn acl half way through round 2 for all the people calling him a quitter let's see you tear your acl/mcl and fight for 8 mins and win the whole time .

 

[MescalineDreams]

I won't dispute that, but im not going to respect his accomplishments at FW. Yes he took out Aldo in stunning fashion, but that's all I'll concede

Aldo was a good win. Chad was probably more Impressive overall just with the Injury, skeletor weight cut and genuine heart he showed. Think that was the first fight where I really became a fan of him as a fighter. Legit got the shit beat out of him and just kept talking shit, coming forward. It was Diaz esque, lol.

but yeah, his accomplishments were good, didn't stay long enough to warrant FW goat or anything like that though.

 

[Beans & Cornbread]

Volkanovsky and Zabit would beat him down. Just never had the push the UFC gave Conor. Conor is the male Rousey. Ortega probably taps him. Max would wreck him in his current form, any weight class. You marks are the target audience.

 

[LockardTheGOAT]

Great run, tainted by his running away to LW once he got the belt and never defending it.

Having said that, beating Siver to get the title shot was ridiculous.

It wasn't about Siver specifically, just that he was on an impressive run of five straight victories in a row that warranted pushing him into title contention. He was the most dominant Featherweight at the time, bar none.

 

[Rondas Pillow]

Agree -some of the highlights:

His war against Frankie
The rematch against Aldo
Defending against a full camp Mendes

 

[LockardTheGOAT]

Nate was the easiest fight he could take. Everybody knew it. Even Conor said it was. Nate was just skinnyfat.

Well, he wanted Aldo and Edgar first, but they both turned him down (Aldo because he needed more time to prepare, Edgar because of a rib injury.) Diaz was the third choice.

 

[fedoriswar37]

Winning a belt in a spectacular fashion and then leaving the division without defending leaves a sour taste in peoples mouths when talking about legacy . Especially when your moving up experiment fails and you still dont come defend or vacate the belt .

 

[ExitLUPin]

Chad, Aldo and Poirier were his only top wins at the weight. Siver was an 11-15 guy. Brandao and Brimage were nobodies. Max was 20yo, in his 3rd year of MMA, had just lost to Bermudez and wasnt even top 30 ranked

Chad was the only wrestler he fought and on very short notice and was beating him down for most of the fight. He managed to avoid guys like Bermudez, Lamas, Frankie etc. Siver matchup was always a joke. He shouldve had to fight the winner of Lamas/Bermudez

 

[dipstickjimmy]

From what I remember Conor is an undefeated UFC FW who finished one of The guys fighting next week.

He took out José Aldo in one shot, he finished almost all his opponents.

Conor looked unstoppable at FW and fought top competition all the way through.

He only got destroyed at WW and LW.

Why can’t we just remember Conor as one of the greatest FW of all time who got a bit too ambitious?

Why can't we look at the reality and judge it for what it is/was.

1. Conor is a good fighter who was a great salesman. His popularity was what propelled him to the UFC title. He had a FW title shot with 1 top 10 win (Dustin Poirier). Beat a handpicked Mendes on no notice when Frankie was more deserving. Mendes had lost to Aldo a second time Frankie only once and it had been a long time. Made no sense to book Mendes other then he was a better choice for Conor.

2. Fighting Nate was not fighting a Welterweight. Conor did not jump up 2 weight classes. Nate is a LW, Conor is a LW. they simply did not dehydrate themselves. TJ made 125 but he is not a FlyWeight he is a BW. Conor was doing the same thing getting close to death to fight "Midgets" as he said himself. When he got to the LW division he won one fight.

3. Aldo is the top FW in UFC history, Max is 2nd. Frankie Edgar is 8-3 at FW with 2 losses to Aldo and one to Ortega but he has a better resume at FW then Conor with more top 5 wins. Conor is top 5 no doubt as a UFC FW.

 

[MescalineDreams]

Nate was the easiest fight he could take. Everybody knew it. Even Conor said it was. Nate was just skinnyfat.

I think everyone underrated Nate, Including Conor. Including me. Nate's boxing, pressure, ability to walk through shots like a zombie and keep coming in true diaz brother form combined with the extra size from 170 pounds were formidable. Nate's boxing has come a long way over the years as well, there aren't many In all of MMA who are as formidable In that realm. It turned out being one of the toughest stylistic fights he could've taken out of any.

Had he took the fight at 155, i don't think It would've been the fight It was. It was brilliant of the Diaz camp to petition for 170 really, baited the shit out of Conor. I think the Conor fights really made Nate take himself to another level as a fighter as well too. He always wanted / needed a big fight..and fights like that where 90% of people expect you to lose, where the odds are seemingly stacked against you, they tend to pull big performances out of athletes historically.

All that said, had It been the same Nate we seen fight RDA or Bendo and if the fight happened at 155 pounds, I might agree. It was a perfect storm / combination of elements though that made the Nate matchup what It was.

 

[BForrester]

I respect Conor's accomplishments greatly. This is his only knock for me. Still doesn't take away from what he did, especially to Aldo smh.

JDS also KOd Cain quickly. How'd 2 and 3 work out for him?

 

[C0NCH3TO]

Conor had a fantastic run at fw. Its a shame that he hurt his body so badly cutting all that weight. Many other wimp fighters would have stayed at FW but Mcgregor decided to jump to lw and fight much harder opponents there. Thats how he got glory. I respect him a fucking lot for that. Took late notice fights, never missed weight, never popped for shit, never got '''injured'''.....He is not the goat of any division but his accomplishments are unheard of in our niche sport.

 

[Egészségére!]

can't just arrive and be the GOAT you have to defend
same goes for Khabib