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UFC 196: McGregor vs Diaz


wandshogun09

Who wins and how?  

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Very good point. None of RDA's recent opponents have been quite the complete package of technique and fight ending power like McGregor is.

 

To be fair, no one was saying that when RDA was preparing to face Pettis, were they? At the time Pettis was the main man, the king of kings, the future pound for pound great and all that jazz, remember?

 

He'd handled Cowboy, Benson and Joe Lauzon in the first round without too much trouble, and was the first man to stop Gilbert Melendez.

 

It was only after his loss to Dos Anjos that anyone really started to question Pettis. Virtually no one gave him any kind of chance before the fight.

 

History is repeating itself somewhat here, and I think the result will be the same. All I'm trying to decide is if it goes down like the Pettis fight, or the 2nd Cowboy fight.

 

 

It could be argued that that's because McGregor hadn't yet shown what he could do in comparison to Pettis yet.

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Very good point. None of RDA's recent opponents have been quite the complete package of technique and fight ending power like McGregor is.

 

To be fair, no one was saying that when RDA was preparing to face Pettis, were they? At the time Pettis was the main man, the king of kings, the future pound for pound great and all that jazz, remember?

 

He'd handled Cowboy, Benson and Joe Lauzon in the first round without too much trouble, and was the first man to stop Gilbert Melendez.

 

It was only after his loss to Dos Anjos that anyone really started to question Pettis. Virtually no one gave him any kind of chance before the fight.

 

History is repeating itself somewhat here, and I think the result will be the same. All I'm trying to decide is if it goes down like the Pettis fight, or the 2nd Cowboy fight.

 

 

It could be argued that that's because McGregor hadn't yet shown what he could do in comparison to Pettis yet.

 

 

I'm not quite sure I follow?

 

My point is that back when RDA was about to Face Pettis everyone was proclaiming Pettis as a pound for pound great, someone who would reign over the division for quite a long time. 

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All true but like I said, Pettis never had that killer punch like McGregor has. He's a great striker but that's one thing he lacks. McGregor has the threat of a big KO punch, effective kicks and accuracy. I've said myself after that bit you quoted that I think the same is true in reverse though. I don't think any of McGregor's previous opponents have had quite as dangerous an all-round game as RDA has right now. Even Aldo, he wasn't as heavy handed as RDA, doesn't have as good cardio as RDA, nor does he have a takedown game as good.

 

Another thing I love about this fight is that RDA is a lethal leg kicker. Before the Aldo vs McGregor fight, I think the most common route to victory I saw from people predicting an Aldo win was the leg kicks, with people citing Aldo's skills plus McGregor's stance as the base of the argument. Well, Dos Anjos can ask that question of McGregor as well. I don't think he's got the kicking technique Aldo does, Aldo's probably one of the top two or three kickers in the sport, but he's very effective with them and his kicks are heavy and powerful as fuck. I can see that being a big part of his strategy in this fight. Leg kicks early to limit McGregor's movement, then takedowns and BJJ. Much, much easier said than done, of course, but I can see that being basically a simplified version of his gameplan.

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McGregor has a "big KO punch"? He caught Aldo flush, but he doesn't have a history of one-punch KO finishes, does he? He stopped most of his UFC opponents with a flurry of shots from what I recall.

 

That aside, the big thing for me is seeing McGregor face someone who's closer in size to him. Connor was a huge featherweight, especially on fight night when he'd have a handy weight advantage over most of his opponents, as well as size & reach.

 

I see it being quite tight early doors, but I think RDA wins via submission late in the 3rd.

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I'm not quite sure I follow?

 

My point is that back when RDA was about to Face Pettis everyone was proclaiming Pettis as a pound for pound great, someone who would reign over the division for quite a long time. 

 

 

Yeah, I'd accept that - just that wand was making the statement in comparison to McGregor. All academic now, anyway, as wand's clarified his point.

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Are we really questioning McGregor's power now? He's finished nearly every fight he's ever won. Mostly with punches. And he seems to hurt or rock his opponents almost any time he hits them. The Mendes KO wasn't a flurry of punches. He hurt Mendes to the body then knocked him out with the left. The Poirier fight was done the second that punch landed around the ear as well. The follow up shots were just icing. He hurts and stops opponents way too much for it not to be a power thing. Sure, a big part of it is accuracy as well but I don't think there's any question that McGregor has big power in his hands. And bare in mind, this is after big weight cuts. As much as he's a big featherweight and enjoys a size edge at 145, it's give and take. A big weight cut 24 hours before a fight surely saps some of your power if anything.

 

Anyway, my point was that McGregor is more of a threat than Pettis because he's a bigger puncher. I don't think that's a crazy statement. Pettis is a great striker but he's never ever been talked about as a big puncher or known for punching power.

 

The reason I even brought that up is because I think a big puncher has a better chance against RDA than a big kicker does. Simply because you don't want to be using a kick heavy game against someone like RDA who can fuck you up if he takes you down. That's not to say McGregor won't kick a lot, as we saw in the Mendes fight he's not afraid to kick a strong grappler, but at least he has that punching power to cause damage on the feet, or at least make RDA respect his hands a bit. RDA was able to walk through Pettis' punches, and Cerrone's. I think he'll have to be more careful with McGregor.

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I'm not questioning his power, I'm simply saying that I don't think he has one-punch KO power. He strings together his strikes very well, and hits with accuracy, but in my opinion one-punch KO power is the kind of thing that Roy Nelson, Mark Hunt, Dan Henderson, Paul Daley, Melvin Manhoef etc have.

 

I wouldn't place McGregor in that category.

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I think it's more of a case of the following. If McGregor lands flush, it is likely that RDA's legs will wobble. With other fighters that RDA has faced, RDA could take their punches and breeze them off without too much trouble

 

While it will probably take a perfect shot to turn RDA's lights out, a well-timed and prominent punch from Conor could leave RDA on shaky ground, and allow Conor to put together a flurry that finishes the fight. 

 

Of course, this is all theoretical. 

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Fair enough. Maybe I should've just put 'big power', to be fair.

 

Anyway, found a video of everyone's favourite fuck up Jon Jones predicting Dos Anjos vs McGregor. And either she was having an off day or I think I might've found an even shitter MMA interviewer than GAD. Really;

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&persist_app=1&v=IA2uJQ2d_r0

 

Her and her annoying twat boyfriend. I hope they both burn the roof of their mouths on their dinner tonight. And I want my six minutes back, please.

 

If you don't want to watch the video (can't think why you wouldn't after my glowing review) - Jones thinks 'RDS' wins. Yes. 'RDS'.

 

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It's as much the accuracy of the strikes as well as the power. That's where his thing about movement comes in a lot because by having good movement gets him into position to hit those big strikes which shut down his opponents.

Yeah it's more accuracy from McGregor, he obviously can punch hard but it's the accuracy that does it. He also strikes from a distance and amd understands the range better than most fighters.

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