Paid Members Bus Surfer Posted August 2, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted August 2, 2018 If Conor doesn't land in the 1st, he's gonna get drowned IMO. After a round on his back under Khabib, he's gonna be spent. As far as what's next? God Knows. Win or lose I don't see him hanging around much after the inevitable trilogy with Nate. They need to get used to a life without Mcgregor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted August 2, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted August 2, 2018 (edited) If McGregor gets smashed like we think he will, the McGregor fans boys will give it the "he just held him down for 5 round" schpiel so theres a get out of jail card there, same as when they gave the Mayweather fight with the "boxing is half a fight" stuff, its silly but thats how these guys think. All depends on how badly it effects Conor himself. Edited August 2, 2018 by Egg Shen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted August 2, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted August 2, 2018 12 minutes ago, Egg Shen said: If McGregor gets smashed like we think he will, the McGregor fans boys will give it the "he just held him down for 5 round" schpiel so theres a get out of jail card there, same as when they gave the Mayweather fight with the "boxing is half a fight" stuff, its silly but thats how these guys think. All depends on how badly it effects Conor himself. If they do, they're idiots. Shouldn't be watching MMA if you're not happy with the possibility your favourite fighter might get ground out. Not to mention that grappling has been established as a central part of MMA since the first event; if McG can't come up with a solution to that, that's on him, not the fighter who beat him with his speciality. What would they expect Khabib to do? Not use his best weapon just to give their boy a better chance of beating him? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted August 2, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted August 2, 2018 Yeah, I always find it funny how people complain about a grappler outgrappling someone but rarely does anyone moan when a striker just outstrikes someone. Like, in the VERY unlikely event that Conor stuffed all Khabib's takedown attempts and outstruck him for 5 rounds, you're probably not going to see anyone going 'Yeah, but he just stood with him! What a bitch. It's MMA not just striking' etc, etc. Grappling is just as big a part of MMA as striking is. Probably more, actually, because a strong grappling base has proven to be probably the major key to consistent success in the Octagon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Bus Surfer Posted August 2, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted August 2, 2018 (edited) If you're a level headed MMA fan that's spot on. But I think we all understand that Conor brings a lot of 'fair weather' fans out of the woodwork that see anything other than a straight fist fight as a little bit gay.  Whether he wins or loses. His supporters will be very vocal whatever the result. It's gonna be awful and enough to make you want to shut down any social media. It'll be like the Aldo win x 10. Edited August 2, 2018 by Silky Kisser Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted August 2, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted August 2, 2018 In the fallout from the Aldo win I went from being amazed and chuffed to wishing I'd never gone back online after it happened, within hours. The McGregor arselickers were the worst after that. They weren't happy enough that Conor had just scored a massive win, won the title and ended Aldo's reign of dominance, in 13 fucking seconds. Then they were posting those ridiculous side-by-side pictures of Aldo, claiming it showed he looked 'deflated' (buzzword at the time to describe a fighter's appearance post-PEDs) and smaller. He looked no different. Load of bollocks and worst of all it was Joe Rogan who started that one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members ColinBollocks Posted August 2, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted August 2, 2018 (edited) Conor will play that up too because he's smart that way. He used similar trickery after the Floyd loss, claiming it wasn't a proper fight and the ref ruined his chance. His army of tight black jeans (with holes) and sleeve tattoos all the way to the fist, lapped all that up. It's a really intriguing contest, without all the 'wally with a dolly' hype. I'm done doubting Conor, as he's usually one to surprise us. However, a big factor to consider (outside the wrestlefuck) is Conor hasn't had a "real fight" in two years come the Khabib fight. It's very rare fighters don't feel a little off come fight night with that amount of time away, and to do it against Khabib too. A lot of what makes Conor great is he's unbelievably sharp with his striking, you wonder if that will be the case all things considered. Edited August 2, 2018 by ColinBollocks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Bus Surfer Posted August 2, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted August 2, 2018 My social media was full of, "I knew Conner would knock out that cunt Albo. Told you all11!!" Most of them I'd never seen post about MMA at all before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimufctna24 Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 (edited) I think Conor has only a small window for victory early on in the fight. But, I wouldn't be shocked if he takes it. Don't got me wrong, I am picking Khabib to win. I have always felt that it is a style match-up that suits him perfectly. However, McGregor has scored a knockdown on his last 8 opponents (I don't recall him scoring a knockdown on Max in 2013). He's a complete buffoon as a human being at times, but he's also perhaps the most dangerous 5-10 minute fighter in MMA history. If you had a team of MMA fighters and had to pick a fighter to score your team a first or second round stoppage, Conor would probably be one of your best picks (weight-corrected). Plus, while Khabib is an animal. he has occasionally taken shots when trying to set-up takedowns. Now, whether Khabib will show Conor's striking more respect than others, and pick his spots accordingly, is a real possibility. But it is something to consider. There is also the possibility that Khabib will not be 100%. Could the injuries he has sustained over the years have taken their toll? Many think that Khabib will have a very short peak as it is. There is always a possibility that he will have slowed down overnight and that will play perfectly into Conor's hands. Regardless, it's a fascinating match-up. Edited August 2, 2018 by jimufctna24 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted August 2, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted August 2, 2018 (edited) All good points, but there's one more thing to take into consideration about McGregor: his attitude. I stopped doubting him when he beat Diaz, because he'd shown he had the near-psychotic drive, focus, and self-belief to improve to the level of beating a guy who'd smashed him previously, in only his second-ever match at that weight. That was impressive, and showed he was canny, and had the right mindset to respond to losses. BUT: the McG we've seen in the last two years - I'm not sure that guy is still there. He's been 'avin' it laaarge, getting coked off his face, pissing about on speedboats, getting arrested, getting into beefs with Irish gangsters, mixing with celebs, and maybe even cheating on his wife with famous women (not saying that's necessarily the case, but given the rest of his behaviour, I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest). With all that going on, and the fact that he's had a pay-day that makes him near-untouchable now, does he still have the hunger? I remember herbie on here saying he was always about the money, earning his way out of poverty and into the big leagues. Well, he's there now. It's always a question that is asked of multi-millionaire, successful sportsmen. It's why Cristiano Ronaldo is so impressive: after all the success he's had, the money he's earned, and the fame and respect he's got, he's still driven as fuck to push himself as far as he can, and is ridiculously disciplined by all accounts. I'm not getting that impression off McGregor. He's talented, yes, but he demonstrably doesn't have the natural talent of a Jon Jones that will enable him to win without making too much effort - McG's strength was always that he had vision and drive, not innate genius at fighting. Edited August 2, 2018 by Carbomb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Bus Surfer Posted August 2, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted August 2, 2018 Yeah, when he was coming up, Conor's big thing was that he's a 'student of the game'. He spoke a lot about how much time he put into studying fight styles and techniques. Constantly dreaming about that stuff. I'm not saying he's stopped all that, but it's hard to see him being the same driven, dedicated person he was all those years ago before he started sleeping covered in $100 bills.  Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 1 hour ago, Egg Shen said: If McGregor gets smashed like we think he will, the McGregor fans boys will give it the "he just held him down for 5 round" schpiel so theres a get out of jail card there, same as when they gave the Mayweather fight with the "boxing is half a fight" stuff, its silly but thats how these guys think. All depends on how badly it effects Conor himself. If McGregor gets taken down and smashed there's no way he survives five frames, so no one will be able to complain about him being "held down." Holding people down isn't what Khabib does, he's not Jon Fitch. He puts people down and batters the living shit out of them, there's a difference. 12 minutes ago, Carbomb said: All good points, but there's one more thing to take into consideration about McGregor: his attitude. I stopped doubting him when he beat Diaz, because he'd shown he had the near-psychotic drive, focus, and self-belief to improve to the level of beating a guy who'd smashed him previously, in only his second-ever match at that weight. That was impressive, and showed he was canny, and had the right mindset to respond to losses. BUT: the McG we've seen in the last two years - I'm not sure that guy is still there. He's been 'avin' it laaarge, getting coked off his face, pissing about on speedboats, getting arrested, getting into beefs with Irish gangsters, mixing with celebs, and maybe even cheating on his wife with famous women (not saying that's necessarily the case, but given the rest of his behaviour, I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest). With all that going on, and the fact that he's had a pay-day that makes him near-untouchable now, does he still have the hunger? I remember herbie on here saying he was always about the money, earning his way out of poverty and into the big leagues. Well, he's there now. It's always a question that is asked of multi-millionaire, successful sportsmen. It's why Cristiano Ronaldo is so impressive: after all the success he's had, the money he's earned, and the fame and respect he's got, he's still driven as fuck to push himself as far as he can, and is ridiculously disciplined by all accounts. I'm not getting that impression off McGregor. He's talented, yes, but he demonstrably doesn't have the natural talent of a Jon Jones that will enable him to win without making too much effort - McG's strength was always that he had vision and drive, not innate genius at fighting. The thing is, even if McG hasn't been partying and living it large as much as some would think, there' no chance he's been honing his skills to the same extent that Khabib has. That dude has literally zero distractions. He doesn't drink, he doesn't party, he doesn't take drugs, he doesn't even fucking smile most of the time. Going by his Instagram the closest he gets to "letting his hair down" is a meal with friends and training partners, and even then their expressions in the photo make you think it's some poor sods last supper. And there's a big difference between losing to Nate Diaz and then coming back and using the exact same blueprint that anyone who beats either of those brothers uses, which is to essentially not really engage with them and win by decision. He's going in with a legit killer. This isn't a guy who wears cool suits, sunglasses, drives fancy cars or worries about big money. He just wants to sleep, pray and knock seven shades of shit out of people. Aside from somehow catching Khabib clean between the first bell and the first takedown I don't see much chance of McG coming out of this one with his arm raised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted August 2, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted August 2, 2018 (edited) 46 minutes ago, David said: That dude has literally zero distractions. He doesn't drink, he doesn't party, he doesn't take drugs, he doesn't even fucking smile most of the time. I agree with you for the most part, but I think this is overstating the case just a tad. He clearly has some distractions given that he's missed weight in the past - as he's demonstrated that that doesn't always happen, it's clear he's not always been quite as focused as he could be. True, he doesn't "drink", but he does eat a fair bit of tiramisu, which contains alcohol - one of the reasons I dislike him as a bit of a hypocrite. All very well not fighting over Ramadan, but if you're that devout, you shouldn't even be touching tiramisu. But like I said: I agree with you over the vast majority of your post. This is definitely not a guy McGregor should be stepping in the cage with after a two-year lay-off, especially with all the shit he's been getting up to. If he's really serious about fighting again, he should have a couple of matches against some dangerous gatekeepers; say, Edson Barboza, Beneil Dariush, Michael Chiesa or Paul Felder. Hell, give him an attempt to avenge his loss to Joe Duffy. If he shows he's still what he was before against them, then I'd say a match with Nurmagomedov would not only be worthwhile, but probably earn him more money - McGregor's amazing at trash-talk promotion, but I don't think anything he's ever said has promoted his matches better than his winning efforts. Edited August 2, 2018 by Carbomb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Bus Surfer Posted August 2, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted August 2, 2018 The absurdity of a McGregor v any of those guys has made me laugh. He's so far out in front of those guys, it's just never gonna happen. I can't see him fighting more than twice. Wasting 1 of those in a warm up against Michael Chiesa is lunacy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted August 2, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted August 2, 2018 2 minutes ago, Silky Kisser said: The absurdity of a McGregor v any of those guys has made me laugh. He's so far out in front of those guys, it's just never gonna happen. I can't see him fighting more than twice. Wasting 1 of those in a warm up against Michael Chiesa is lunacy. I get that - from a money-making perspective, which is what he'd be more bothered about, he'd go straight for Khabib, and then maybe GSP for a last match. But like I say: if he was actually serious about fighting again, i.e. still having a fight career that goes beyond one payday with Khabib and maybe a bigger one with Georges, he'd take things a bit slower. It's not like he's in the twilight of his fighting years; guy's only just turned 30. All I'm saying is if he wants an actual chance against Khabib, rather than just an earner, his best bet is to do a couple of tune-ups, but not against scrubs. Sure, he's way ahead of all those guys, but that's the point: they're meant to be cannon fodder, but dangerous cannon fodder that won't only build him up, but also give him enough of a challenge that he can hone any dull edges he might have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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