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There is evidence in that fight that there is a fair chance Khabib just eats whatever Conor throws at him. However, when your whole game is crisp, brilliantly timed stand up, being off isn't helping much at all. I do agree, though, that I'm not sure Conor beats him.

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It'd be interesting to read some stats on how much difference a long lay off makes, and whether or not "ring rust" is a real thing. Randy Couture beat Tim Sylvia after a year off, and GSP just popped back and beat Bisping after 4 years out. I'd even be tempted to say a long break between fights (to fully recover from damage) is an advantage, although that's purely a hunch.

Edit to say: of course it matters what you actually do in your time off.

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6 minutes ago, David said:

For me, the most important factor at play was Khabib's skillset. He's just so fucking good at what he does, and I don't think any version of Conor beats him really.

Another, obvious but not really mentioned factor, is size. Mcgregor has held the belt at Featherweight and Khabib is a tiramisu away from missing lightweight even when killing himself to make the cut. Khabib is a massive lightweight and I think that size is always going to be a factor. The power that Mcgregor had at featherweight just doesn't seem to have made the journey to lightweight. Eddie Alvarez is the possible exception, but Nate Diaz (another big lightweight) and Khabib just weren't troubled by it. That weight has to have an impact on the wrestling and ground side too. We saw the same thing in Bellator recently when Rory Mcdonald fought Gegard Mousasi. Those two are pretty evenly matched from a skill-set perspective, but Gegard just manhandled Rory.

It would be really interesting to see Khabib move up a weight to welterweight to see how well his wrestling and ground control translated to opponents of a bigger size. Imagine Khabib / Woodley or even something like Khabib / Maia.

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21 minutes ago, Keith Houchen said:

I'm not sure, I mean I know Mayweather is a genuine contender for the GOAT but he isn't known as a power puncher, yet he still managed to flatten Big Show.

Broke his nose with a "big left hand" if I recall correctly 😉

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22 hours ago, David said:

It's funny you should mention Edmund, as I was thinking about the similarities between them during the week, and how differently they're regarded.

Edmund's claim to fame is training Rousey, and aside from that he's done absolutely nothing to suggest he's anywhere near being a top-class coach. I view Kavanagh as being kind of similar. Aside from Conor, who else has Kavanagh trained that's been successful? He's not exactly Javier Mendes or Greg Jackson, is he? 

And yet, because of how he carries himself, we've got people who will actually listen to this shit he's talking and think it's some sort of intelligent insight into why Conor lost.

I've been thinking the same, too. I think what's happened is that several of his guys came into the UFC and made a splash - McGregor, Nelson, even Cathal Pendred to a certain degree. Then they all faded or came up short against elite opposition except for McG, but Kavanagh's rep remains. Whereas pretty much everyone Thank-You Edmund coached seemed to nose-dive after moving to his gym. 

2 hours ago, Chunk said:

Another, obvious but not really mentioned factor, is size. Mcgregor has held the belt at Featherweight and Khabib is a tiramisu away from missing lightweight even when killing himself to make the cut. Khabib is a massive lightweight and I think that size is always going to be a factor. The power that Mcgregor had at featherweight just doesn't seem to have made the journey to lightweight. Eddie Alvarez is the possible exception, but Nate Diaz (another big lightweight) and Khabib just weren't troubled by it. That weight has to have an impact on the wrestling and ground side too. We saw the same thing in Bellator recently when Rory Mcdonald fought Gegard Mousasi. Those two are pretty evenly matched from a skill-set perspective, but Gegard just manhandled Rory.

It would be really interesting to see Khabib move up a weight to welterweight to see how well his wrestling and ground control translated to opponents of a bigger size. Imagine Khabib / Woodley or even something like Khabib / Maia.

Nurmagomedov at WW would definitely be intriguing, because I get the impression his level of ability is such that it could be a leveller for him against guys a bit bigger than him, a bit like DC. If there's any style of fighting that turns a disadvantage like shorter height into an advantage like low centre of gravity, it's wrestling.

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2 hours ago, Chunk said:

Another, obvious but not really mentioned factor, is size.

Well, it was mentioned by me - 

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It's the one thing people tend to sleep on with Khabib for some reason. The dude is a legit big lightweight.

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This isn't Aldo or Mendes, this isn't 145lbs guys who are smaller than him for the most part. This isn't even just a lightweight, this is a big fucking lightweight who walks around at close to 200lbs usually, and who'll be upwards of 170lbs come fight night if his past fights are anything to go by.

People tend to sleep on how big Khabib actually is. I saw him cornering someone at a UFC event a while back somewhere in Europe (Hamburg maybe? Or Stockholm?) and the dude is fucking set. He's wide shouldered, thick necked and just has that look of someone who's got "man strength" that lifelong grapplers have.

 

 

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2 minutes ago, David said:

Well, it was mentioned by me - 

Yeah, but your sensible points get drowned out by all your bantz.

 

 

Joking aside, I said "not really mentioned" rather than "not mentioned" because I remember you specifically posting about it.

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