2018 MMA/UFC

Marciano490

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If you think he looked bad against Diaz twice we just aren't going to agree on much on Conor at all. This to me was his worse looking performance. I actually started thinking he looked a little soft and unengaged during his walk in. I don't think he has the fire that pushed him to the top right now. He wouldn't be the first.


Top 1-2 ever at 45 and top 5 now at 55. It's just really hard to be an all time great when there's a glaring hole in your game, especially when it's on the ground.


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Is anyone else familiar with or been following the stuff that's coming out about Ali Abdel Aziz and Dominance MMA?
Diaz choked him out in the first fight after bloodying him pretty bad and I think Diaz won the second fight too. I get the weight difference, but I don’t understand how a guy can lose a fight to a pedestrian fighter and not look bad.

And I don’t see all this looked disengaged stuff. Maybe he was scared, but don’t take anything away from Khabib by saying Conor didn’t show up to fight.
 

Phragle

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John Kavanaugh is appearing on Rogan’s podcast tomorrow.
I thought that was supposed to be today

Diaz choked him out in the first fight after bloodying him pretty bad and I think Diaz won the second fight too. I get the weight difference, but I don’t understand how a guy can lose a fight to a pedestrian fighter and not look bad.

And I don’t see all this looked disengaged stuff. Maybe he was scared, but don’t take anything away from Khabib by saying Conor didn’t show up to fight.
On Diaz we're looking at it from places that are too different to be worth the time unpacking.

If I don't think Khabib beat the best Conor, I'm still supposed to give him credit for doing it anyway just so I don't take anything away from Khabib? Another way of taking away from Khabib would be by taking away from Conor by saying he lost to a mediocre Nate Diaz twice.
 

luckiestman

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I thought that was supposed to be today


On Diaz we're looking at it from places that are too different to be worth the time unpacking.

If I don't think Khabib beat the best Conor, I'm still supposed to give him credit for doing it anyway just so I don't take anything away from Khabib? Another way of taking away from Khabib would be by taking away from Conor by saying he lost to a mediocre Nate Diaz twice.

It’s not that Nate is mediocre, he is a bad match up for Conor. It is that Khabib is much better than Nate.

I did not think Conor looked off. He is not a big guy for 155 so he isn’t going to look ripped, he looked leaner than Pettis. I don’t think he looked slow physically, I think he looked slow because he was cautious. He won round 3 after getting a fucking bad beating in round 2 so his cardio has actually improved or is at least better than I thought.

Mendez took Conor down easier than Khabib did so Conor TD defense looks better to me too.

To recap, Conor had better cardio than expected, better takedown defense than expected, and still got a beating because Khabib is that good. Conor still has a chance in a rematch because he hits really hard.
 

Marciano490

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I thought that was supposed to be today


On Diaz we're looking at it from places that are too different to be worth the time unpacking.

If I don't think Khabib beat the best Conor, I'm still supposed to give him credit for doing it anyway just so I don't take anything away from Khabib? Another way of taking away from Khabib would be by taking away from Conor by saying he lost to a mediocre Nate Diaz twice.
I don’t think Conor looked any softer at the fight than he normally does, and at the weigh in he looked just as lean as ever. I agree with luckiestman’s analysis. You can say Conor wasn’t at his best, but eyeballing his demeanor and his bf% doesn’t really mean much to me.

The one area where I was surprised was his inability to control the range. He’s a lot longer than Khabib, yet seemed to allow him in the pocket more than I thought I would. I think the take down in the first round got in his head, especially because Khabib was fairly far out when he shot. It seems like he was thinking too much, but, again, that’s due to Khabib’s abilities and Conor’s flaws as a fighter, not due to Conor being burnt out or unprepared.
 

Phragle

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It’s not that Nate is mediocre, he is a bad match up for Conor. It is that Khabib is much better than Nate.
I don't think Nate is mediocre. I think that'd be a great fight actually.

Mendez took Conor down easier than Khabib did so Conor TD defense looks better to me too.
I would hope so, it was three years ago

I don’t think Conor looked any softer at the fight than he normally does, and at the weigh in he looked just as lean as ever. I agree with luckiestman’s analysis. You can say Conor wasn’t at his best, but eyeballing his demeanor and his bf% doesn’t really mean much to me.
Yeah I know, let's just not start posting an comparing photos of shirtless dudes -- the SOSHs favorite pastime.
 

Marciano490

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UFC weigh ins are night of or day before? I wonder if Conor wanted to come in a bit heavier if the latter.
 

The Needler

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Think this might have something to do with CM throwing blows in the ring with Khabib’s guys? Gimme a break with CM being the instigator.
Nobody said he was the instigator of the whole thing. But he threw the first punch at two other guys. Generally the law doesn’t allow you to assault someone because one of his friends assaulted one of your friends.

In any event, you can ask the NSAC to give you a break. They don’t seem to think it’s so clear cut that Conor did nothing wrong.
 

Myt1

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Nobody said he was the instigator of the whole thing. But he threw the first punch at two other guys. Generally the law doesn’t allow you to assault someone because one of his friends assaulted one of your friends.
I don’t think there’s a prosecutor alive who would take a bet that they could get a conviction over a self-defense defense in this matter, given the totality of the circumstances.

You cross the line from the stands to the arena, especially in a situation like this, and you’re taking your safety into your own hands.
 

The Needler

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I don’t think there’s a prosecutor alive who would take a bet that they could get a conviction over a self-defense defense in this matter, given the totality of the circumstances.

You cross the line from the stands to the arena, especially in a situation like this, and you’re taking your safety into your own hands.
The guy he punched didn’t cross the line into the arena. He was a uniformed member of the champion’s team who had every right to be in the ring.

Also, I didn’t mean criminal prosecution when I referred to “the law.” If you’re saying there’s not a civil judge or jury alive that would find liability here, I’d beg to disagree. And regulators are also the law in a sense, and I don’t believe the NSAC is constrained by anything near beyond a reasonable doubt.
 
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bibajesus

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The guy he punched didn’t cross the line into the arena. He was a uniformed member of the champion’s team who had every right to be in the ring.

Also, I didn’t mean criminal prosecution when I referred to “the law.” If you’re saying there’s not a civil judge or jury alive that would find liability here, I’d beg to disagree. And regulators are also the law in a sense, and I don’t believe the NSAC is constrained by anything near beyond a reasonable doubt.
The guy Connor punched was leaving the ring to presumably join Khabib in attacking Connor's entourage.
 

The Needler

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The guy Connor punched was leaving the ring to presumably join Khabib in attacking Connor's entourage.
First, Conor started climbing the fence first. So while you can presume the guy was going to attack conor’s entourage, one might otherwise presume he was going to protect Khabib from a Conor attack. What’s more, Conor still threw first on the fence and in the ring.
 

Marciano490

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Plus, Conor threw a dolly at a bus after flying over to pick a fight. Who cares what Khabib did when his blood was up. All this pearl clutching about fighters fighting is beyond me.
 

bibajesus

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First, Conor started climbing the fence first. So while you can presume the guy was going to attack conor’s entourage, one might otherwise presume he was going to protect Khabib from a Conor attack. What’s more, Conor still threw first on the fence and in the ring.
If his intention was to stop McGregor he should have went after McGregor as he was going over the cage, like McGregor did to him. I'm not a Connor fan (209!), I have no desire to clear his name. I'm just explaining what I saw. If someone jumped my friend I think I should be able to help him. All these people suck. Connor is a known asshole and Khabib isn't some choir boy. Google "Khabib homeless push ups" to see the champ in action.
 

JimBoSox9

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Plus, Conor threw a dolly at a bus after flying over to pick a fight. Who cares what Khabib did when his blood was up. All this pearl clutching about fighters fighting is beyond me.
I'm surprised that it doesn't happen more often; just how they can give semi-coherent interviews right after having their blood up to 11 for fifteen minutes still amazes me.
 

Myt1

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The guy he punched didn’t cross the line into the arena. He was a uniformed member of the champion’s team who had every right to be in the ring.

Also, I didn’t mean criminal prosecution when I referred to “the law.” If you’re saying there’s not a civil judge or jury alive that would find liability here, I’d beg to disagree. And regulators are also the law in a sense, and I don’t believe the NSAC is constrained by anything near beyond a reasonable doubt.
You were talking about “assault” and that guy was approaching him the way he did at almost the same time that a guy climbed the fence and hit him from behind.

“The law” (both criminal and civil) pretty precisely protects that sort of behavior, especially with regard to the second guy. The first one is probably a closer question; I haven’t gotten a good video angle.

I don’t really care: Connor’s a scumbag.
 

The Needler

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Yeah, I was talking about assault. And I stick by my belief that it’s at least possible that 9 out of 12 jurors in Nevada would find by a preponderance of the evidence that Conor McGregor committed assault (or battery). (Id also guess that in Nevada the burden would shift to him to prove a defense of self-defense by the same standard.)

I don’t really care either. My point was, just because one scumbag jumped the fence doesn’t give Conor carte blanche legally or morally to start throwing punches at anyone related to him.
 
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Kliq

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So when a guy in a post-fight interview says "No way could I do a title fight, I don't have the cardio" it makes total sense to give him a title fight four weeks later.
 

Marciano490

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Yeah, that’s a bit odd. Oh well. I’d rather hear a prefight battle over Popeyes than religion.
 

EvilEmpire

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Huh. I guess this really drives home how much the UFC schedule determines matchmaking. I mean, I knew that, but still. Odd fight.
 

Zomp

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I think it’s more they are desperate for a main event at MSG. I’d bet both guys are making a shit ton to fight. DC especially.
 

Gunfighter 09

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Phragle

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They wanted Jones vs DC, DC said no. Then they wanted Jones vs Gus, Jones said he isn't ready. They threw up some weird Flyweight fight while they twisted DCs arm to make him fight someone. Hot Balls is hot popular right now so it makes some sense. I guess this means Lewis is healthy, but yeah weird fight made in desperation.

Awful news about Porier. I was excited for that one. I can't imagine it'll that hard to find a new opponent. I know Cowboy will do it, probably many other fighters too.

Also the goat is back

So after listening to a some podcasts I think I'm right on about Conor prefight
Kavanagh with Rogan said he came in heavy and he has no motivation for a warm up fight. His next fight will only be Khabib.
Anik agrees he seemed off and Schaub said he looked off prefight and in the cage, then his producer Chin said Kavanagh thinks CM lacked motivation in camp
 
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luckiestman

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It’s always funny to me how small the MMA/grappling world is. I started going during the day to one of my buddies gyms to help him get ready for some competition and we talked a bit about the fight. He has rolled with Dillon Danis a bit and I didn’t know that. Unfortunately Danis seems much better than me as he can beat my pal decisively and my friend is better than me (but it’s competitive).


@Phragle Kav said Conor wanted to come in heavier than against Mayweather but it wasn’t clear to me that he said he was coming in heavy for a 155 MMA fight. The boring nutrition guy said something about Conor being 171 10 weeks out and back up to about 171 in the cage. That’s nothing crazy.
 

Phragle

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It’s always funny to me how small the MMA/grappling world is. I started going during the day to one of my buddies gyms to help him get ready for some competition and we talked a bit about the fight. He has rolled with Dillon Danis a bit and I didn’t know that. Unfortunately Danis seems much better than me as he can beat my pal decisively and my friend is better than me (but it’s competitive).
Danis is supposed to be world class on the ground. In his Bellator fight he pulled guard and had a leg lock victory really quick. Striking looked entry level, but I'll tune in for his next one. He's certainly the big winner from last weekend -- similarly to the way Khabib was the winner when he slapped Artem Lobov.

@Phragle Kav said Conor wanted to come in heavier than against Mayweather but it wasn’t clear to me that he said he was coming in heavy for a 155 MMA fight. The boring nutrition guy said something about Conor being 171 10 weeks out and back up to about 171 in the cage. That’s nothing crazy.
I agree the nutrition guy was crazy boring. It was interesting when he talked about electrolyte balance, but it resulted in me making my pre workout too salty. Almost puked. I took Kavanaghs comment to mean he came in heavy for Conor, but not for 155. I don't suspect that to be realistic.
 

Marciano490

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Even crediting these ex post facto boo hoo excuses for Conor getting murdered, if you can’t get up to fight an undefeated fighter for a belt, then you’re not a fighter and should go back to snorting blow and selling whiskey.
 

luckiestman

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Even crediting these ex post facto boo hoo excuses for Conor getting murdered, if you can’t get up to fight an undefeated fighter for a belt, then you’re not a fighter and should go back to snorting blow and selling whiskey.

I don’t think that’s the claim. It’s that Conor couldn’t get up for an easier fight to wipe off ring rust, not that he couldn’t get up for Khabib.
 

Bozo Texino

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So when a guy in a post-fight interview says "No way could I do a title fight, I don't have the cardio" it makes total sense to give him a title fight four weeks later.
His balls is RICH.

What happened with Lesnar then?
I think that's still gonna happen. Just has to be before March 20, 2019, no?
 

Phragle

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I don’t think that’s the claim. It’s that Conor couldn’t get up for an easier fight to wipe off ring rust, not that he couldn’t get up for Khabib.
Kavanagh's claim was that he couldn't get up for a fight with Pettis. That's certain, and I cited it, but it's also many people's opinion that Conor didn't look like himself and that motivation could have factored into that. There's too much smoke to be no fire, and it's still early. We'll find out more.

Also back to the weight, the boring guy said "We wanted Conor as big as possible" then said "171, it was an easy cut" so we're right on here.

Even crediting these ex post facto boo hoo excuses for Conor getting murdered, if you can’t get up to fight an undefeated fighter for a belt, then you’re not a fighter and should go back to snorting blow and selling whiskey.
Well they are not just post fight opinions. I was alerted by a few things pre fight and so was Jon Anik and Brendan Schaub, then as the fight started I only felt more right. I'm not really interested in a fanboy vs fanboy argument. The twitter and forums are full of these and they're not a high level discussion.
 

Marciano490

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Ok, but I just feel like every time someone loses people talk about their preflight demeanor. They look too calm or too distracted. Or if they’re too excited, they were too nervous or too amped up. There’s nothing to read into preflight demeanor, so it’s kind of pointless to discuss. What specifically did you see in his technique or style that seemed off?
 

MikeM

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So what's the over/under on the amount of time Lewis survives once DC puts him on his back early?
 

luckiestman

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No idea what the ref was looking at with the Weidman knockout.

As expected, Lewis was no match for DC.

Mirgliotta pissed me off with that shit. I love both Weidman and Jacare. Hated to see them fight each other.
 

Gunfighter 09

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That ankle pick was pretty sweet. Lewis probably wrestled his ass off the last couple weeks and I am sure no-one did that to him. I'm gonna miss DC when he moves to announcing full time.


- Jacare's decency and sportsmanship was incredibly impressive. Weidman was up 20-18 on two cards.
- I am very excited to see Stylebender take a step up in competition. I assume someone like Rockhold or Weidman is next for him, headlining one of the ESPN shows in the spring.
 

Phragle

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DC vs Brock will at least be competitive but DC is gonna fustigate him too.
What a gif

Brock has no hands. That is a less dangerous fight for DC than the Beast was.
Disagree. I think stand up guys like Lewis are easier for DC than someone that will handful on the ground like Brock.

That ankle pick was pretty sweet. Lewis probably wrestled his ass off the last couple weeks and I am sure no-one did that to him. I'm gonna miss DC when he moves to announcing full time.
Very sweet.

Lewis is frustrating -- idc how much he wrestled, he made almost no progress in closing that gap. His stance was infuriating. He needs to go to a real camp -- somewhere that can can install a prefight strategy. That fight could have been closer than it was but Lewis was standing tall and narrow, looking like a domino to DC. The HW division is there for the taking with DC retiring soon. Lewis would be smart to start giving a shit.

I am very excited to see Stylebender take a step up in competition. I assume someone like Rockhold or Weidman is next for him, headlining one of the ESPN shows in the spring.
Yeah I'm excited for him. He kinda reminds me of Bellator's page, with a little Darren Till. Think he needs about one more win before he's in title contention.
 

MikeM

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Disagree. I think stand up guys like Lewis are easier for DC than someone that will handful on the ground like Brock.
How much of Brock's elite level wrestling/grappling back round has actually transitioned over to the cage with him though? Hanging with DC isn't the same thing as smothering a Mark Hunt, and still gassing out in the 1st while doing it.

If the over/under is the Lewis fight duration, I'm taking the under.
 

mikeford

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How much of Brock's elite level wrestling/grappling back round has actually transitioned over to the cage with him though? Hanging with DC isn't the same thing as smothering a Mark Hunt, and still gassing out in the 1st while doing it.

If the over/under is the Lewis fight duration, I'm taking the under.
Oh I'd gladly take that bet. Brock Lesnar beat Randy Couture in his 4th ever fight. He's not a chump.
 

Marciano490

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I’m just so impressed by DC. I fully understand the importance of technique and experience, but that’s a huge, strong, professional fighter he just made look ridiculous, coming off a quick ko of Stipe. His look and personality will probably forever keep him from getting his due - that and the existence of Jon Jones - but the man’s record matches up against anyone’s.