The MMA thread

I always said Dustin will win and I doubt Conor would against a top 5 fighter anymore. Tonight, he did not have enough to trouble Dustin, Chandler would knock him out too, Oliveira make him tap and Gaethje would beat him too

That's all good. I just mean posts like the one I replied to saying stuff like, 'how could anyone who watches mma not see this coming' come across as petty point scoring for no reason.
 
Did he really?? Fecker cost me a grand :mad::(
I had a nice little bet on Dustin, you cant overcome Conors level of inactivity over the last few years.
Dana really did him dirty keeping him away for this long, pure greed for the gate revenue.
He may never get what he had back but Dana thinking he can turn it on like a tap really surprises me.
Hell it took the 2 of them threatening to fight for charity outside of UFC that made Dana give him a fight. Hes the worst promoter in the world imo.
 
Thats not really part of Conor’s game. He did it against Alvarez but wouldn’t be able to get away with it against better fighters. He literally only has his punching to get him through fights.

First fight he threw kicks, did it very well v Diaz in 2nd fight, it always been a part of his game,but his punches always got the news. Kicks have always been part of his set up to set the strikes up
 
Khabib took his soul and now Dustin starched him, should just go back to beating up smaller dudes at FW or just take novelty fights like a Diaz trilogy.
 
I had a nice little bet on Dustin, you cant overcome Conors level of inactivity over the last few years.
Dana really did him dirty keeping him away for this long, pure greed for the gate revenue.
He may never get what he had back but Dana thinking he can turn it on like a tap really surprises me.
Hell it took the 2 of them threatening to fight for charity outside of UFC that made Dana give him a fight. Hes the worst promoter in the world imo.
For some reason had it in my head that the UFC wouldn't let Conor lose. Stylistically, thought it matched up well for him too. Looked decent after getting taken down in the 1st round, but as soon as Cormier kept going on about his leg being toast in the 2nd I knew Conor was in trouble.
 
Some interesting quotes from Poirier in his post-match presser (thread - ongoing right now)
 
Khabib took his soul and now Dustin starched him, should just go back to beating up smaller dudes at FW or just take novelty fights like a Diaz trilogy.

Possibly I just think hes done. He partied too hard and I dont think u can get away with it at that level. He had a few yrs he was top dog but gone now
 
McGregor is finished. Simply doesn’t have the hunger anymore, which is understandable with the wealth he has accumulated.

I wish he’d just feck off to obscurity now, the attention-seeking twat.
 
Conor isn’t done in a physical sense, he was on top until the leg kicks started landing, but he’s clearly not committed to MMA anymore. It’s not beneficial swapping over to boxing, or fighting once every two years.

I thought it was really arrogant (or stupid) that he didn’t try to make any adjustments until it was too late with those leg kicks. As soon as the second one landed, you just knew that was going to be a massive problem.

I’m not that bothered any way, as I had little interest in watching him lose to Khabib again.
 
Poirier more interested in fighting Oliveira than Chandler. I wouldn't be mad about it either, Oliveira has been on a tear and deserves a shot too.
 
McGregor is finished. Simply doesn’t have the hunger anymore, which is understandable with the wealth he has accumulated.

I wish he’d just feck off to obscurity now, the attention-seeking twat.

A prison cell awaits him
 
Good fight, great finish. Easy for some people to now come out of the woodwork to shit on McGregor and act like he stood no chance. He was well in that fight and had Poirier in danger a couple of times, really good even fight for the most part but once the leg kicks started taking effect Poirier began to pick him off a bit better which lead to the finish.

Happy for Poirier, great win for him. Would definitely like to see these two do it again.
 
Good fight, great finish. Easy for some people to now come out of the woodwork to shit on McGregor and act like he stood no chance. He was well in that fight and had Poirier in danger a couple of times, really good even fight for the most part but once the leg kicks started taking effect Poirier began to pick him off a bit better which lead to the finish.

Happy for Poirier, great win for him. Would definitely like to see these two do it again.

Yeah I agree. The leg kicks do it was amateur to not check any of them.

People are reactionary after the fight, myself included, but he is in a weird spot Conor cos in theory whilst Dustin is high level he was a good stylistic match up so it's a bit of a conundrum really. He obviously has a huge fan base still but casual fans of sports do lose interest when fighters like that lose to the best.
 
No more hunger, bad night and so on are just an excuses. He lived like a rockstar for the majority of the last 5 years mostly coked up and it has to take its tool. Even when you clean up which he obviously did, it will still affect you and he just isn't the same fighter anymore. Poirier was stylistically very good match up for him here and he looked washed up.

And that bad cardio that he has, well, it also has something to do with all that as it got worse and worse over the years. Basically people just wanna go through the 1st round with him now. Maybe still has a good fight or two in him, but he is past it and has only himself to blame.

Or how @Pogue Mahone pretty much called it last night.
 
Good fight, great finish. Easy for some people to now come out of the woodwork to shit on McGregor and act like he stood no chance. He was well in that fight and had Poirier in danger a couple of times, really good even fight for the most part but once the leg kicks started taking effect Poirier began to pick him off a bit better which lead to the finish.

Happy for Poirier, great win for him. Would definitely like to see these two do it again.

What a sneaky bastard. Kicking him in the legs. Was a good, even fight up until that point. Maybe McGregor’s next fight should be against an amputee?
 
Good fight, great finish. Easy for some people to now come out of the woodwork to shit on McGregor and act like he stood no chance. He was well in that fight and had Poirier in danger a couple of times, really good even fight for the most part but once the leg kicks started taking effect Poirier began to pick him off a bit better which lead to the finish.

Happy for Poirier, great win for him. Would definitely like to see these two do it again.
Thank you for this. Conor looked perfectly fine, but the absolute folly of not checking leg kicks because of hubris did him in. As he is a polemical figure, the fight is being remodelled to fit the stance people have on McCregor. Anyone reading through this thread having not seen the fight would think it was an easy night for Dustin and have no clue he lost the 1st round.

Conor backed his hands and offensive arsenal too much and paid a severe price for not respecting his opponent.

Happy for Dustin, but ultimately, it’s a nothing win in the grand scheme unless Khabib really does vacate.
 
Thank you for this. Conor looked perfectly fine, but the absolute folly of not checking leg kicks because of hubris did him in. As he is a polemical figure, the fight is being remodelled to fit the stance people have on McCregor. Anyone reading through this thread having not seen the fight would think it was an easy night for Dustin and have no clue he lost the 1st round.

Conor backed his hands and offensive arsenal too much and paid a severe price for not respecting his opponent.

Happy for Dustin, but ultimately, it’s a nothing win in the grand scheme unless Khabib really does vacate.

In fairness people commenting during or immediately after a fight will have instant reactions. I agree he was doing alright and it's not the end of his career like is being implied it's an interesting cross roads for him though
 
Khabib took his soul and now Dustin starched him, should just go back to beating up smaller dudes at FW or just take novelty fights like a Diaz trilogy.

He won't be able to cut weight for 135 at this point. I think he's outgrown that. Even if he does, Volk would dismantle him.

I'm also not sure what a fight with Nate Diaz in 2021 does. I think his best bet is to fight some lower ranked guys and build himself up so that he can challenge again.
 
Yeah I agree. The leg kicks do it was amateur to not check any of them.

People are reactionary after the fight, myself included, but he is in a weird spot Conor cos in theory whilst Dustin is high level he was a good stylistic match up so it's a bit of a conundrum really. He obviously has a huge fan base still but casual fans of sports do lose interest when fighters like that lose to the best.

Tbh I thought the same, no idea where he goes from him. Possibly the fight with Manny this year. The obvious options are Diaz and a third fight with Poirier in the UFC which personally I think Poirier would be open to doing. That's a big loss for McGregor, much bigger than the Diaz loss.

What a sneaky bastard. Kicking him in the legs. Was a good, even fight up until that point. Maybe McGregor’s next fight should be against an amputee?

Nobody is saying it was 'sneaky'. Leg kicks are a huge part of the game. Conor didn't defend them and paid the price. There's no doubt what so ever that it was the leg kicks which had the biggest effect in that fight.

Thank you for this. Conor looked perfectly fine, but the absolute folly of not checking leg kicks because of hubris did him in. As he is a polemical figure, the fight is being remodelled to fit the stance people have on McCregor. Anyone reading through this thread having not seen the fight would think it was an easy night for Dustin and have no clue he lost the 1st round.

Conor backed his hands and offensive arsenal too much and paid a severe price for not respecting his opponent.

Happy for Dustin, but ultimately, it’s a nothing win in the grand scheme unless Khabib really does vacate.

Watching it I thought McGregor was going to catch him and finish him, had him wobbled a few times. Once Dustin survived those moments though (very good chin on him) and started landing more and more leg kicks it started to allow him to gain more confidence and land much more with his hands. You could see in the second when the leg kicks had done their damage that Conor couldn't move how he likes to, completely opened it up for Poirier, smart of him for sure. Conor started to look tired as well once the second round hit.

McGregor is very marmite but it's just silly for some people to come out of the woodwork acting like he stood no chance in this fight. I like Poirier, he comes across as a really good guy, very good chin, good all around skills but this was never a Khabib/Conor fight where you looked and thought that Conor stood no chance. Conor is clearly playing on the inactivity after the fight but can't really deny that there's a bit of truth to it. Hate him or love him his fights hardly ever disappoint. He comes to fight and his striking is quality. Despite the layoff and all of the questions over his lifestyle he'd still give almost anybody in that division a great fight.
 
Nobody is saying it was 'sneaky'. Leg kicks are a huge part of the game. Conor didn't defend them and paid the price. There's no doubt what so ever that it was the leg kicks which had the biggest effect in that fight.

I was joking. McGregor’s a bum. All washed up. Poirier barely had a mark on him. Despite a style that usually means he gets beaten up even when he wins. Easy money for him last night.
 
Tbh I thought the same, no idea where he goes from him. Possibly the fight with Manny this year. The obvious options are Diaz and a third fight with Poirier in the UFC which personally I think Poirier would be open to doing. That's a big loss for McGregor, much bigger than the Diaz loss.

Yeah who knows what happens I think he will be back think he was up for it just lost to the better fighter on the night, it happens.

I was joking. McGregor’s a bum. All washed up. Poirier barely had a mark on him. Despite a style that usually means he gets beaten up even when he wins. Easy money for him last night.

Eh? Look at him in the post fight press conference he probably has more marks on him than Conor. He got hit a lot still

Definiey wasn't easy money either, it was a one and a half round fight and he probably lost the first round.

Some of this actually does a disservice to Dustin cos he did well to come back in the second round.
 
I was joking. McGregor’s a bum. All washed up. Poirier barely had a mark on him. Despite a style that usually means he gets beaten up even when he wins. Easy money for him last night.

Poirier is just a better fighter. I'm not sure it makes Conor a bum but it was surprising to see a man so out of his depth in there. It's as if he thought he was in a boxing fight. At no point did he effectively check those kicks (and those kicks were telegraphed by Dustin so it wasn't difficult to see them coming)

To your point, Dustin was tailor-made for Conor, stylistically, and isn't known for his defence. He usually comes out of fights looking like a car wreck, and this was much quicker work than most thought it would be if Dustin were to win.
 
Tbh I thought the same, no idea where he goes from him. Possibly the fight with Manny this year. The obvious options are Diaz and a third fight with Poirier in the UFC which personally I think Poirier would be open to doing. That's a big loss for McGregor, much bigger than the Diaz loss.



Nobody is saying it was 'sneaky'. Leg kicks are a huge part of the game. Conor didn't defend them and paid the price. There's no doubt what so ever that it was the leg kicks which had the biggest effect in that fight.



Watching it I thought McGregor was going to catch him and finish him, had him wobbled a few times. Once Dustin survived those moments though (very good chin on him) and started landing more and more leg kicks it started to allow him to gain more confidence and land much more with his hands. You could see in the second when the leg kicks had done their damage that Conor couldn't move how he likes to, completely opened it up for Poirier, smart of him for sure. Conor started to look tired as well once the second round hit.

McGregor is very marmite but it's just silly for some people to come out of the woodwork acting like he stood no chance in this fight. I like Poirier, he comes across as a really good guy, very good chin, good all around skills but this was never a Khabib/Conor fight where you looked and thought that Conor stood no chance. Conor is clearly playing on the inactivity after the fight but can't really deny that there's a bit of truth to it. Hate him or love him his fights hardly ever disappoint. He comes to fight and his striking is quality. Despite the layoff and all of the questions over his lifestyle he'd still give almost anybody in that division a great fight.

Spot on with everything, especially the bolded part. It's amusing to see all the familiar faces in this thread that post on a regular basis and clearly follow the sport week in week out told that we're silly for thinking Conor stood a chance. Even Dustin himself in his post fight presser admitted that he was hurt in the first round and could have been finished if Conor pushed and found a few good follow up shots. I'm delighted that Dustin won though, he's a really likeable guy.
 
This maybe wide of the mark... but I don’t feel like Conor psychologically has it himself to really go through a war and take a lot of punishment to get a win. When the chips are down I think he tends to wilt which doesn’t bode very well for future fights. I mean, would anyone pick him to beat Gaethje now?

We’ve seen Dustin has that will to go through whatever it takes to win in abundance. The tough fights with Gaethje, Holloway... Hooker. He is not easy to put away at all.

Reflecting on the fight... Conor did ok in the first round and probably edged it by landing the better shots and more of them. I thought he did well to get back to his feet after the takedown and did well in the clinches. He did need to throw more kicks though and not checking Dustin’s calf kicks ultimately cost him. Maybe he couldn’t get away at the end because of the damage to his leg, but the way he sort of turtles up a bit and just tries to roll with the punches at the end there... he did the same against Diaz at times and he really needs to be getting out of the fire, first and foremost. Especially against Dustin who will throw everything at you and has heavier hands.

I am not really sure what Conor does now. A Holloway rematch at 155 might be something to consider. I think Oliveira against Chandler and the winner to fight Dustin for the title... that would be interesting. I see Dana trying to make Dustin v Chandler though which is a bit harsh on Oliveira after the run he has been on.
 
Spot on with everything, especially the bolded part. It's amusing to see all the familiar faces in this thread that post on a regular basis and clearly follow the sport week in week out told that we're silly for thinking Conor stood a chance. Even Dustin himself in his post fight presser admitted that he was hurt in the first round and could have been finished if Conor pushed and found a few good follow up shots. I'm delighted that Dustin won though, he's a really likeable guy.

What are you even talking about? Pretty much everyone (those who follow it closely or just casual fans like me) thought Conor is a favourite going into the match. Heck, Poirier, as good as he is, was still meant to be a stepping stone in building Conor again. You think Dana is sitting in his room all happy now? It wasn't even close in the end.

Some people are just pointing out that maybe his lifestyle catch up with him and that he isn't the same fighter. And to be more precise it would be actually amazing considering the way he behaved right at the time off his peak for that not to be a case or a significant factor. To simply ignore those things and just point out that he won the 1st round is baffling to me. It was a bad loss however you look at it.

Oh well, I guess it will still be enough for Dana to milk something for the fight number 3. But the cash cow is at his all time low.
 
There is absolutely no way Michael Chandler deserves a title shot. Charles Oliveira should be fighting Poirier for the vacant belt.
I'd have Chandler fight Gaethe.
 
Haven’t seen it as I’m not paying BT anymore than I already do, I said I thought Poirer would get it done but props to MCGregor when he can take a loss well.
Surely you would think the choices are now Diaz or Holloway. That’s of course unless he can get an immediate turn around with Dustin which I doubt. No much point in fighting Gaethje,Ferguson,Hooker and the likes until they put a win on the board. Chandler ain’t really much of a name.