In the first round and a half I'd agree but I watched the whole fight. It was a very close fight nothing clear about it. Did you miss the part where Conor was getting taken apart before the bell saved him? All credit to him for coming back in the fourth round that's the most impressive thing I've seen from him tbh but don't say he won it clearly it's just factually wrong.
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In the first round and a half I'd agree but I watched the whole fight. It was a very close fight nothing clear about it. Did you miss the part where Conor was getting taken apart before the bell saved him? All credit to him for coming back in the fourth round that's the most impressive thing I've seen from him tbh but don't say he won it clearly it's just factually wrong.
I think Conor will vacate the 145 belt because he doesn't want to make that weight I reckon. Then if things go south at 155, he'll go back down and get immediate title shot.
Judges ain't perfect, look at the conlon fight. It was a close fight but conor was smart not to follow up on the knockdowns.you can never fault a fighter for not following through. If thats the case nates takedown counts for shit. Round 2 is not in any way debateable conor scored 2 knockdowns to 0. His round completely. Look it was close but conor done way more damage overall. I love Diaz and can't wait for the next fight but conor was the deserved winner tonight.
Though that would be the case.
I doubt it. I imagine if he chooses to vacate the 145 title he gets a shot at Alvarez, whether you think he deserves it or not.
Reason being he was already scheduled to get a 155 title shot, and the only thing that jeopardised that was the loss to Nate, which he just cancelled out. Dana will also get pressure from Alvarez as he's ducking Khabib because he said he wants the winner of Nate and Conor (money money money).
He gets special treatment for being the biggest draw and after redeeming that loss, he's kind of back where he was after he knocked out Aldo - which got him a shot at 155.
He didn't last night, he was very slow and patient to start with, and he still gassed by the end of the 2nd. It's a tad worrying, but full credit for finding that second wind in the 4th.
Alvarez and Sonnen were speaking recently about how it takes years for your body to adjust to become a 5 round fighter. Seems like this is the first fight Mcgregor's upped his cardio training and it was just about enough for him to survive til the end, he should be better off for it in future fights you'd think.
Mcgregor was saying in his presser it would be ridiculous if they stripped him.. He can't be serious? You can't take unlimited fights outside your division and never defend, especially when there's a interim belt already out there.
haha exactly.
Not a massive McGregor fan but really don't like to see so much disregard for his abilities. Great fight and a relatively close fight but no doubt for me McGregor won overall.
A) On the ground game thing, it'd not obligatory to go to the canvas so what's the problem? Ppl who say that also conveniently forget his fight against Mendes where he basically spent the fight on the floor and was ok.
B) As for cardio, he lasted a full 5 rounds and won 3 of the 5 rounds so it can't be that bad. He also has been adding weight quickly which will affect him in longer fights. Sure, it can improve but credit where credit's due.
Anyone in any doubt about whether their judges made the right call, needs to look at their faces in the post-fight presser.
The worst injury McGregor had to deal with was a sore shin, from kicking feck out of Nate's leg. I reckon a post fight photo of Diaz's thigh would make interesting viewing too. McGregor also landed the more hurtful looking body shots.
In any fight that goes the diistance, if the loser looks like he's been in a car wreck and the winner is practically unblemished, then it's fair to say that justice was done. All those stats about strikes landed must be counting shots that Conor was taking on his shoulders because that isn't the face of a man who's been punched 252 times.
The worst injury McGregor had to deal with was a sore shin, from kicking feck out of Nate's leg. I reckon a post fight photo of Diaz's thigh would make interesting viewing too. McGregor also landed the more hurtful looking body shots.
In any fight that goes the diistance, if the loser looks like he's been in a car wreck and the winner is practically unblemished, then it's fair to say that justice was done. All those stats about strikes landed must be counting shots that Conor was taking on his shoulders because that isn't the face of a man who's been punched 252 times.
Anyone in any doubt about whether their judges made the right call, needs to look at their faces in the post-fight presser.
The worst injury McGregor had to deal with was a sore shin, from kicking feck out of Nate's leg. I reckon a post fight photo of Diaz's thigh would make interesting viewing too. McGregor also landed the more hurtful looking body shots.
In any fight that goes the diistance, if the loser looks like he's been in a car wreck and the winner is practically unblemished, then it's fair to say that justice was done. All those stats about strikes landed must be counting shots that Conor was taking on his shoulders because that isn't the face of a man who's been punched 252 times.
Bit of a simple way of looking at something in fairness.
There's many factors why Diaz would look more fecked than Conor and not just cos he lost a fight. He could of just had 1 really bad round for example. Diaz also is meant to cut and bruise a lot easier than most other fighters.
Don't get me wrong I think the right decision was made, it was a close fight though and I wouldn't of said it was an outrage or anything if Diaz won. It was similar to Lawler vs. Condit (although that was probably even closer.)
It would be a very simple way of looking at things if there had been much grappling or BJJ in the fight but when two fighters go toe to toe for 5 rounds the pictures give a fairly accurate reflection of what went down. I watched the fight last night knowing the result and thought it was a fairly clear-cut win for McGregor. Diaz only landed a handful of heavy shots over the five rounds, the rest of his striking was just the slappy, weak arm punches he likes to try and grind people down with. Conor landed a bunch of really heavy punches, to the head and body as well as digging in dozens of savage leg kicks. The difference in the damage done can't be down to just one fighter marking more easily than the other when you can see, during the fight, such a difference in the power of the strikes that landed.
But yeah, it was a close enough fight. Diaz has a granite chin and never takes a backward step. Judges like that. In terms of precision and power of the strikes being landed, though, he was clearly second best.
At no stage did Diaz even look close to being finished despite this argument that Conor hits much harder. And yet at the end of arguably the second, third and fifth, McGregor looked close to being done (certainly in the third where it could have been stopped).
It's all a bit silly to also judge it on how somebody looks at the end of the fight, even more so in the case of Diaz who is well known to have scar tissue issues from wear and tear (I believe Nick had some work done to prevent his, not sure if Nate has. The issues cause them to bleed much easier and to just dismiss that is silly).
They have very different styles. Diaz looked a mess but at no stage did he look like he was going to be finished. No picture of the aftermath is going to change that. It's a ridiculously close fight either way and it's ridiculous to start disregarding stats that favour Diaz just to try to make an argument in Conor's favour.
I find it bizarre. If he doesn't defend his belt in the next fight it should rightly be taken from him
Mcgregor makes a good point. If they take the belt from him and give it to Aldo, it would devalue the division so much as Mcgregor ko'ed him in 13 seconds. Aldo would be a paper champ!
Scar tissue makes a fighter more likely to cut, because their skin can split along old scars with less force than undamaged skin would need to split. The most notable damage to Nate's face is not cuts, its the fact his right eyes is almost completely shut and his nose is twice its normal size. That's got bugger all to do with scar tissue.
Re the fight being stopped. McGregor looked close to gassing a couple of times but he didn't looks close to being knocked out. Watching the end of round 3 while knowing the outcome, he didn't look in anything much as like trouble as the commentators seemed to think.
I don't disagree that it was a close fight but Niaz clearly took the more severe beating of the two men. Which retrospectively justifies the calls the judges made at the time.
Not really. If he can't make the weight any more then he needs to give the belt up and move into a division that suits his frame more (clearly lightweight).
They can't keep holding up an entire division because of his ego.
If McGregor goes back down to 145 and beats Aldo again, what then for that division and McGregor?
McGregor stays pissing around down there kicking the holes off lads for as long as Aldo has or just immediately just fire the belt back to Aldo and say here you go, finish your days as a fake champ?
Either way, that division looks fecked.
McGregor seems to be getting it in the neck for trying new adventures and testing himself to the limits and for not bowing to the demands of a lad that stayed in his nice cosy environment for the guts of a decade.
McGregor stays pissing around down there kicking the holes off lads for as long as Aldo has or just immediately just fire the belt back to Aldo and say here you go, finish your days as a fake champ?
Either way, that division looks fecked.
McGregor seems to be getting it in the neck for trying new adventures and testing himself to the limits and for not bowing to the demands of a lad that stayed in his nice cosy environment for the guts of a decade.
Will have to disagree then mate because I've seen plenty of fights stopped for less than what happened in the final 45 or so seconds in that third round, he absolutely battered McGregor (I've watched that round three times now). This one will go alongside the likes of Jones/Gustafsson as hugely debatable fights which people view very differently.
Cracking fight though, I never got the complaints people had about a second fight happening. I love great fights and this was always going to be a great fight.
What do you mean not really!? Mcgregor has totally fecked this division!
In that case I may have to defer to your superior knowledge! I only watched it once. And that was, admittedly, after drinking three pints of Guinness
I'll watch it again tonight. Twas a hell of a brawl. Diaz is such a tough bastard and McGregor showed more heart (and cardio!) than he's ever had to show before. Crazy the way it swung back and forth. One of the greats. Reminded me a bit of Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar beating the shit out of each other, only a much more skilled version.
It's fine for him to do that and I agree that there isn't a lot down there for him at the minute but it's not fine to hold an entire division up whilst he does it. True champions defend their belt. Imo Aldo's performance over Edgar and his legacy as a champion of that division for so long fully justify a rematch.
If Mcgregor doesn't want it for whatever reason then vacate the belt and move division.
Agree with people criticising Conor on the FW title hostage situation but the UFC were pushing the LW title shot equally hard originally and the same reasons still apply. If anything, the interest in McGregor just got multiplied.
They would love to market Conor as the first guy to hold 2 titles at the same time. Assuming the LW title shot is next, one imagines they'll continue to bend to that too as it makes business sense for them should he win.
1 defence of either belt from Conor outstrips the buys and gate revenue from 2 or 3 defences for anyone else. Aldo included, just look at the buy rates for 179 and 163.
They would love to market Conor as the first guy to hold 2 titles at the same time. Assuming the LW title shot is next, one imagines they'll continue to bend to that too as it makes business sense for them should he win.
1 defence of either belt from Conor outstrips the buys and gate revenue from 2 or 3 defences for anyone else. Aldo included, just look at the buy rates for 179 and 163.
Anyone in any doubt about whether their judges made the right call, needs to look at their faces in the post-fight presser.
The worst injury McGregor had to deal with was a sore shin, from kicking feck out of Nate's leg. I reckon a post fight photo of Diaz's thigh would make interesting viewing too. McGregor also landed the more hurtful looking body shots.
In any fight that goes the diistance, if the loser looks like he's been in a car wreck and the winner is practically unblemished, then it's fair to say that justice was done. All those stats about strikes landed must be counting shots that Conor was taking on his shoulders because that isn't the face of a man who's been punched 252 times.
Not exactly the best way to score things, Conor also looked significantly better than Nate during the first fight, even as Nate was submitting him.
I do think Nate's bloody face may have factored into a bit of perceptual bias that may have led to them giving Conor round two.
What does McGregor expect though, for them to retire the FW belt for him?
He may be right that stripping him of the belt and handing it back to Alfo will devalue the division, but that's surely already happening given he's showing zero interest in dropping back down himself.
He may be right that stripping him of the belt and handing it back to Alfo will devalue the division, but that's surely already happening given he's showing zero interest in dropping back down himself.
Not exactly the best way to score things, Conor also looked significantly better than Nate during the first fight, even as Nate was submitting him.
Like I said, if there had been grappling or BJJ involved then that's a different story. But there wasn't. Nor did McGregor get rocked by anything Nate threw, who got knocked on his arse three times.
Knock downs and take downs count, but so does striking. Nate seemed to land a higher volume, whereas Conor's punches bloodied Nate up more. I do think Conor won but by a razor thin margin but wouldn't have been surprised if it were a draw as one of the judges scored it.
I think this is just a brewing power struggle between him and White. Now that the UFC has been sold, I can see Conor making a legitimate case to Ari Emanuel and the new ownership that he should be given a role that is comparable to what Dana is doing now, and I think Dana senses that. They are therefore going to be butting heads about all sorts of issues in the future - not so much about the issues themselves (such as whether Conor will go back to 145 or not) but about who has the power to make the decisions. Conor has tremendous leverage given the amount of money he is raking in to the UFC, which is raising the profile of the the UFC as well as getting fighters paid a lot more than previously. He knows how much leverage he has and his "shit is going to hit the fan" comment was probably a shot across the bow of things to come.
People will have to step up their game, Conor has only fought 7 bouts in the division (considering two of them were title bouts he has been reasonably fast-tracked to the top) and should fight Aldo again. If he beats him then he can face Edgar (an entirely different style that may well not suit Conor) and then whomever emerges in the meantime (Holloway, around 21 at the time Conor beat him or any of the other 8 men in the current top 10 rankings that he has never faced). He has not yet defended his belt and so any idea that he has dominated the division is just people getting carried away.
I understand that he wants the most money he can get but he built his name in that division and the idea that there is nothing of merit left for him to do down there is ridiculous. Had he lost to Diaz then he would have scuttled off back to that weight with his tail between his legs, it is amazing what a closely contested majority decision (deserved in my mind) can change in terms of his and his fans perspective. If he really believes that he is the "money fight" then it shouldn't matter too much who he is facing up to.
I'm not sure what the need or point of denigrating Aldo is. He was a fantastic champion in both the WEC and UFC and Conor is yet to reach those heights. McGregor can do as he pleases but why he feels the need to sh*t on the division that gave rise to his fame is beyond me. I really enjoy watching him fight but a large portion of what he says and does outside of the octagon is pure gobshitery (and I don't think necessary to sell his fights/image).
The division will be fine if Conor either returns or vacates, the current mess of having a champion (undefended officially) who is active but not in his division is the most damaging and frankly absurd scenario of the three.
I think McGregor needs to have the belt stripped of he doesn't want to go down. They tried to get him two belts and they also gave him his rematch. It's time to take a stand despite what the decision does for FW division.
Is like dealing with a spoilt child. You created the mess Dana. Now it's time to deal with it.
Is like dealing with a spoilt child. You created the mess Dana. Now it's time to deal with it.
there are always more contenders
A few up and comers, one he has faced before but has improved hugely in Max Holloway, Frankie Edgar and McGregor would be huge. Then Someone like Dominic Cruz might look to move up a weight and challenge him.
Conor will never have a lack of fights, he has slagged off pretty much everyone in every division
Gained a lot of respect for Conor after that fight.
Nate, like his brother, throws high volume, but it's more of a pap-pap-pap style. They hit you with 50% power every time and they can do that for 25 minutes. But Conor was never hurt in that fight. Tired? Yes, undoubtedly. But even in the third round, which was Nate's best, Conor was intelligently defending himself at all times and was bobbing and weaving, so a lot of Nate's attempts were glancing blows. I think a 155lb Conor destroys Nate at the same weight. His cardio will be better, plus he's shown that he's more effective with his striking, so it wouldn't be as close as this fight.
Has Conor really called out Brock Lesnar or is it just Twitter bullshit? I'd pay good money to see that fight though just to see Brock kick Conor's ass.
He has to defend his belt. Simple.
Nah, Conor being Conor. Lesnar would absolutely demolish Conor, if he thought Nate felt heavy...
said it a few months ago and say it again, I think McGregor is ultimately angling to get a career in the WWE. He's had a running argument/banter with a lot of their lads for the last few months. I wont be surprised if he ends up interfering in a match or something like that
A good kick in the balls would sort that dope head out.
He had to wait around for a year just to fight Aldo the first time, Edgar just lost, Mendes is looking down the barrel of a 2 year ban, already beat Holloway.
After an Aldo rematch, I'd go Holloway vs Edgar winner but you can see it from a McGregor point of view, almost none of these guys are draws and they either just lost or he already beat them.
He needs to fight Aldo before the end of the year or vacate the title though, enough is enough with this 170 shit.
He definitely is. Constant calling out and bantering at wrestlers, tweeting/teasing about WWE events when they're on. Hell, Saturday night he done Vince McMahon's "powerwalk" around the octagon before Diaz arrived.
I think he'll wind up running the show for the UFC at some point and also do a bit of movie acting. Heard he turned down the role of a Bond villain recently.
He's done so many roids over the years, his nuts have probably shriveled into nothing.
What a fight, the knockdowns ultimately the deciding factor, Diaz face always a mess after every fight so would not read much in to it, Mcgregor got his tactics spot on this time, defense wise it worked a treat, has to leave the belts at 145 and do the 3rd match next for me, has a lot to lose if he goes down and loses at 145.