yes it was. and it made me wonder why didn't they just postpone the fight? 189 has a championship fight. A better fight. I would have saved Mcnugget for Aldo. It seems a shame to waste all that build up on him just to get his ass kicked by Mendes.
McGregor was offered to postpone the fight and turned it down. A lot of that I imagine is because of a lot of people from Ireland attending. I couldn't imagine Ricky Hatton turning down a replacement fight in Las Vegas at a weeks notice either due to the people he felt responsible for coming from Manchester.
If the UFC are protecting Conor McGregor so much, how come he's fighting the #1 ranked guy in the division, who gave Jose Aldo the fight of his life last time out, who is also a wrestler......at 2 week's notice?
McGregor was offered to postpone the fight and turned it down. A lot of that I imagine is because of a lot of people from Ireland attending. I couldn't imagine Ricky Hatton turning down a replacement fight in Las Vegas at a weeks notice either due to the people he felt responsible for coming from Manchester.
If the UFC are protecting Conor McGregor so much, how come he's fighting the #1 ranked guy in the division, who gave Jose Aldo the fight of his life last time out, who is also a wrestler......at 2 week's notice?
I don't think they are protecting him. I'm saying that I would have protected all of that promotion by postponing the fight. It's hard for me to believe they left a decision that big up to Mcwhatsisname.
I've always thought Frankie is the easier fight for Conor and really can't think of a worse possible opponent than Mendes for him.
I wasn't saying you were saying that oldfan just was saying it in general. Everyone says the UFC is protecting Conor but to be fair they might well have tried to and Conor turned it down. He likes to act like he's not a fighter and he's just a martial artist turned businessman but there's still the dude begging for a Cage Warriors title shot in there that doesn't want to let anyone down.
The problem I have is if Chad Mendes wins. Alright, Conor gets the shot over Frankie and he hasn't beaten the same calibre of guys on the street. Bit unfair but I said in the other thread there's plenty to justify it. But if Mendes wins....he's now fighting Aldo? How can Frankie get THAT screwed over. Mendes JUST lost to Aldo. That's why Frankie should really be getting the shot. Forget how exciting Mendes is or how he did against Jose, there is no way Frankie Edgar shouldn't be fighting for the title within his next two fights.
I think once the UFC could see the dollar signs they definately "protected" him by giving him favourable stylistic fights, that said once you reach the top guys in the divisions theres little the UFC can do but let the chips fall as they may.
As for Aldo-Mendes part 3, sure it doesnt sound great now but if Mendes was to knock McGregor stiff i think it'd gauge enough reaction to make the fight interesting.
Mendes is legit and so is Conor.. I'd still like to see how he does against a wrestler though, plenty of legit fighters have wrestling as their kryptonite.
Carry on with all this about Aldo being the least popular Champion, low numbers, pulls out of fights too often... none of it really popped up until this fight, where he's fighting someone who thrives off trash talk and needs ammo.
Dana will feed the drama but he knows Aldo is #1, he's got Aldo as #1 on the UFC website, that is not changing anytime soon. PPV numbers do not = skill level, most fighters asked have said Aldo is top, viewer ratings don't always agree.
People would constantly mention buy rates as a way to diminish the lower weight classes.
Really it was just a case that there wasn't really a guy down in those classes finishing fights to get it hyped up. Every weight class above LW had a fighter who "crossed the line" before.
Brock Lesnar (Expendables or whatever, most people still dont know Randy Couture), Chuck Liddell, Jon Jones, Anderson Silva and GSP all crossed over. Lightweight and below didn't really have that so they've got an unfair wrap at times.
Mendes hasnt finished anyone with even close to Conors striking. He wont get near him to hit him. And he wont stay out of danger for 5 rounds. Guna be a long week waiting for this
I'm not convinced. I agree Conor is the better, more technical striker and should have the advantage but Mendes looked much improved in his last two fights, improved enough that Conor should not be too reckless about landing his own punches freely. Poirier knocked one of his teeth out, Mendes usually throws with big power, he'd be wise to keep Mendes at arms length and use footwork.
Yep, Lamas. Also Cub Swanson in the WEC, a better striker than anyone Conor has ever fought... not that there was all that much stand up going on in that fight.
and i would also say giving Aldo more trouble standing than anyone ever has is enough to qualify as "f*uck all"
Whilst I understand the point you're trying to make Soojooko this is an argument that is a little more one-way, you're kind of comparing apples to oranges.
Matt Hughes, Brock Lesnar and an endless list of Wrestlers have had success in MMA despite not knowing anymore than the fundamentals of striking. If you really want to expose Mendes' striking you'd have to look for somebody with exceptional counter wrestling (Aldo) and then after that, good striking (Aldo). There's not a whole lot of them around, decent wrestlers on the other hand are plentiful.
I just saying that my own perceptions have changed. Whereas before, in my mind I always considered Conor having "not faced a wrestler like Mendez, therefore etc". However, it occurred to me today that actually, Mendez has not really proved himself effective against top strikers. At least, not as much as I thought he had. When reviewing those fights between the 2 Aldo fights, I was surprised how damn favorable they are for Mendez.
Whether Conor is a top striker is another debate. I think he is.
It's impossible to not have Mendes fight favorable competition, sounds like i am just hyping him up... but really, style wise, outside of Aldo what is an unfavorable match up for Mendes?
Thats exactly my point. There is nobody, therefore its not like Mendez has proved himself as effective as I thought he had against high level strikers.
But wrestlers don't have to have effective striking against top strikers... But a top striker will have to have effective defensive wrestling to beat a wrestler.
and i think Mendes has proven more than anyone else in the division. Is Conor McGregor all that proven against top strikers going by this scale?
Like I said, its my personal perception thats changed. I didnt really give Conor much chance of beating Mendez if im honest. But looking at it, now I give him more chance. I simply couldn't find and evidence of Mendez being effective against a striker like Conor. So there are some unknowns there on Mendez part as there are with Conor. Only serves to make the fight tastier. Maybe all this from me is my way of getting myself pumped up for a fight that I fear will flop.
I admit that I never paid much attention to Chad before he stepped up to fight mcmuffin. Now I want to be a big fan but... I've been watching his fights and ....I am not imbreast by his performances.. There is nothing. Not one single thing that he does as well as Frankie. He's not as fast, not as technical, not as versatile, not as tough.
In his 2nd fight with Aldo if not for the eye pokes nutkicks and headbutts he would not have survived the 1st round. Or the 2nd. or the 3rd.
If Mendes wins then I believe 2 things are true. Mcnugget's a fraud and Frankie is going to beat Chad like he's his big brother and take his little fake belt easy.
Frankie Edgar Should be on everybody's top 5 favorite fighters. Not sure how anyone can not like him, but I guess a lot in this world leaves me puzzled.
Frankie's only downfall is he spends all the time that other fighters use to talk shit and promote themselves, to train more. Dana only cares about PPV buys and Frankie doesn't sell a lot of them unfortunately as he's the polar opposite of Conor in that way. I think he beats Chad or Conor no problem.
Here we go, the first to say Chad Mendes is unimpressive. If McGregor beats him it'll probably mean nothing and he's been ducking Frankie since the start of time.
I'm just saying that Mcmuffin has a better chance than I previously thought.
Chad scored 3 eyepokes, 2 nutkicks and at least one damage causing headbutt against Aldo, never got penalized, and still lost every round. So, beating him proves what? That mcmuffin isn't totally useless against wrestlers. That's all.
I'm actually starting to hope ragnar bigmouth wins. It would be much more fun to see him against Frankie or Aldo than Chad.
I've been watching the non-ufc conor fights.
now, granted it's not UFC-level competition, but his grappling skills seemed not bad at all. He got great top control, he's good at managing distance, controlling his posture etc... anyway, the max holloway fight would not be the best example of how conor grapples (I believe he was hurt in this fight, if I remember right)
I'd definitely recommend to watch them for those who haven't see them (you can find them on youtube)
the only way I could see Mendes win is if he's on top L&P style, not really sure he can hang in the striking area.
I'd love to see Conor trying to take the fight to the ground, actually
Chad Mendes is just a born athlete to me. He's got speed and power. Due to his frame, he's not someone to work his way in with jabs but as Jose Aldo can tell you, he hits hard as hell. I think on raw power he could shoot from one side of the ring and potentially push Conor onto the cage at the other side.
Frankie Edgar on the other hand is much more technical. He uses his footwork and punches to set up his takedowns. I think his issue is that he uses these things and I think Conor will be able to use these times to hurt him. Edgar might have the best heart in the world but a round of getting smacked fairly hard in the face is always harsh to overcome.
I'd have no fear in Edgar Vs Conor of whether or not Edgar is going to win the striking. I think the entire thing would be if Edgar can counter Conor's strikes with some huge takedowns.
Mendes on the other hand I think could knock McGregor out OR control him on the ground.
Conor has gotta be under so much ****en pressure and has a lot to lose now. He is hiding it well but if he loses his stock drops hard and fast. If he comes through and smokes Mendes with ease, he is a legit badass mother****er and 145 is in deep deep shit
Conor has gotta be under so much ****en pressure and has a lot to lose now. He is hiding it well but if he loses his stock drops hard and fast. If he comes through and smokes Mendes with ease, he is a legit badass mother****er and 145 is in deep deep shit
Conor thrives on it though, he seems to be at his best when all the pressure is weighing down on him. It keeps him real sharp.
But then again, Mendes is one of the most confident fighters i have seen. I love his disposition in the cage, it feels like he just knows he is gonna win and anything thrown his way just outright amuses him.
I think he will be less bothered by Conor's antics than Aldo or anything else has been thus far.
Chael is claiming Conor weighed 172 on Friday. 27lbs to cut in 8 days. Isn't that a little short on time for a cut like that when he'll probably continue to do more promoting/interviews as well as train etc?
Yeah I'd be REALLY surprised if Conor ever messed up a weight in. He seems to pride himself on avoiding out of competition injuries and being a professional with weight etc.
Another high profile fight that is going to be marred by sub par conditions. I picked Mendes but I feel like McNugget has a hefty advantage.
The way I see Chad being able to beat Conor is high energy, fast paced grappling/wrestling mixing in his striking and keeping McNugget working against td's.
I dont think Chad has had the camp he would need to be as effective as he can against Conor.
Aldo and Edgar, IMO they are the two guys I feel should be favored over McGregor.
This is certainly a telling fight right?
I dont feel that way about it, its a last minute replacement fight and that leaves us with a lot of questions if McGregor wins.
If he takes a hard loss to chad who is stepping in short notice then id say his stock will fall a lot.
Im not a McGregor hater but I do feel his over appreciated by fans but obviously he has solid skills standing.
I like this more than an aldo fight, makes me feel like he's now going to actually earn his way there with a win.
If he beats chad and then Frankie id say he's more than earned his chance at beating Aldo but I dont think he beats Edgar so w/e.
I think this should have been Frankie's fight not chads that part of this is wwe style garbage.
Yeah all of this, although I'd favour Conor over Aldo before I'd favour him over Frankie or Chad.
Annd you can complain about Frankie not getting the fight but remember that he got a FW title shot in his FW debut off the back of a 1 win in 4 fights record and two straight defeats.
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