MMA thread

[Doc_Piptorious]

I am not sure about that, but they are all extremely tough fights for each other. This will be McGregors first world class opponent, he's earned his right to crash the party if you ask me and he is criminally underrated by his detractors, fighters do not under rate him. He is tall, he is powerful, he is unorthodox, he has an evasive Karate stance, and he is a worldclass striker ... he is also pretty tidy on the ground, he currently holds a brown belt in BJJ and they dont hand them out in Christmas crackers

Think it is very difficult to judge how good McGregor may or may not be. He has, to date, been fed the sort of opponents that at best could be described as being less than stellar.

Not sure I agree totally with your assessment of his qualities either, at least not yet with a couple of them. There is no way he could be described as being a world class striker at the moment because he simply has not shown it against a higher calibre of opponent. He might well go on to show that he is, but as of now the jury has to be out on that score.

I don't think he is all that tall for the division either, as in being unusually tall or having an unusually long reach.

As for being powerful, again this falls into the same basket as his striking. He may well carry serious power but until we see him use it on top level opponents we don't know what he has.

I agree with you with regards to his stance, it is a very evasive-centric stance and it is one that owes as much, if not slightly more, to his boxing training than his karate training. I quite like the mesh of styles when it comes to his attacking stance and his defensive stance, and his footwork between strike attempts is pretty good. I also like how he often drops his shoulder slightly in a similar manner to how some boxers do it, but then goes on to strike in a totally different manner. It is a lovely feint and he to date has been clever enough to mix in some strikes that match the feint so that it does not become too obvious a feint for an opponent. It really adds to the unorthodox side of his game that you mentioned.

His personality/on camera persona is a mixed blessing. Depending on how that rubs a person it can cause him to be overrated or underrated.

Personally I don't like listening to him as he talks an awful lot of ****, and I have a suspicion that the real life Conor is as full of **** as the on camera persona, but I have to admit that I have become very curious as to how good he actually is. As said above there are some things about him that hint at him having real top level qualities, but there are also things about him that hint that he is a marketing department's wet dream for as long as he can be kept away from the very best as there would be as many people paying to see him get beaten as there would be doing so to see him win.

[Nicey]

Think it is very difficult to judge how good McGregor may or may not be. He has, to date, been fed the sort of opponents that at best could be described as being less than stellar.

Not sure I agree totally with your assessment of his qualities either, at least not yet with a couple of them. There is no way he could be described as being a world class striker at the moment because he simply has not shown it against a higher calibre of opponent. He might well go on to show that he is, but as of now the jury has to be out on that score.

I don't think he is all that tall for the division either, as in being unusually tall or having an unusually long reach.

As for being powerful, again this falls into the same basket as his striking. He may well carry serious power but until we see him use it on top level opponents we don't know what he has.

I agree with you with regards to his stance, it is a very evasive-centric stance and it is one that owes as much, if not slightly more, to his boxing training than his karate training. I quite like the mesh of styles when it comes to his attacking stance and his defensive stance, and his footwork between strike attempts is pretty good. I also like how he often drops his shoulder slightly in a similar manner to how some boxers do it, but then goes on to strike in a totally different manner. It is a lovely feint and he to date has been clever enough to mix in some strikes that match the feint so that it does not become too obvious a feint for an opponent. It really adds to the unorthodox side of his game that you mentioned.

His personality/on camera persona is a mixed blessing. Depending on how that rubs a person it can cause him to be overrated or underrated.

Personally I don't like listening to him as he talks an awful lot of ****, and I have a suspicion that the real life Conor is as full of **** as the on camera persona, but I have to admit that I have become very curious as to how good he actually is. As said above there are some things about him that hint at him having real top level qualities, but there are also things about him that hint that he is a marketing department's wet dream for as long as he can be kept away from the very best as there would be as many people paying to see him get beaten as there would be doing so to see him win.

Sensible stuff. Heres my take, when he arrived at the UFC, he came with even back then a lot of hype, the talk was, including me, and I am from Dublin, drinking the McGregor kool aid, the UFC and Brimage was a serious step up from European promotions. Brimage at the time was a tough up and coming fighter with powerful punches, and a 4 fight winning streak in the UFC. McGregor took him apart, I was honestly quite impressed.
Next up Holloway, who again was and still is a very tough opponent, especially for your 2nd fight in the UFC, other than Conor, Max has only lost to Poirier and Bermudez, including 13 wins, 6 on the bounce presently. McGregor tore his ACL in the 2nd round, but carried on to close out a impressive decision considering he was practically on one leg.
Next Diego Brandao, a tough dangerous fighter ... not top of the food chain but for an up and coming fighter and very tricky opponent. Again McGregor just cut through him like a knife after making a ridiculously fast recovery from a blown ACL
Next and most telling he fought Dustin Poirier who I rate extremely highly. I put him in the same category as Mendes, Edgar and Faber. He made quick work of him, at this stage I felt right he has arrived at the main table. Denis Silver was the only fight that was "fed" to him so to speak. I think by this stage, Dana White and Co thought we have a bonafide superstar on our hands here, we got to get him to the title as quick as possible. Denis Silver was a joke of fight, this next fight will hopefully put all the nay sayers to bed

The fighters he has fought have said he hits like a truck, that kind of power you can not be taught and lifting weights wont help either, you either have it or you dont and he supposedly has it in spades ... I am looking forward to the fight .. not as much as Aldo, because I honeslty thought McGregor could have lit him up, I worry about Aldos shoot and abilty to just rag doll McGregor ... time will see

[Doc_Piptorious]

Sensible stuff. Heres my take, when he arrived at the UFC, he came with even back then a lot of hype, the talk was, including me, and I am from Dublin, drinking the McGregor kool aid, the UFC and Brimage was a serious step up from European promotions. Brimage at the time was a tough up and coming fighter with powerful punches, and a 4 fight winning streak in the UFC. McGregor took him apart, I was honestly quite impressed.
Next up Holloway, who again was and still is a very tough opponent, especially for your 2nd fight in the UFC, other than Conor, Max has only lost to Poirier and Bermudez, including 13 wins, 6 on the bounce presently. McGregor tore his ACL in the 2nd round, but carried on to close out a impressive decision considering he was practically on one leg.
Next Diego Brandao, a tough dangerous fighter ... not top of the food chain but for an up and coming fighter and very tricky opponent. Again McGregor just cut through him like a knife after making a ridiculously fast recovery from a blown ACL
Next and most telling he fought Dustin Poirier who I rate extremely highly. I put him in the same category as Mendes, Edgar and Faber. He made quick work of him, at this stage I felt right he has arrived at the main table. Denis Silver was the only fight that was "fed" to him so to speak. I think by this stage, Dana White and Co thought we have a bonafide superstar on our hands here, we got to get him to the title as quick as possible. Denis Silver was a joke of fight, this next fight will hopefully put all the nay sayers to bed

The fighters he has fought have said he hits like a truck, that kind of power you can not be taught and lifting weights wont help either, you either have it or you dont and he supposedly has it in spades ... I am looking forward to the fight .. not as much as Aldo, because I honeslty thought McGregor could have lit him up, I worry about Aldos shoot and abilty to just rag doll McGregor ... time will see

Am not in agreement with you on the quality of who he has faced, but I think McGregor vs Mendes is an intriguing match up.

McGregor is the cleaner (and heavier imo) striker and has a decent ground game, whereas Mendes is only a decent striker (compared to McGregor that is) but has a superior ground game (which is to be expected given his wrestling background).


The longer they stay upright the better it is for McGregor, and Mendes has shown that despite having fantastic ground game he does like to trade strikes and his durability often sees him allowing himself to be hit in order to get his own shot in .

What is another interesting factor in this match up is the durability and stamina of both men. Mendes we know can take a hit, and we know that he is very good at taking a fight the distance whereas McGregor is still a bit of an unknown quantity with regards to his durability and also when it comes to grinding out a result when he cannot put the other guy away early.

Looking at their respective records and comparing bouts when a KO or a TKO could not be achieved, it makes for some interesting reading.

McGregor has had 19 MMA bouts (inc Cage Rage etc) and in 15 of those he has managed to win by KL or TKO. Which of course speaks well of his striking ability.

But when we look at what happens when he cannot win by KO/TKO, the results and performances are not as impressive.

Four bouts in which he did not score a KO or TKO saw him win two and lose two. If we look at his two loses, both were by submission and both were against guys whose strength lay in their ground game rather than having any great stopping power. Even the two wins he has from those four fights were not overly impressive.


Mendes has also had 19 MMA bouts, and like McGregor he also has lost two (both to Aldo). But unlike McGregor he has a low enough KO/TKO rate (only 7 wins came by that route) and is very experienced in taking the fight into the latter stages or to where a decision needs to be made.

Nine of his fights have gone to decision and he has won eight of those with the decision loss being a very close thing against Aldo.


For my money Mendes cannot fight the same sort of fight against McGregor as he did against Aldo (second fight). McGregor is too clean a striker to trade with, especially as Mendes is prone to leaving himself wide open after taking a heavy shot (look at how often he did that against Aldo in their second bout)
and McGregor has the speed and clean striking to punish that sort of space.

Mendes needs to go tight on McGregor, and pretty much bring his mat skill into play. If he goes in with that score orientated style that he often uses, then I reckon McGregor will have the sort of speed to make it an early night. That style might work against a lot of guys a boxing or karate background, but McGregor seems genuinely quick to me, and as such a score seeking style might be tailor made for McGregor to exploit.


Ground and Pound is, for me, the way to go against McGregor and it would need to be done by a guy with a great mat game, which is something Mendes does have in his locker.

Have a feeling that Mendes will go down the upright score seeking style though, as he tends to do so against guys with a striking background (Boxing, Karate, and the like), and if he does I only see one winner and it ain't Mendes.

[Nicey]

There is a huge difference in the skill level progression of both fighters though, Mendes has always been legit, he has made incremental improvements whereas Conor is one of those fighters who looks like a different guy in every fight. Which ever way you cut it, its a fight worth watching ... Mendes will shoot for a single over and over again and Conor will spin out of it .. and start to light him up

[Doc_Piptorious]

There is a huge difference in the skill level progression of both fighters though, Mendes has always been legit, he has made incremental improvements whereas Conor is one of those fighters who looks like a different guy in every fight. Which ever way you cut it, its a fight worth watching ... Mendes will shoot for a single over and over again and Conor will spin out of it .. and start to light him up

100% agree with you on that. It is very much a case of the proven meeting the unproven.

The contrast in fighting styles and fighting backgrounds could not be more stark. A strong arguement could be made for either man having the background that makes their style ideal, in theory, for countering the other's style.

What would be interesting to see would be if Mendes could land cleanly on McGregor early doors or if Mendes had the durability to withstand McGregor's strikes and be able to fire back himself. We have all seen McGregor take guys out early with very clean strikes, but we really do not know if he scores highly in terms of durability and stamina.

[Nicey]

I think McGregor's striking really is underrated. Its hard to fathom just how difficult it is to fight against a unorthodox striker with incredibly clean technique, he throws text book punches and kicks, but from very weird angles. This will be a huge test Mendes is a savage who trains with savages everyday, hes tough, hes skillful and he has a set of tools tailor made to give McGregor a lot of problems. I think McGregor is going to Dance around him looking to land a single blow to put Mendes on queer street, thats another thing McGregor has .. amazing footwork ... he wins this fight people will have to finally take him seriously

[Doc_Piptorious]

I think McGregor's striking really is underrated. Its hard to fathom just how difficult it is to fight against a unorthodox striker with incredibly clean technique, he throws text book punches and kicks, but from very weird angles. This will be a huge test Mendes is a savage who trains with savages everyday, hes tough, hes skillful and he has a set of tools tailor made to give McGregor a lot of problems. I think McGregor is going to Dance around him looking to land a single blow to put Mendes on queer street, thats another thing McGregor has .. amazing footwork ... he wins this fight people will have to finally take him seriously

Really? From what I can tell most people seem to agree that he is a very clean striker and quite an accurate one at that be it with fist, elbow, knee or foot.

Plenty of folk seem to have doubts over other aspects of his style/skillset, which may mainly be down to the unknown factor with regards to certain things, but generally his striking is something he gets praised a lot for.

[Nicey]

Yeah hes a striker that much is Obvious .. but I think his skill set is right up there with the best of them, unfortunately he has yet Poitier aside to fight a truly top of the food chain opponent ... hes about to ... popcorn is ready

[Doc_Piptorious]

Yeah hes a strike that much is Obvious .. but I think his skill set is right up there with the best of them, unfortunately he has yet Poitier aside fight a truly top of the food chain opponent ... hes about to ... popcorn is ready

I don't think that Mendes is quite a top of the pile fighter, but he is certainly the type of fighter that can hold his own with anyone in the division and very capable of exposing any flaws another fighter may have.

He is the sort of fighter that anyone hoping to be the best needs to beat, and he will either be a serious stepping stone for McGregor (along with giving a proper idea of how good McGregor might be) or the guy that exposes a weakness in McGregor's game.


Do think that it boils down to how Mendes approaches McGregor though.


We have a pretty good idea as to how McGregor is going to fight. He is going to come out and try to make sure the fight remains a standing fight. Clean strikes, ducking in and out of range and countering takedowns with sprawls will be his strategy. It's what works for him and it is what comes naturally.


Mendes on the other hand really needs to get his strategy right from the first second of the bout. Against Aldo he seemed to switch between a clinch & pound tactic and a score seeking tactic.

I am not so sure this will work against McGregor though as I think McGregor may be a little faster than Aldo, especially with his feet, and McGregor would use his boxing influenced footwork to create range/distance in which he can work his strikes.

A ground and pound strategy makes the most sense for me as it would take away McGregor's most effective qualities (clean striking, movement, unorthodox angles) and force him to fight Mendes on Mendes' terms.


An upright Mendes gives us the chance to see a very exciting but possibly very short fight. More than likely in McGregor's favour.

A ground fighting Mendes on the other hand has the background and experience to frustrate and potentially get a submission or decision win.


Based on Mendes' habit of going after upright fighters on their own terms I would have to see McGregor as the favourite though.

[Gibbo]

There is a huge difference in the skill level progression of both fighters though, Mendes has always been legit, he has made incremental improvements whereas Conor is one of those fighters who looks like a different guy in every fight. Which ever way you cut it, its a fight worth watching ... Mendes will shoot for a single over and over again and Conor will spin out of it .. and start to light him up

There are a couple generalisations here. Mendes is far more than someone is going to just fly in a single leg that Conor will spin out of. For a start Siver showed that due to Mcgregors flashy technique and the way he throws he can be taken down, holding him down was something that Siver couldn't do, Mendes on the other hand would probably have more success. Especially in the later rounds(where Conor has never been in a UFC event remember) he had Aldo down in the later stages of their second fight albeit briefly, and Aldo probably has some of the best TDD in the whole od MMA, not to mention his ability to pop back up.

You also seem to be making out that Mendes is purely a wrestler dude has power and can strike really well. Look at him taking out people like Lamas. Now it can be argued that bar Aldo, and Lamas like Mcgregor Mendes hasn't really had massively tough competition. But he showed in his fight with Also that he can work on the feet, and also has a good chin.

It'll be a good fight definately, but I think Conor will have to show up at his very very best to win. He's not just going to talk through Mendes. Not a chance.

[Nicey]

Gibbo I will have to disagree with you on a number of points. Siver shot 3 times the entire fight, All 3 were incredibly weak attempts, one completed and McGregor popped up immediately. By the time he tried the 2nd attempt Siver’s face was a bloody mess and it was more like an exhibition fight, I am not sure how seriously McGregor was taking him by that stage, Siver was bloody ball of string that he was toying with.

McGregors stance is very much a traditional Karate stance head back, which makes him extremely difficult to hit. Mendes throws a lot of hooks, hittings someone with a hook in a Karate stance is nay on impposible . The only thing open is his lead leg which against a kickboxer would be an issue against a wrestler, it reamains to be seen.

Mendes is a text book wrestler, hes a NCCA All start fighting out of Team Alpha Male … that is literally wrestler meca, he could not be anymore of a wrestler if he tried. He is a wrestler with extremely powerful punches , McGregor is a BJJ Brownbelt, I don’t think Mendes has the size to be able to keep McGregor on the ground and its rare that you see a good ground and pound these days

One thing we are all agreed on, it will be a interested match up

[Gibbo]

Some rumours that on 8 days out Conor had 27 pounds left to cut.

Now I'm no weight cutting expert, but surely that's a lot? I thought around 9 or 10 was considered a large cut?

Anyway this was him yesterday.



Doesn't look like he's having much fun but im sure there are a few fighters who end up like that.

Surely when they scrap IV's in October he won't be able to drop this much? If he makes it at all this time around

[meffin]

Most fighters drop about 20 pounds in the last week- most of that in the last few days/day through water

[The_weatherman]

So you MMA guys know anything about the guy Gunnar Nelson is fighting? Thatcher I think he's called.

[Nicey]

So you MMA guys know anything about the guy Gunnar Nelson is fighting? Thatcher I think he's called.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_PgtbO_BYY"]Brandon "Rukus" Thatch Highlights | By RobinOzel - YouTube[/ame]

Very dangerous dude, kickboxer with a vicious clinch, started training Karate at 4 ... and has a mullet .... So hes a karate mullet wearing kick boxer .... ****ing Awesome ... Gunner has his hands full ... should be a quality fight