The amount of people who discount MMA to boxing is hilarious, especially considering most people have no clue what they're talking about. MMA is a rougher sport, you take more damage and it's harder to be dominant in for a long period of time. Longevity is not your friend in MMA. To say that Conor's big punch is just a normal punch in boxing is insanely moronic and tells me that you don't know enough about MMA to be commenting on intricacies in technique.
If Conor is able to catch Floyd with punches, he's going to be in trouble, make no mistake about it.
There's also zero to no chance that Floyd is able to knock Conor out. It's just not going to happen. Floyd has to win by out boxing-savvy-ing Conor to a defensive decision.
I'm not sure who wins this fight, but if it were in the octagon it would be over in about 15 seconds. The fact that people refer to Conor in this situation as a gimmick challenger who has no chance is infuriating and incorrect.
I actually enjoy MMA but comments like this are just cringeworthy.
Where can this elitist attitude come from? We hear all the time that boxing is dying and according to the MMA diehards not only is their sport the heir apparent but its also a marked improvement.
Yet its most marketable fighter, Jon Jones notwithstanding, still needs the Mayweather/Boxing's circus to get almost anyone outside of Brazil or North America to pay attention.
Yes the fighters take more punishment but to say its harder to be dominant is debatable. And that's being kind.
What's the talent pool like currently worldwide for MMA? Compare it to boxing now and it MIGHT be competitive. Compare it to decades past and MMA will likely never reach those numbers of worldwide participation. Harder to be dominant? Try again.
As much as I like Conor until the bell rings and he proves everyone wrong he IS a gimmick challenger. He's among the most dominant figures in a fledging sport still struggling to really get out the blocks facing arguably the greatest pound for pound fighter in the history of boxing.
It's not really MMA vs. Boxing. Its really a technician vs a fighter who uses his hands amongst other techniques in a boxing match. To simplify it to the binary is asinine and degrades both fighters.
I feel like I've played the contrarian a lot this summer so I'll do it again by defending Floyd one time.
Remember this: his prime was ~10 to 15 years ago. Every other fighter of his caliber in any combat sport you want to name at his age was either retired, dead, dead broke, getting knocked around by younger men so they could stop being broke, or happened to be Bernard Hopkins.
For various reasons, some are self-inflicted by boxing itself, he's still the face of the sport, still the biggest draw (in all of sports), and before his last retirement was still routinely outclassing top fighters several of who were almost half his age. When Mcgregor or any MMA fighter puts together that type of legacy/longevity give me a call.
Youre talking about the greatest defensive fighter of all time vs. a non-boxer. The Mcgregor skepticism is completely warranted.
Also,
at the "Floyd cant knock Conor out" comments as if they mean anything.
Of course you wouldnt expect a 40 year old who was never known for his power and who fought at his heaviest at light middleweight to knock out 29 year old in his prime.
