OT: MMA General Discussion Thread (UFC, Strikeforce, Belator etc...) Part 2

MessierII

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Aug 10, 2011
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John Kavanaugh (Connor's coach) said in a recent interview that Connor has never strayed away from his martial arts mindset throughout this whole camp. He's not trying to fight Floyd as a 'boxer' but as a martial artist with a restricted set of rules. He mentioned that Connor immediately referenced Bruce Lee's 'be like water' comment and that he intends to 'become the cup'. For martial arts nerds like myself, that sends shivers down my spine. It's something out of a 1989 Van Damme movie. Connor is going to fight him in a boxing ring, with boxing rules, with a holistic JKD philosophy and game plan. I have no idea if he will be successful, but god dammit it makes me excited to see what happens!
Haha no doubt that's awesome. I'm stoked for this fight too. I'd love to Mcgregor pull it off somehow.
 

Spawn

Something in the water
Feb 20, 2006
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So fight went basically exactly as would be expected. Was actually a bit more entertaining than I was expecting. McGregor didn't embarrass himself in the first 2-3 rounds and then Mayweather was able to demonstrate some of his offensive boxing in the last fight of his career. Once he started turning it up and let McGregor punch himself out a bit the chasm in their boxing ability (and experience) became apparent.

I imagine they're both having a pretty chill day today after each taking a likely 9 figure paycheck home with them.
 

McShogun99

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Aug 30, 2009
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Ya there isn't much reason to pay for a PPV anymore, no big draws (in my opinion at least)

I wish the UFC fight pass included the live PPV events. It's funny because I would pay the $96/year to have access to all the events, however, I will never rent the individual PPV's @ $60. So I just don't watch them unless I happen to be at a bar at the time.

I'd easily pas 19.99/month for fight pass if it included PPV but I won't pay 9.99/month for fight pass with the garbage they offer now. I think the UFC would make more money in the long term if they followed the WWE networks model.
 

TheSting

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Jun 22, 2015
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So fight went basically exactly as would be expected. Was actually a bit more entertaining than I was expecting. McGregor didn't embarrass himself in the first 2-3 rounds and then Mayweather was able to demonstrate some of his offensive boxing in the last fight of his career. Once he started turning it up and let McGregor punch himself out a bit the chasm in their boxing ability (and experience) became apparent.

I imagine they're both having a pretty chill day today after each taking a likely 9 figure paycheck home with them.

That's the strat for pretty much all power punchers. Mike Tyson's, George Foreman's of the world. Make em blow their load early and wear themselves out. Floyd played it perfect. I would have loved to seen the Ref allow it to continue so that I could watch the loud mouth Leprechaun lying on the canvas but it wasn't meant to be.
 

Laineux

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Aug 1, 2011
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Pretty much the perfect outcome for both fighters.

McGregor didn't end up looking totally out of place and managed to hang around with Floyd until he gassed. Floyd executed a perfect game plan was in no real trouble at any moment. Mayweather got a "guestionable" TKO and they both stayed with their prides fully intact.
 

doulos

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Oct 4, 2007
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I enjoyed it. There wasn't really a fight, it was more of a choreographed entertainment night. But that was what we were expecting. The gap between those two guys was even more than I thought it might be. Mayweather basically stood there for three rounds to let the crowd (and McGregor) think McGregor stood any kind of chance, and then slowly ramped it up round over round and when he decided the farce was over he ended it. Performed to perfection by Mayweather.

The only thing that surprises me is that so many people still think it was an actual fight and not a spectacle designed to extract as much money from people as possible.
 

joestevens29

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Apr 30, 2009
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I enjoyed it. There wasn't really a fight, it was more of a choreographed entertainment night. But that was what we were expecting. The gap between those two guys was even more than I thought it might be. Mayweather basically stood there for three rounds to let the crowd (and McGregor) think McGregor stood any kind of chance, and then slowly ramped it up round over round and when he decided the farce was over he ended it. Performed to perfection by Mayweather.

The only thing that surprises me is that so many people still think it was an actual fight and not a spectacle designed to extract as much money from people as possible.

Mayweather did the same thing I've seen many times in Edmonton with fighters coming from a layoff. Just toyed with the guy to put a show on to get some rounds in.

The fact that people are saying McGregor>Pacqauio is just delusional as well.
 

doulos

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I just don't think McGregor proved anything other than he is a great entertainer, and good on him for making crazy money doing so. People saying that he did a good job going 10 rounds confuse me. It seemed incredibly clear that Mayweather could have ended that fight at any point after the first few rounds. Wouldn't surprise me if he could have got it down to a 20-30 second window in any round that he wanted. Once he decided to end it that was it. Game over. The extra rounds were due to getting paid hundreds of millions to entertain people. And they both pulled it off brilliantly based on how they fooled everyone.

But you could tell from watching that event that it was not about truthfully seeing who was the better boxer, but about going through the motions to put on a show. Both of the actors did very well and I enjoyed it!

All that said, I don't watch a ton of either of these sports any more so maybe I am way off base. Could be wrong.
 
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Canovin

1% is the new 11.5%
Oct 27, 2010
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Mayweather did the same thing I've seen many times in Edmonton with fighters coming from a layoff. Just toyed with the guy to put a show on to get some rounds in.

The fact that people are saying McGregor>Pacqauio is just delusional as well.

You probably don't remember Pacquiao first pro boxing match.
 

Faelko

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Aug 11, 2002
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I just don't think McGregor proved anything other than he is a great entertainer, and good on him for making crazy money doing so. People saying that he did a good job going 10 rounds confuse me. It seemed incredibly clear that Mayweather could have ended that fight at any point after the first few rounds. Wouldn't surprise me if he could have got it down to a 20-30 second window in any round that he wanted. Once he decided to end it that was it. Game over. The extra rounds were due to getting paid hundreds of millions to entertain people. And they both pulled it off brilliantly based on how they fooled everyone.

But you could tell from watching that event that it was not about truthfully seeing who was the better boxer, but about going through the motions to put on a show. Both of the actors did very well and I enjoyed it!

All that said, I don't watch a ton of either of these sports any more so maybe I am way off base. Could be wrong.

You aren't wrong. Good analysis.
 

Canovin

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Oct 27, 2010
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I just don't think McGregor proved anything other than he is a great entertainer, and good on him for making crazy money doing so. People saying that he did a good job going 10 rounds confuse me. It seemed incredibly clear that Mayweather could have ended that fight at any point after the first few rounds. Wouldn't surprise me if he could have got it down to a 20-30 second window in any round that he wanted. Once he decided to end it that was it. Game over. The extra rounds were due to getting paid hundreds of millions to entertain people. And they both pulled it off brilliantly based on how they fooled everyone.

But you could tell from watching that event that it was not about truthfully seeing who was the better boxer, but about going through the motions to put on a show. Both of the actors did very well and I enjoyed it!

All that said, I don't watch a ton of either of these sports any more so maybe I am way off base. Could be wrong.

Floyd would have gotten KO'd if his game plan was to KO Conor in the first 3 rounds. Conor caught him with the left uppercuts twice early when Floyd was coming forward and it stunned him. Try to doing that for 3 straight rounds and that would have cost him the fight. It's crrazy that no one is giving Conor credit. How many of Floyd's opponents catches him clean with the straight jabs Conor was throwing?
 

MessierII

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Aug 10, 2011
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Yeah Floyd was feeling him but let's not pretend his plan was to get smoked in the face multiple times. McGregor did a great job.
 

Spawn

Something in the water
Feb 20, 2006
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Hopefully McGregor gets back to the UFC and starts defending his lightweight belt. He knocked out Aldo two years ago. Spent a year not defending that belt. Won the lightweight title and has spent a year not defending that one either. Two years as a champion (either featherweight or lightweight) and not one title defense.
 

Aceboogie

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There was a 0.1% chance McGregor was going to win this. This is possibly the best boxer of a generation vs a great MMA fighter (but not even the best of the best). I mean Mcgregor is like what, 2 years removed from getting pounded by Nate Diaz? Hes hardly been that top MMA fighter for multiple years as GSP or Silva were before him.

I did love the hype build up to the fight not going to lie. This build up was more WWE style entertainment but I watched every press event and a good number of video to hype this. It was masterfully done and only these two characters could pull it off. I thought the actual fight was going to be brutal but I was honestly impressed.

At first I thought Mayweather was going to run away and let McGregor tire himself out before dominating. Essentially giving McGregor no chance to get a good punch off. But to my surprise Mayweather was standing his ground in the first 4 rounds, likely to give the fans a good fight. I was a bit nervous because McGregor was in range to land a knock out punch (albeit a lucky one). Mayweather was still cautious tho and stayed a healthy distance away and let McGregor tire himself out

People are handing it to McGregor for putting on a good show, but ill actually say it was Mayweather who made this fight enjoyable. He could have easily played defensive for 7 rounds and made this a snoozer. Instead he engaged a bit and let McGregor get some good punches in (big reason Mcgregor landed 111 or whatever it was). McGregor needs to go back to MMA tho because that is where hell make his ultimate legacy. One of more safest bets ive made in my life tho. Decently easy money and shocked I got in at -450. Back when the fight was announced it was at -2000 and I thought maybe best odds youd get would be -700ish

Not a big boxing guy and I think Saturdays fight solidified that. I do appreciate the strategic nature of boxing more than I did before, but I just find it boring compared to MMA. So many more tools to use in MMA and the fights are way more entertaining because a knock out can happen at any time.
 
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doulos

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Oct 4, 2007
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Floyd would have gotten KO'd if his game plan was to KO Conor in the first 3 rounds. Conor caught him with the left uppercuts twice early when Floyd was coming forward and it stunned him. Try to doing that for 3 straight rounds and that would have cost him the fight. It's crrazy that no one is giving Conor credit. How many of Floyd's opponents catches him clean with the straight jabs Conor was throwing?

Would Floyd have bothered to step forward towards Conor in the early rounds if he wastruly worried about being knocked out? I suspect no personally. Particularly given how Floyd fights against actual boxers - not like that.

My interpretation is that he knew with 100% certainty that he would win the fight and the whole thing was a show to entertain the fans. If Conor was an actual pro boxer he would have done his defensive wizardry and picked Conor apart over 12 rounds in an excrutiatingly boring match, like he always does.

The reason no one hits Floyd like that is because Floyd would never put himself into a situation where it was possible against someone who legitimately even had a puncher's chance. At least that's my thoughts.

When you view the whole event for the entertaining show that it was created to be then the whole thing makes a lot of sense. I had fun watching it.
 

ManofSteel55

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Aug 15, 2013
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There was a 0.1% chance McGregor was going to win this. This is possibly the best boxer of a generation vs a great MMA fighter (but not even the best of the best). I mean Mcgregor is like what, 2 years removed from getting pounded by Nate Diaz? Hes hardly been that top MMA fighter for multiple years as GSP or Silva were before him.

I did love the hype build up to the fight not going to lie. This build up was more WWE style entertainment but I watched every press event and a good number of video to hype this. It was masterfully done and only these two characters could pull it off. I thought the actual fight was going to be brutal but I was honestly impressed.

At first I thought Mayweather was going to run away and let McGregor tire himself out before dominating. Essentially giving McGregor no chance to get a good punch off. But to my surprise Mayweather was standing his ground in the first 4 rounds, likely to give the fans a good fight. I was a bit nervous because McGregor was in range to land a knock out punch (albeit a lucky one). Mayweather was still cautious tho and stayed a healthy distance away and let McGregor tire himself out

People are handing it to McGregor for putting on a good show, but ill actually say it was Mayweather who made this fight enjoyable. He could have easily played defensive for 7 rounds and made this a snoozer. Instead he engaged a bit and let McGregor get some good punches in (big reason Mcgregor landed 111 or whatever it was). McGregor needs to go back to MMA tho because that is where hell make his ultimate legacy

One of more safest bets ive made in my life tho. Decently easy money and shocked I got in at -450. Back when the fight was announced it was at -2000 and I thought maybe best odds youd get would be -700ish

You're right in that Conor was never going to win. But I think you are not giving him enough credit in the fight. Yes, Floyd could have pulled his typical dodge and duck game and he knew he didn't have to, but I don't think anyone goes into a boxing match with the thought of "letting" the other guy punch you 111 times, especially when you know that this guy does have knockout power. There were a few of those punches that looked like they legitimately hurt as well. I'm not trying to talk Conor up too much, it was always Mayweather's fight, but even Mayweather said that Conor was better than he thought.

And yes, Conor needs to defend those belts.
 

doulos

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Oct 4, 2007
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You're right in that Conor was never going to win. But I think you are not giving him enough credit in the fight. Yes, Floyd could have pulled his typical dodge and duck game and he knew he didn't have to, but I don't think anyone goes into a boxing match with the thought of "letting" the other guy punch you 111 times, especially when you know that this guy does have knockout power. There were a few of those punches that looked like they legitimately hurt as well. I'm not trying to talk Conor up too much, it was always Mayweather's fight, but even Mayweather said that Conor was better than he thought.

And yes, Conor needs to defend those belts.

Mayweather looked like he had gone out for a light jog by the end of the fight. I'd say those punches did next to nothing to him. A few snuck through, but he was never in danger of being knocked out and I doubt he was worried at any point.

Of course Mayweather is going to say McGregor is better than he thought. He would say that even if it were not true. This was a show that was designed to tell a story, and it just happened to use boxing/mma to tell it. Mayweather was not going to go 10 rounds with an MMA fighter and then say that he was worse than he expected. How would that look?
 

Aceboogie

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Aug 25, 2012
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You're right in that Conor was never going to win. But I think you are not giving him enough credit in the fight. Yes, Floyd could have pulled his typical dodge and duck game and he knew he didn't have to, but I don't think anyone goes into a boxing match with the thought of "letting" the other guy punch you 111 times, especially when you know that this guy does have knockout power. There were a few of those punches that looked like they legitimately hurt as well. I'm not trying to talk Conor up too much, it was always Mayweather's fight, but even Mayweather said that Conor was better than he thought.

And yes, Conor needs to defend those belts.

This is true,

Mcgregor did impress me and should get credit for how he performed in the first 4 rounds. He showed some great boxing skills and brought the fight to Mayweather

I just think Mayweather also played it smart because he get McGregor to throw a ton of punches. Hard to say whether this was his intentions or whether CM just surprised him. My own theory but I think if Mayweather played all out defense like he did in past fights, Mcgregor wouldnt have been "tricked" into going after him as he would have realized Mayweather was going into a shell and would have saved his energy. This would have made for a boring fight as CM wouldnt be on the aggressive and neither would Floyd

I think Mayweather put himself out there a bit and exposed himself in order to get McGregor punching (which CM did and did a great job, so Ill hand it to him). I actually got a bit worried in first 2 rounds because Mayweather was not looking all that good, he wasnt moving like he usually does. Whether it was old age, or whether it was a tactic to get McGregor throwing, it worked in the end. CM was gassed by the end there and no way he was making it the distance

Ill give props to both fighters tho, I think that ended up great. Waaaaay better than the Pac fight. Mcgregor just needs to go back to the UFC and dominate. I like him tremedonsouly more fighting MMA because he has so many tools
 

ManofSteel55

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Aug 15, 2013
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Mayweather looked like he had gone out for a light jog by the end of the fight. I'd say those punches did next to nothing to him. A few snuck through, but he was never in danger of being knocked out and I doubt he was worried at any point.

Of course Mayweather is going to say McGregor is better than he thought. He would say that even if it were not true. This was a show that was designed to tell a story, and it just happened to use boxing/mma to tell it. Mayweather was not going to go 10 rounds with an MMA fighter and then say that he was worse than he expected. How would that look?

Never said he was in danger of being knocked out. I even said it was always Mayweather's fight. I'm just tired of seeing boxing fans crap on Conor's performance. He did remarkably well considering he was up against one of the best fighters of all time. Especially considering it was his first boxing match of this caliber (ie, not training). Just give the dude a little credit is all I'm saying.
 

joestevens29

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Apr 30, 2009
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Hopefully McGregor gets back to the UFC and starts defending his lightweight belt. He knocked out Aldo two years ago. Spent a year not defending that belt. Won the lightweight title and has spent a year not defending that one either. Two years as a champion (either featherweight or lightweight) and not one title defense.

I'm curious to see if he chases the money. A fight with Malignaggi would be worth a lot to both guys.
 

Canovin

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Oct 27, 2010
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Would Floyd have bothered to step forward towards Conor in the early rounds if he wastruly worried about being knocked out? I suspect no personally. Particularly given how Floyd fights against actual boxers - not like that.

My interpretation is that he knew with 100% certainty that he would win the fight and the whole thing was a show to entertain the fans. If Conor was an actual pro boxer he would have done his defensive wizardry and picked Conor apart over 12 rounds in an excrutiatingly boring match, like he always does.

The reason no one hits Floyd like that is because Floyd would never put himself into a situation where it was possible against someone who legitimately even had a puncher's chance. At least that's my thoughts.

When you view the whole event for the entertaining show that it was created to be then the whole thing makes a lot of sense. I had fun watching it.

Conor being south paw doesn't allow Mayweather to do the philly shell that he typically does. I'm actually surprised Conor didn't pick Mayweather apart with his jabs since it was going through Mayweather's guard cleanly.

Floyd has been caught before and he still go out and say he was never in danger. That's just typical of him to say that.

Conor won the first 3 rounds and should have pulled a Mayweather and ride those 3 points to victory IMO.
 

doulos

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Oct 4, 2007
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Never said he was in danger of being knocked out. I even said it was always Mayweather's fight. I'm just tired of seeing boxing fans crap on Conor's performance. He did remarkably well considering he was up against one of the best fighters of all time. Especially considering it was his first boxing match of this caliber (ie, not training). Just give the dude a little credit is all I'm saying.

Fair enough, You saw a guy performing better than expected. I saw a guy being allowed to play around in the ring while the real boxer let him have his fun. I enjoyed the spectacle either way it really went down.
 

doulos

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Oct 4, 2007
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Conor being south paw doesn't allow Mayweather to do the philly shell that he typically does. I'm actually surprised Conor didn't pick Mayweather apart with his jabs since it was going through Mayweather's guard cleanly.

Floyd has been caught before and he still go out and say he was never in danger. That's just typical of him to say that.

Conor won the first 3 rounds and should have pulled a Mayweather and ride those 3 points to victory IMO.

Two of the professional judges thought Conor won 1 round. Mayweather would never have allowed Conor to ride those three points to victory, but the fact that you thought he could means those two did an amazing job of presenting the storyline they were being paid to present. Massive kudos to them for that.

EDIT: Let me say this though. The point for us was to be entertained. Whether what we saw was legitimate boxing, or merely a show where actors were pretending to be something they are not, we were all entertained. So we should be happy about that.
 

ManofSteel55

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Aug 15, 2013
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Two of the professional judges thought Conor won 1 round. Mayweather would never have allowed Conor to ride those three points to victory, but the fact that you thought he could means those two did an amazing job of presenting the storyline they were being paid to present. Massive kudos to them for that.

EDIT: Let me say this though. The point for us was to be entertained. Whether what we saw was legitimate boxing, or merely a show where actors were pretending to be something they are not, we were all entertained. So we should be happy about that.

The fact that this is even a part of the discussion is why boxing is called fixed and it has lost a lot of its popularity.
 

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