GGpX
Well-known member
Oh god no. I'd rather see him retire.
Conor was at his absolute best when he was at 145lbs, but since he's gotten older and bigger, that weight class isn't possible anymore. 155 is the perfect weight class for him.
OT: WWE/MMA/Boxing Thread
- Thread starter Montana
- Start date
Conor was at his absolute best when he was at 145lbs, but since he's gotten older and bigger, that weight class isn't possible anymore. 155 is the perfect weight class for him.
MindzEye
Wayward Ditch Pig
I don't think his punching power carries like that at 170. That entire division walks around at 190+. Masvidal was at 192, 6 days before the Usman fight apparently and that was him staying lean in case he got a call. Conor is 170-180 prior to most camps according to Cavanagh. He looked smaller than Poirier in there, and Dustin is a big 155, but not a huge 155 (Khabib is bigger/thicker, Hooker apparently starts his cut from 175 after training camp is done).
At 155 he has the death touch, at 170 I think he's just heavy handed, but normal heavy handed. Granted the only evidence we have is him having flash knock down power against cement head, but at 155 he has legit go to sleep immediately power. Poirier even mentioned post fight that Conor had him in real trouble once but didn't follow up and looking at the replay of the punch, Conor didn't catch him clean.
I see a path to the title for him at 155. There's no path that gets him through Burns, Leon, Colby, Usman, Masvidal, Thompson. Imagine him fighting Wonderboy. So many stylistic nightmares for him at 170 before we even consider the size difference.
GGpX
Well-known member
I don't think Conor has that one punch KO power at 155. In fact, that's always been a myth to me. He's one punch KO'ed one person in his career, and to his credit it was the featherweight GOAT. Since then, he beat up Alvarez (a wrestler who didn't wrestle, fucked if I know why), got toyed around by Maywheather, got beat up by Khabib, beat up a washed Cerrone and got beat up by Poirier.
The major problem for McGregor is, I see the same fighter today as I did in 2016 against Alvarez. I see someone who is in the midst of watching the sport go by him because of his inactivity. The time he was actively training, he wasn't training for MMA, he was training for boxing. MMA is a sport that is constantly changing with best practices getting updated.
If you look at Dustin Poirier from this weekend and compare him to the fighter he was around the same time McGregor fought Alvarez, they're widely different. Poirier was KO'ed by Michael Johnson two months prior.
If McGregor's serious about being active again, then I want him to get a tune-up fight. For me, the best tune-up fight you can get is Nate Diaz.
The major problem for McGregor is, I see the same fighter today as I did in 2016 against Alvarez. I see someone who is in the midst of watching the sport go by him because of his inactivity. The time he was actively training, he wasn't training for MMA, he was training for boxing. MMA is a sport that is constantly changing with best practices getting updated.
If you look at Dustin Poirier from this weekend and compare him to the fighter he was around the same time McGregor fought Alvarez, they're widely different. Poirier was KO'ed by Michael Johnson two months prior.
If McGregor's serious about being active again, then I want him to get a tune-up fight. For me, the best tune-up fight you can get is Nate Diaz.
MindzEye
Wayward Ditch Pig
Yeah, this. Chandler needs another fight against a top 5 fighter before putting him into the title mix. He has a great Bellator resume, but not some world devouring, GOAT type resume that demands he be placed at the top of the heap after being the #6 fighter in the division.
Imo, you make Oliveira/Gaethje while seeing if Khabib takes a Poirier rematch. If Khabib turns it down, you strip Khabib of the belt and Poirier fights the winner of Oliveira/Gaethje.
While that's happening, line up Chandler/Ferguson. I'm pretty sure Tony is done, but the winner of that gets the winner of the Poirier title fight.
It lines up well I think. Oliveira took minimal damage against Tony and should be ready to fight again in April, Gaethje fought in October so should be good to go. Short of that being a ridiculous war, the winner gets Dustin in early August. It's not like Dustin is in a big rush to go fight again, just because, anyway. Tony-Chandler could be good to go in May. Then probably, Dustin-Chandler in late November.
MindzEye
Wayward Ditch Pig
Yeah, this is probably right. If I'm team Conor and I'm serious about him winning a belt again, not just making a bunch of bank to get merk'd again, but to actually win the belt, I go Nate-RDA-Title Shot
He's the only guy in the division who gets to name his own path to a title shot, so he may as well take advantage. If he can beat Nate & RDA relatively easily, he'll be about as close to his peak as he's capable of being.
Last edited:
would give chandler the loser of oliveria and gaethje - otherwise would agree. Don’t think him beating Tony would make him the #1 contender to skip over the other four guys in the convo
MindzEye
Wayward Ditch Pig
At 34, I don't think you can make Chandler wait that long for a #1 contender shot. The only fighter he would be skipping over would be the loser of Gaethje/Oliveira, and I know everyone is jerking them both off right now but if it Gaethje, he would be 4-4 in the UFC with his wins against Vick, Barboza, Cerrone, Ferguson with the last 3 all being past their prime when Gaethje fought them. Oliveira, likewise, would have a pretty unspectacular looking resume if he loses the Gaethje fight. His wins would almost entirely be against cans, corpses, and Kevin Lee. If Chandler's 2 UFC fights are sleeping Hooker spectacularly and then smashing Tony Ferguson, I don't see a problem with him being the 1st title defence of Poirier/whoever from the unification fight.
Last edited:
Ferguson still won’t give him any wins against top 5 fighters in the ufc - can’t really get past that, even with being 34 years old (tho there have been older champs anyways). Think he’ll need one more fight against a top ranked opponent before getting his shot outside of injuries or finishing Tony in some crazy unforgettable fashion.
MindzEye
Wayward Ditch Pig
I politely disagree. Ferguson is still ranked 5th in the division. Dana isn't going to leave Chandler on the shelf for months just so that the loser of Gaethje/Oliveira gets looked after.
Not to mention, that if we're going to diminish the achievement of Chandler merking Ferguson (if that happens of course), what exactly does it do to the track records of both Gaethje and Oliveira? Beating Tony convincingly is easily the biggest victory in either's careers. If beating Tony 6-10 months later is relatively meaningless for Chandler...wtf does it say about 2 fighters with a fraction of his professional resume?
MindzEye
Wayward Ditch Pig
No, but if they handle the rankings the way they usually do, Chandler jacks Hookers 6 and pushes him down to 7, or maybe 8 considering that RDA beat top 10 Felder recently and Hooker is coming off of back to back losses now. Conor keeps his #4 because nobody behind him (Tony, Hooker, RDA, Felder) has done anything impressive recently. Poirier moves up to #1 and takes Gaethje's spot as top contender.
GGpX
Well-known member
The UFC's rankings are dogshit and deserve to be treated that way. The rankings have Khamzat Chimaev ranked 15 at Welterweight. He has one WW win against a guy that's 0-2 in the UFC and probably isn't long for the UFC. Chimaev is the UFC's newest golden child who will get the big push.
Meanwhile, Shavkat Rakhmonov is 1-0 at Welterweight as well and beat Alex Oliveira, a much better fighter than any of Chimaev's wins at either Welterweight or Middleweight.
In any case...
This weekend's card is excellent for a free card. All of the main event fights have my attention. I'd love to see Alistair win, but I have my doubts.
en.wikipedia.org
Meanwhile, Shavkat Rakhmonov is 1-0 at Welterweight as well and beat Alex Oliveira, a much better fighter than any of Chimaev's wins at either Welterweight or Middleweight.
In any case...
This weekend's card is excellent for a free card. All of the main event fights have my attention. I'd love to see Alistair win, but I have my doubts.
UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Volkov - Wikipedia
MindzEye
Wayward Ditch Pig
I don't hate 258
Burns might merk Usman, and Gastelum is almost always fun.
It's not a great card though, no.
MindzEye
Wayward Ditch Pig
Burns maybe, the other two are from a past era, that's kind of my point.
I want to see Burns beat someone other than 38 yr old Woodley before I give the nod there.