Conor McGregor And His Flawed Understanding

After Nate Diaz agreed to join hands with Conor McGregor to save the card in the immediate aftermath of reigning Lightweight champ RDA’s withdrawal, the very foundation of UFC got severely rocked when the seemingly invincible Feather Weight champion was made to eat humble pie by the light weight fighter in Nate Diaz, who had zero preparation coming into the short notice fight. Ever since the loss, the MMA world has been reverberating with praise for Conor’s humility in the face of defeat and for not making excuses. While being humble was not a choice, and he tried to appear like one, he certainly was not. And there have been few inaccuracies with the feather weight champ’s words about himself, about the fight and about the man he lost to.

He Didn’t Jump Two Weight Classes; This Wasn’t a WW Fight

I couldn’t comprehend why even the punters kept blowing Conor’s trumpet by branding this fight a genuine welterweight, when it clearly was not. While 170 lbs is officially WW limit, everybody who follows MMA is aware that every fighter endures a punishing and grueling dehydration process to meet the divisional weight limits. While the welterweights do tip the scales at 170 during weigh in, they walk around 190 lbs plus on a regular day and their fight-day weight is close to it, if not exactly that.

It's an open truth that Nate and Conor stuffed their gut to the hilt to make welterweight limit yet fell short of the 170 mark by a couple of pounds. This was one of the rarest occasions where weight-add was pursued against the traditional weight cut for weigh ins. To make this clear, 170 lbs is what the light weights weigh on the fight day. Neutral pundits and fans of the sport would concur that this was a genuine light weight fight sans the weigh cut. Would perhaps call this a 160 catch weight, just to sound generous. Bottomline, this is a far cry from a genuine welterweight where the likes of Robbie Lawler, Jonhhy Hendricks and Stephen Thompson fight. They are bigger, thicker, stronger and hit harder.

For the record, guys like Frankie Edgar and most notably legendary BJ Penn have already shone in 2 and 3 divisions respectively. So, praising Conor to the skies and forgetting others that have already done this is doing a big disservice to their achievements. In fact, Edgar could just accomplish what Conor had been so vocally dreaming of – winning in 2 divisions, should UFC decide to give him the Conor fight as promised. 

Weight Didn’t Help Diaz To Walk Past Conor's Punches

It’s a universal fact that Nate Diaz, like his brother Nick, could eat a ton of shots and yet continue to fight as if nothing happened. These are chins of iron so to speak. Conor perpetrated a categorical blunder when he referred to Nate Diaz as “welterweight and a bigger opponent”. In reality, Nate is a legitimate light weight and if rankings were considered, #5 in that division and not that big at all. For the record, Nate Diaz has never been KO-ed in any division.

If you carefully analyze the opponents Conor faced thus far, the physical and reach advantage he enjoyed over them far outweighs the advantage Nate had over Conor. Nate, on paper, had a 3 inch height and 2 inch reach advantage and has a lean and mediocre frame. Now let’s see the advantage Conor had been enjoying over his smaller sized opponents in FW division. Please take a look at the table below. He’s enjoyed a maximum of 5” height and an insane 8” reach advantage at some point. Need I say more?

  

FIGHTER	HEIGHT	REACH	LEVEL	HEIGHT ADV	REACH ADV
Conor MCGregor	5’9”	74”	Elite	NA	NA
Jose Aldo	5'7"	70"	Elite	2"	4"
Chad Mendes	5'6"	66"	Elite	3"	8"
Dennis Siver	5'7"	70"	High	2"	4"
Dustin Poirier	5'9"	72"	High	0"	2"
Diego Brandao	5'7"	69"	Med	2"	5"
Max Holloway	5'11"	71"	High	-2"	3"
Marcus Brimmage	5'4"	71"	Med	5"	3"

Truth is Conor is one of the biggest feather weights out there exploiting his boxing and physical advantage to devastating effect. Irony is he becomes palpably smaller in the light weight division and his famous “touch of death” is no longer a formidable weapon. And Diaz could take his shots not because of his weight but his will to engage in war, his unrivaled experience inside the octagon and his underrated movement and boxing that has a beauty of its own. 

Energy Inefficiency Is Just An Excuse To Mask The Ignorance

One of the reasons Conor became an MMA phenom apart from his glib tongue was his alleged fight IQ and the ingenious ability to transcend conventional borders, which other normally wouldn’t or couldn’t. His idea of running over higher divisions was welcomed with open arms since he had been backing all his talks with fitting performances in the FW division. The outcome of UFC196 makes it clear that certain performances of his took “laws of attraction” belief beyond reality or he simply hadn’t mastered them enough.

I have always held a staunch belief there is a reason why different weight classes exist and also why people juice themselves out brutally for weigh ins which, at times, could prove fatal. They believe the talent levels of the fighters are so evenly matched so they try their best to gain even the slightest advantage in the ways possible. Such is the significance of weight and general size in a fight. When Conor challenged to mark his territory at higher divisions and while it looked disrespectful and unrealistic at the outset, the marketing man in him convinced most of us to buy his notion that “Size and weight don’t matter for a true martial artist”. It sounded cool. We’ve always wanted to see Superman in real. After all, his quickness, counter striking and KO power made him look like one.

He claimed to have an impeccable understanding of what he was attempting. As fate would have it, given the way his fight with Nate went, his basic understanding of weight divisions, weight cut, adding weight, jumping weight classes and conditioning was totally flawed and with this defeat, he’s been sent scurrying back to the drawing board in search for answers. He overestimated his own boxing, chin and cardio and underestimated Nate's. He either believed he possessed a never-ending gas tank or was over confident about his KO power that he felt he doesn’t need more than a round or two get the better of the opponent no matter who and how heavy he is.

Reality was his slightly misplaced understanding of fight science and conditioning led him to pursue a futile search of his trademark KO that put many a featherweight to sleep. It was a case of knocking himself out with exhaustion and the unshakable belief in his glorified “touch of death” led to his own demise. Truth be told, as much as he couldn’t take Nate out with his flurry of punches leave alone with one punch, his beard protected chin couldn’t take Nate casual-looking yet lethal and voluminous boxing onslaught.

Arrogance and Overconfidence

Conor has constantly maintained that even though he is cocky in prediction, confident in preparation, he’s always humble in victory or defeat. For starters, humility has no situational barriers; you’re either humble or not, there is no middle ground here. There’s no humility seen when he bullies and talks his way into title fights cutting queue. There is no humility when his fight promotion bid involves personal attacks involving opponents’ nationality, family etc. If this is his personality, so be it; let him not feign humble behavior.

All along his UFC tenure, except for few flashes of harmless entertainment, we have seen nothing but over confidence and arrogance define his personality. About his being humble in the face of defeat, he had no option, did he? His usual theme of attacks that included insults, lowing his own horn about his winning streak, crystal-ball prediction, KO power and his “super heavy-weight” pay checks wouldn’t fly when the opponent was named Nate Diaz. He is a veteran when it came to smack talk and mind games in this sport with a wealth of experience that no amount of bullying experience and simulation training could match.

Ever since Nate jokingly or seriously ambushed Conor with steroid accusation on their very first media conference, he has been on the defensive. While Conor may have had some success in appearing confident, it was becoming increasingly evident that his mind games and war of words weren’t working as much as it had worked on weaker opponents. In fact, it may have started backfiring, the highlight of which was the swing he took at Nate during the stare down. It was a sign of an angry man.

One of the important lessons that was taught and one Conor must pay heed to, according to many, was to never underestimate your opponent and to not take them for granted. On the contrary, his post-fight statement about how he would have definitely celebrated a victory had the opponent remained intact (RDA) meant he had still not made peace with the fact that he lost. It was a last ditch attempt to restore some value to his once feared left hand. Don’t get me wrong; he’s got a powerful fist and KO power, but it may not be as lethal as it was portrayed and believed to be. At least not in a division above 145.

Giving His Due

While he may be seen as someone so humble, classy in defeat and as someone who didn’t make excuses,  careful observation projects him in a different light. His humility was forced upon him, still took shots at Aldo and RDA after defeat and never gave Nate Diaz his due who beat him in his own game.

I may come across as a Conor hater, while in reality, I am not. I am a fan of his as I am of any other fighter. I sincerely respect everyone brave enough to step into the fight game and put on a show. While much of his behavior is getting repetitive and irritating at times, I have found some of his ways funny, brilliant and entertaining, too. Just like facts don’t lie about his negative aspects, they speak volumes of his specialty as well.

Conor has definitely been a constant source of motivation when it came to dreaming big and pushing the envelope. He never rested on his laurels and  is prepared to adopt and follow a work ethic filled with passion and obsession to realize his larger-than-life dreams. Becoming a UFC champ is one such example. He could still possibly try his luck in the WW category if he took time to prepare for that division. There might be a pressing need for him to unlearn some of his earlier habits and add a vital skill to his arsenal. It’s not Jiu-Jitsu or wrestling. It’s patience.

At least now, he needs to realize there is no fast track path to greatness and cannot shirk from the ethical responsibility of defending his FW crown, which should be made his top priority. He's still the reigning FW champ and a formidable force in that division. But if he’s got to be hailed as the greatest ever, he’s got to beat the greatest ever and stand the test of time in doing so. And this requires patience and preparation of magnitude par excellence. 

The Mystic Mac image he had built around his accurate prediction and clinical execution, which was a mainstay element in knocking his opponents off-balance mentally, has been shattered to smithereens.  Just like others, am curious to see how the FW champ bounces from this loss and marches forward. And also how he plans to re-build his lost sheen as Mystic Mac. Things should only get more interesting from now on.

With Frankie in Frightening Form, Is Conor Cutting Corners?

Promotion’s Priorities:

UFC’s top brass clearly and understandably don't want to upset their latest and by far the most potent cash cow, Conor McGregor, in any way. Result - they are championing his unique ambition of holding multiple divisional titles simultaneously, first of its kind and something the promotion, thus far, was not traditionally in support of, rather very much disruptive of. In Conor's defense, the man not only has overwhelmed the sport with a fresh aura of never-seen-before flair but has also showcased the courage of his conviction with his words (boy, does he have the gift of the gab) and action (which is equally impressive) to back them up by smashing record after record. He certainly has earned his right to be in this uncharted territory rather than this being simply bestowed upon. With his latest victory seemingly one of the biggest upsets in UFC history, and his future potential (limits of which seems endless and needs to be explored) Mystic Mac finds him at the cross roads of multiple opportunities, each leading to an exciting road full of limitless entertainment. While all of the options were weighed in fervently, the promotion chose to gift Conor the RDA fight on a golden platter, simply because that is what he wanted. With this in mind, I wanted to weigh in the other options that Conor and the promotion chose to turn a blind eye to and see what would have made most sense objectively.

The Aldo Variable:

Had Aldo been equally marketable, an immediate re-match would have ensued the 13-sec KO to avenge the loss. In fact, even before the fight began, a rematch was on the cards regardless of who the victor is going to be. They obviously expected a cracker of a fight given the talents involved. But the way the year-long hyped Aldo vs McGregor saga ended up being a damp squib and the nature of lopsidedness in the fight doesn’t tilt the scales in Aldo’s favor to get an immediate rematch. Add to this the need for Aldo to come to terms with this loss, time needed to rejuvenate himself, gather the confidence back and be fight ready don’t bode well for the Brazilian King. Except for his past record, nothing practically warrants an immediate re-match. But had they chosen to do an Aldo vs McGregor 2, it would not have been be a crime. Needless to say, there is still a fleeting thought in everyone’s mind as to how would the fight have panned out had Aldo not let his emotions take over and committed that blunder.

Frankie's Frightening Form:

Another variable against a potential rematch with Aldo is Frankie’s current frightening form. While many of us are now convinced that Conor is the undisputed king of the 145 division, one man nicknamed “The Answer” is nodding an emphatic “NO” and so are some of the other fans. With Frankie annihilating Chad in 2 minutes, we could not help comparing this to the way Conor got past Chad. While Conor was allegedly nursing an ACL injury back then, Chad had also showed up with the shortest possible notice and presumably had not had a full camp. Edgar has trounced everything put in front of him so far in the recent past. Pundits feel stylistically, mentally and technically, Frankie has what it takes to take the fight to the brash Irishman. Also, after seeing Chad’s ability to take down McGregor at will and maul him ruthlessly on the mat, Frankie’s prospect against the champ immediately skyrockets. With Frankie riding on a wave of wins and confidence building performances, and Conor coming off the back of historic 13-second KO over the decade long champ, their potential match-up is nothing short of fireworks.

Promises are Meant to be Broken:

After seeing the way Frankie KO Chad, Dana had no other option but to cede to Frankie’s request. It is no secret what Frankie has been desperately after for ages and Dana unofficially made an announcement that made it look like Edgar vs McGregor is finally happening, much to the delight of everyone. Only for it to be denied a day later. From the looks of it, Dana, in the heat of the moment, seemed to have hastily committed to something without careful thought of what was going to happen the next day, despite Conor having publicly proclaimed his desire to become the first man in the promotion’s history to hold 2 belts simultaneously, should he beat the monster called Aldo, which he did in an emphatic fashion. I can understand Dana’s urge to make Champ vs Champ fight a reality, but the way it was done reflects poorly on the promotion. Frankie has done all he could to muster a title shot. He has hitherto complied with the company’s ways with unparalleled patience and eternally waited for a title shot. He has made a case for it in the octagon with scintillating performances, and off of it, had requested, begged, tweeted and had been vocal like never before in evincing his keen interest. If at all someone in the 145 deserves a shot at the title, it is undoubtedly Frankie, which he was promised by none but the man who runs the business. Many sincerely believe Frankie is a legitimate threat that could derail Conor’s run including yours truly. Mind you, this, in no way, disregards Conor’s ability. Only way to find who’s the man is with an immediate fight while both fighters are at the pink of health, at their prime and carrying the level of hunger and motivation that we witness now. To say that it would be a spectacle when two men collide for top honors would be an understatement.

What If:

According to Conor, he doesn’t envision himself being dethroned anytime in the future, at all. Going by the frequency of his past performances, he believes he should be able to hop between divisions at the promotion’s beck and call for the title defense matching the frequency of that of the predecessors. That is, of course, if he wins the LW crown. Fair enough. Let’s assume he wins. But, what if he gets injured? Not to mention the ill-effects of punishing dehydration process involved in cutting to make the desired weight. This not only creates a void in 1, but 2 divisions at the same time. To say he won’t be injured or will fight despite injury is wishful thinking at its best, after all he is human, even if he believes otherwise. This is not to take away his right to fight for LW crown. It is just to remind amid the hype and hoopla surrounding this super fight lies this potential issue with frequency of title defense fights if one man were to represent both divisions. But it remains to be seen if Conor can afford to be regularly in attendance for the fights in both the divisions. As much as I try to believe Conor would walk the walk here as well, I have a staunch belief fighters were reigned in to a particular division for a reason.

Maintaining the Balance:

While McGregor is a phenomenon on and off the Octagon, it is people like Frankie, too, that many come to see, who puts on a show with all his heart. Business aside, Frankie was promised to be given what he wanted. He earned the right to fight Conor and Dana made a verbal promise committing to his ask. Sidelining the promise made to the long-term company man like Frankie in an instant and yielding to the demands of a rising but promising star might pay rich dividends in the immediate future, but they could very well end up being a puppet in Conor’s hands with one employee calling the shots in such a big company. This has every chance of leaving bitter taste in others’ mouths. Seeing the current pattern, it won’t take long for the man claiming “I am the company” to get into the company’s nerves triggering a falling out. There is nothing wrong in supporting and promoting their golden child, who is doing all he can to promote the promotion, but not at the cost of another fighter’s long held ambition, the right that was earned and the promise that was made. If McGregor firmly believes his ability to bring in the cash and crowd has the right to demand whatever he wants, other fighters that are directly or indirectly affected by his moves are entitled to hold grudge. And this is where the promotion’s part is pivotal in protecting everybody’s interests and maintaining the balance. The promotion definitely owes to the sport’s most charismatic and prolific marketing agent ever in McGregor as does for other competitors, just that it should not be blinded towards anybody not named Conor McGregor.

The Fair Game:

A newly crowned champion always has the obligation to defend his title. Especially when Frankie seems to be the last piece in the 145 pound puzzle. When some feel Aldo deserves a second chance to show what he could have done had the fight lasted more than it really did, many are convinced Frankie could make life difficult for Conor. Some believe Aldo deserves an immediate rematch especially for the decade long reign displayed. Saying he got caught by that punch is an excuse that cannot be ignored completely, too, and that is, giving benefit of doubt to the former champ and treating this as a pure case of bad luck coupled with Conor’s brilliance that exploited this newbie mistake to the fullest. Frankie’s case is the polar opposite – he is brimming with enthusiasm and riding on the crest of a victory wave to fight for the title. Say what you may, Conor still has unfinished business in 145. Showmanship-off-the-Octagon aside, the irony is funny. On one side sits Conor, who not only gets a red-carpet welcome to a new division altogether, he also earns a title shot beating all other contenders to the post. Best part is he gets to retain the 145 division title as well. It is a UFC first. And on the other side, sits a former light weight champion and current number one contender made to wait perennially for the 145 title shot that has been eluding him for years, despite remaining tantalizingly close throughout – a situation where one fighter gets everything and the other gets nothing. On paper, both their achievements command equal respect. To really help make Conor’s 155 jump as fitting and controversy-free as possible, fighting Frankie would have been the best option. A win would leave him with nothing left to prove in 145 as he would, by then, have mopped the division clean, if he wins the fight. This would have left him with no option but to tread the light weight pathway, something very hard to argue against.

Having Said That:

UFC197 is enticing prospect primarily because a 145 champ is challenging a 155 champ and is a super fight, something the promotions has failed to offer us for a long time. Pushing the emotion aside and taking an objective look at all the options, pitching Frankie to challenge McGregor would have made the most sense, simply because of his recent form, success and their stylistic match-up. This would have dispelled all the doubts in people’s minds about the fighters regardless of the results. Cleaning a division would have legitimately placed Conor on course to a LW division upgrade. Without a bout with Frankie, his elevation to LW division just does not make it that much convincing. It always poses the “What if Frankie and Conor fought” question. It’s worth noting that Chad was allegedly chosen over an in-shape Frankie for the interim title fight. Bypassing Frankie again also accentuates the promotion’s urgency in cashing in on McGregor’s marketing power till the D-day arrives when someone calls his bluff by beating him and robbing him of the credibility as Mystic Mac. What if Conor loses to RDA and ends up suffering a similar fate against Frankie? Sounds hard to believe but not nigh on impossible. Having said everything I said, I still am jumping with excitement to witness the McGregor vs RDA super fight. With this fight made official, Conor is poised to make history should he get a win over the reigning LW champ and is destined to be hailed as one of the greatest FW/LW champs of all time without a vestige of doubt, while a loss would deal a fatal blow to the future he had concocted in his head making it an all-or-nothing affair for the FW champ. At the end of the day, proving things in the current division takes precedence over testing new waters. And that is why Edgar vs McGregor is too good to be missed….. RIGHT NOW.