FW or LW, who would you take?
- The Notorious
- El Matador
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voters
was conor ever really elite? 2 fights in his career he looked like an A+ fighter…
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At FW and LW, he was defo elite.
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Conor was good
Topuria is great
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I was hoping to see this thread after the Ilia VS Aldo thread. Conor didn’t have a long prime, mainly due to drugs, but he was undoubtedly elite. He was a mix of explosive fast twitch muscle, precision punches, great distance management, and supreme confidence combined with mental warfare. He beat Poirier and Aldo before they even entered the cage with mental warfare and shit talking, neither guy even wanted to be near him.
He dominated Alvarez with distance control, reflexes, and precision striking by standing just outside of range and picking Eddie apart every time he moved in. I remember thinking Khabib was going to have a hard time dealing with that version of Conor, as Khabib liked to set up his takedown by making his opponents move backwards from strikes. I think it’s very possible Conors standup was too much for Khabib to handle at that point in time. By the time they fought Conor was already phoning it in to a large degree.
Ilia has a much better ground game, has even more power than Conor, and can knock you out with either hand, but he has nothing for Conor in the build up. Prime Conor embarrasses Topuria at every press conference, every media opportunity, and has Ilia scared and doubting himself. Unless Ilia can weather the storm and find some success, I see him getting clipped on the chin and finished early. This is one of those fights where the mental games would overcome skills and technique I think. We don’t see a sharp Ilia against Conor, we see a timid Ilia trying not to get embarrassed. Conor 8/10 times
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Only advantage I see is Conor has a 5" reach advantage, but Tuporia is so good at closing distance and getting inside it’s pretty much moot.
I don’t see the mental warfare having that much of an effect on Tuporia either.
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Yep, Ilia would eat Conor’s best shot and give his own that would put Conor down
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Conman McTapper holds a record at Lightweight in the UFC of 1-3. He has a losing record in the LW division
In what world is he elite?
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Illia is more complete, but Conor had great striking when he used more of a karate base. When he returned after his boxing layoff, his striking was more traditional boxing and far less effective.
He’s naturally bigger and has a path to victory, but Illia is the favorite because he is a superior wrestler, grappler, and arguably a better boxer.
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Conor got his ass beat by Nate Diaz
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Twice
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Nates style is perfect to counter Conor, durable and great endurance with volume striking. Conors has a great style to exploit the only weakness we have seen from Ilia, his chin. I think Conor has the speed advantage for the first few minutes at least, and he has connected on everyone’s chin he fought (Mayweather played with his food and got hit a few times.) Conor has a big size and reach advantage too.
I think you are all really underestimating conors ability to get into people’s heads too. I didn’t think it would work on Aldo, but it was very effective. Ilia showed intermittent confidence in ghe build up with Volk.
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He did lose against Khabib，arguably the GOAT at LW and Nate Diaz who just had a kryptonite style which Conor avenged.
I’d say he was top 5 at the weight class which is elite. But I don’t care for him enough to defend him.
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Connor was great
The Conor that beat up Eddie can get it done
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And two losses to Poirier
Conor’s fights with Nate were at WW. Not LW
Conman’s LW run includes 1 win against Eddie Alvarez, a matchup made in heaven for him stylistically, and losses against Khabib, & Dustin twice
If he couldn’t beat that version of Dustin, he’s not fucking with prime Ilia
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Good points, but he did beat Dustin once before iirc.
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Yes, at Featherweight.
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Conor was very good as long as his opponent was of a certain striking style.. Conor had elite timing and good power(decent speed) and pre Floyd fight, he was firing on all cylinders .. afterwards, he was just a boxer with limited cardio
Topuria beats him on the feet
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