Remember when they used to argue that Conor McGregor was only handed favourable match-ups that would play right into his style?
First it was thought that wrestling would be his kryptonite, but when he faced Chad Mendes with a torn ACL, he maintained his composure when he got taken down to the ground, got back to his feet and knocked the multiple title challenger out.
Then they all said that he would come undone when he faced an elite jiu-jitsu practitioner. Black belt Nate Diaz may have submitted him in their first fight, but he went back to the drawing board, made the requisite adjustments and improvements to his game and returned to grind out a majority decision over the Stockton native in a five-round war.
If it was wasn’t a master of one skill then surely the perfect prototype to figure out the McGregor conundrum would be an elite wrestler with world-class stand-up, an insane gas tank, incredible gameness, a vast experience of competing in world title fights and a renowned MMA tactician in his corner.
Bu when McGregor fought Eddie Alvarez, he made the Underground King look like a novice of the fight game. The same man who knocked out Rafael dos Anjos inside one round, completely annihilated Shinya Aoki inside one round, blessed us with two of the greatest lightweight fights in history against Michael Chandler and defeated former world champions Anthony Pettis and Gilbert Melendez was outclassed over two rounds.
He was never in the fight.
It was a hell of a punch from a hell of a fighter https://t.co/5W2JTLR3Mr
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) November 14, 2016
When that left hand hits home, more often than not the man on the receiving end of it crumbles. McGregor’s go-to weapon is undoubtedly one of the most dangerous the game has ever seen. On the biggest night of his career, with history on the line and a lot of detractors rubbing their hands together expecting him to fail, McGregor landed it and became the UFC’s first dual champion to hold two belts at the same time.
An incredible achievement from an incredible fighter, one that has seen him receive praise from one of the great minds in combat sports – legendary Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner John Danaher. The long-time jiu-jitsu coach of arguably the greatest fighter to ever grace an Octagon, Georges St-Pierre took to Instagram after UFC 205 to pay tribute to the Notorious.
“A truly remarkable performance: UFC 205 had many outstanding performances, but main event star, Conor McGregor saved the best until last with a stunning victory against the title holder and immensely talented Eddie Alvarez.”
“Much of what guides our intuitions as to an athletes ability is not just who he beat, but how he beat them. In truth it was shocking to watch the degree to which Mr McGregor used superb control of distance, pace, timing and placement to dismantle such a talented and tough opponent. In doing so he did what he said he would – hold two belts at the same time. Whatever ones opinion of Mr McGregor’s public antics outside of fighting, one cannot deny that he has backed up what many see as overly brash talk with brilliant and successful action.”
HISTORY!!! #UFC205 #UFCNYC https://t.co/GRrjPNwOna
— eir Sport (@eirSport) November 13, 2016
It wasn’t only McGregor’s performance on the night that had Danaher blown away. He gushed about his rise from relative obscurity to become the biggest name in MMA off the back of his achievements inside the Octagon, not just his ability to promote himself.
“Moreover, he has made huge waves in the sport in relatively little time – it was not long ago that people where discussing him as a talented new comer and whether he was really worthy of a title shot at all – now he has two belts around his waist – both won against extremely good opponents via very impressive knockouts. In addition, he has shown a true champions ability to come back from a bad loss in short order and not just rectify the loss, but greatly surpass where he was prior to that loss.”
Although he believes that his entire game is built around that trusty left hand, Danaher argues this only makes his accomplishments more impressive. It’s plain for all to see that the key to beating McGregor starts with avoiding that left hand, but he makes this seemingly simple task so complex with his fighting style.
“Whilst his style seems almost entirely built around the ability to get his dangerous left hand to bear upon his opponent, and there are open questions about his ability to prevail when he can’t: no one can deny the incredible achievements he has made with his relatively narrow skill set in a sport where we typically believe a very wide skill set is essential just to survival, let alone world beating success.”
“His lifestyle, his demeanor, his fighting style and his goals all make him the biggest risk taker in the sport – so impressive to see a man stand on the cusp of disaster and ridicule on the basis of those risks – yet through the power of his personality, self belief and skill, turn it all into a bigger triumph. Hats off to a truly great fighter and personality who took the biggest event in MMA history and made it his.”
Well said.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BMxReY9hokU/?taken-by=danaherjohn
