Conor v. Dustin 3 rewatch: It wasn't close

I know that in the past two days, my posts have been as a Conor hater. But, I’ve spent years defending Conor’s fighting ability and accomplishments.

But, I just rewatched the fight and need to point out that it wasn’t close. For the first minute and a half, Conor was scoring points. He landed one decent shot. But, that was 90 seconds only and there was no critical damage. During those 90 seconds, moreover, Dustin checked a kick that MIGHT have caused the later injury.

After 90 seconds, Dustin lands a big shot and gets into the pocket and starts lighting Conor up. From there, Conor initiates the grappling. Conor jumps guillotine. And Dustin spends the rest of the round battering him like GSP v. Bisping or the second round of Conor v. Khabib.

It wasn’t close. Dustin was beating the holy hell out of Conor. Dustin deserves credit for that.

EDIT Two more observations. (1) Conor brought in some Khabib-fight-level cheating by reaching into the gloves to secure the upkick. The guy mentally breaks and then starts cheating. Second time we’ve seen it. (2) Conor could have tried to get up after the guillotine attempt, but he didn’t. Because he had already given up.

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Dustin won the round 10-9.

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That is incorrect. UFC 264 scorecards: Two judges gave Dustin Poirier a 10-8 round over Conor McGregor - Bloody Elbow

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Thanks for the groundbreaking insights OP. I merely thought Conor was effectively attacking Dustin’s fists with his head.

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lol.

Some people, including Dana and Conor, are acting like the fight wasn’t decisive. It was. That’s my point.

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I gotta be honest, I just disagree. Poirier clearly won the round, but it wasn’t one sided and that kick wasn’t checked. The kick landed poorly, with an outstretched foot, and Dustin recognized that and pointed but it was not checked. Dustin said in his post fight interview with Megan Olivi that Conor buzzed him standing and the guillotine had him concerned. Conor landed good elbows and up kicks on the ground. When they stood Conor actually looked fresh, which surprised me.
I say all that not to say Conor was winning, but that it was competitive. The second round would’ve been anyone’s fight. Past the second I know it would’ve been 100% Poirier. Dustin was winning and doing a good job, but it wasn’t a blow out or mauling and he absolutely could’ve been knocked out in the second round. The fight ended because of a kick that landed poorly. To me that’s an outlier, but I understand it’s debatable. Personally, I have no problem with a 4th fight. I would heavily favor Dustin after this injury to Conor.

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I’m all for using more 10-8 rounds, but how they are used conventionally seems 10-9 to me. Connor wasnt knocked down, in any deep submission, nor being closed to being stopped by gnp. Dustin also never had a highly dominating position like mount or the back with hooks in.

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Respect. Honest question: have you rewatched it?

I guess if the fight ended after 90 seconds, Conor would have scored more points. But, who cares? Dustin was always going to find his first big shot. After that, he absolutely dominated the exchange and Conor initiated grappling. Once he did that, Dustin started absolutely smashing him.

I honestly think Michael Johnson had a way better first round against Khabib than Conor did against Dustin.

New criteria doesn’t require that.

I should add that I think Conor’s run at 145 through the Eddie fight was one of the all-time great runs in MMA history. The guy was spectacular. But, Dustin just destroyed him.

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Even without the break, Conor was already broken mentally & it would’ve been finished in the 2nd. The desperate gassed look was already there & he got beat in the pocket bad enough for a desperate takedown & was getting battered on the ground.

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Agreed entirely. Within 15 seconds of the first real exchange with Dustin, Conor initiated grappling. He jumped guillotine; didn’t try to get up; and then started cheating like he did in the Khabib fight.

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I was a huge BJ Penn fan & a huge Conor fan & their fight paths & issues are very similar & gut wrenching as a fan to watch. I know how amazing they were in their primes but the story starts to change how they were never actually good etc. & they themselves can’t comprehend they don’t have it anymore & love fighting too much. Both could’ve gone out as legends if they stopped at the right time.

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People have said this many times before but Conor simply cannot handle the power of real deal 155 LB fighters that he could absorb at 145.

Josh Thompson made some great points on his post fight podcast with BJM. He basically said being as inactive as Conor has is one thing but not being in the gym training is even worse. Taking such long breaks allows your bones not to calcify by doing the reps week in and week out.

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I tend to agree w you w most post but I feel you are way off line with what you think you saw. Regardless of how you saw the fight go down, there really was only one narrative.
Conor at anything other than 145 hasn’t accomplished anything. Add to the fact that he has been living in high cotton whereas Dustin has been fighting a murderers row the outcome was a given other than a left by Conor.
I’m not the smartest person but I know that

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Yeah. It’s that, coupled with the fact that while he hits hard at 155, it’s not the night ending power he carried at 145.

I think this is right. I’ve spent the past 13 years training, coaching, and occassionally competing. But, I’ve only been a full-time fighter/coach for intermittent periods of time. I kick very hard. During times when my non-fighting life takes me out of the gym, when I come back, I fuck my shins up pretty bad. I don’t know the science of it. But, anecdotally, I’ve experienced it.

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The Eddie fight was an all-time legendary performance and he deserves credit for it.

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No, it really wasn’t decisive. 10-9 Dustin, and I wanted Diamond to win. To call it decisive is clearly bias against McGregor and nothing else, certainly nothing objective.

Not to be a dick but that was how long ago?
I know it’s a cliche but iron sharpens iron. Poirier lives a fighter life whereas Conor lives a champion life. Those things are are on opposite sides of the spectrum

I’d say he probably would have won if the fight continued. But one thing I noticed; Conor was winning before he fucked his foot up.

He was probably fighting with a badly fractured leg. That’s pretty impressive.

But with that in mind, I don’t think there’s a need for a rematch. These guys can fight a hundred times with each getting a good amount of wins. It just depends who’s day it is.