If this fight was genuine and we all knew it... we'd all be busting nuts 
Conor is too small. 
At least GSP would get a finish, and the hype would be tits.
Smackhisface.com sounds like total bullshit to me tho.
deadlyonetwo3 - If this fight was genuine and we all knew it... we'd all be busting nutsNah.. There's a handful of party pooper gimmick posters running wild the past few months.
They'll always show up, don't worry.
35, 2 shot knee's, and coming out a 3 year retirement, I'm not even mad GSP is only taking a big money fight.
He reigned the WW division for 5 years and arguably fought tougher ranked competition than Silva
He's coming back because he loves MMA. He has nothing left to prove at WW
Mexican Janitor - 35, 2 shot knee's, and coming out a 3 year retirement, I'm not even mad GSP is only taking a big money fight.Silva and GSP were/are both legit.. No need to split hairs.
He reigned the WW division for 5 years and arguably fought tougher ranked competition than Silva
He's coming back because he loves MMA. He has nothing left to prove at WW
UGCTT_The Project - So the source is smackhisface.....
Nah
At what weight?
Cleanemissions -Might as well take this oppurtunity to breakdown the fight
Gsp working effectively behind his jab was a near perfect MMA fighter. Gsp's jab served multiple uses. Gsp would jab to control range/control tempo, and off his jab work Gsp would land more offence or utilise fients/level changes/TDs. It was really hard for opponents to anticipate Gsp.
-An opponent would step in Gsp would meet them with a jab
-An opponent would square up and try to throw over hands rights, Gsp would be circling to outside their shoulder and interrupt with a jab, or jab and pivot out safely
-An opponent would anticipate the jab, Gsp would level change and take them down
-An opponent would anticipate the TD, Gsp would feint a level change and come up top with newly created offensive openings
You get the picture. The JAB was the GLUE that held Gsp's dominance together.
However you will notice how Gsp was mostly fighting orthodox fighters, and very rarely any southpaws. This is an important factor, which we will get into later.
Enter Johnny Hendricks. The reason why Gsp struggled so much with Hendricks is because Hendricks simply took away Gsp's jab. It was that simple. We will get into the WHY later on.
Gsp without his jab simply became just an average to good fighter instead of the GOAT. Its just like how Anderson when forced to lead became a mediocre striker, or just like how when Pettis was forced on the backfoot with no more space/time to kick he became a terribly mediocre striker, or just like how when Jon Jones has his long linear kicks taken away he becomes a terribly mediocre fighter.
Btw, the only fully complete, wholey rounded, wholey skilled striker is Conor McGregor. You pressure Conor, he counter fucks you. You sit on the outside, Conor picks you apart, or he will set you up/draw you out and drop a lead or offensive counter on that ass. Conor can lead just as brilliantly as he counters. He can in-fight, fight on the outside etc. Conor in these regards is literally MMA's version of Floyd. When fighting Conor on the feet you literally have to pick your poison...
So anyway, you get the point, great fighters who were great at the thing they did better then most, you took that away from them, and they were no longer the same dominant fighter. Duh, common sense, right?
Now heres specifically HOW Hendricks took away Gsp's jab
Hendricks being southpaw - this put his lead hand at a natural interference to Gsp's lead hand (jabbing hand)
This IS why it was important that Gsp was hardly ever fighting southpaws and gaining experience vs southpaws.
This meant that there was no longer a straight uncontested easy path from Gsp's jab hand to his opponents face.
Now this doesnt mean it then becomes impossible to still jab, but it makes it very difficult...and this is why you will then see the fighters battling and jockeying for lead hand positioning and or lead hand control
A recent example of this was in boxing with Crawford vs Postol. Crawford would go southpaw to put his lead hand at a natural interference with Postol's lead hand. Postol would be jockeying for lead hand positioning trying to get his jabs and 1-2s going. Crawford countered this by continually placing his lead hand HIGHER above Postol's lead hand so that Crawford was always in better positioning to parry down the jab/counter jab/or hook around the jab (whether its feet or hands, superior positioning wins) This took away Postol's jabs.
What Hendricks did, he would march Gsp down, and control Gsp's lead hand. Literally hold it in place, parry it, hit at it constantly etc
This effectively took away Gsp's jab. And Gsp without the jab became a worse fighter in all aspects of MMA. Gsp had to gut it out to win, and Gsp still won because HES GSP!!! But theres no denying that Hendricks was his TOUGHEST fight...and it was specifically because of Hendricks southpaw stance/lead hand.
Now when we look at Conor McGregor..
Conor IS A SOUTHPAW. This will already give Conor a huge advantage in dealing with Gsp's jab (the glue that holds Gsp together)
Not only that, Conor has a very extensive high-level boxing lead hand game. Conor will use his lead hand as a probing device for multuple uses.
1. To range find
2. To bait responses and counter
3. To distract for leads
4. To time out any rushes, snuff out, and counter fuck
(We also saw Conor showing off a beautiful hard jab against Nate in the rematch. Conor continuing to add wrinkles)
Now you can ONLY imagine the kind of devestation Conor would reek on Gsp
Conor will constantly be checking Gsp's lead hand, distracting him for leads, controlling him through lead hand probes, just shutting down Gsp's jab and or countering it.
Look at Conor vs Nate Diaz. Nate has a great lead hand game/jab. Every time Nate was jabbing, Conor was slipping and countering. Conor counter fucking Nate over his jab shut Nate's jab completely down. The threat of getting countered shuts you down. Its what happens when fighters face Floyd. Its what happened when Nate faced Conor's high IQ, slick, countering game.
Conor will know Gsp wants to jab. A couple slip and counters and that alone will make Gsp more hesitant to jab (shut his jab down)
Gsp without the jab no longer can keep opponents off set and his takedowns then start becoming much more telegraphed/predictable. Conor would have an easier time defending the TDs after shutting down the jab.
On paper, skill for skill, Conor CAN BE Gsp's WORST nightmare.
The only thing is, could Gsp with his immense size advantage (and top control if he does get Conor down) still pull it off? At the very least Gsp would 100% struggle mightily against Conor - because of the style match up and boxing skill/lead hand game/countering skill of Conor.
Gsp might try to muscle Conor against the fence ala BJ, but Conor has a stellar inside game thats on another universe to what BJ ever had. Every time Nate had Conor pressed against the fence in round 3, Conor was controlling the hands, creating space, slipping and rolling shots and sneaking in wicked body shotd that gassed Nate. Thats why Conor dominated round 4. Gsp will get battered no matter what...but can Gsp still pull it out? I dont know..but its NOT anywhere NEAR the blow out people are convinced it is.
I really do hope Conor vs Gsp happens because Gsp will be an overwhelming favorite despite Conor having the style for Gsp and superior striking skill set for Gsp. Theres very real potential there to make easy money on Conor. At best Conor makes history. At worst Gsp struggles and we get to see Gsp and Conor go to war. Hopefully this educates. Gsp vs Conor IS NOT the simple outcome you think its;)
Calm. The. Fuck. Down.
Ain't nobody got time for your War and Peace posts.
Cleanemissions -Might as well take this oppurtunity to breakdown the fight
Gsp working effectively behind his jab was a near perfect MMA fighter. Gsp's jab served multiple uses. Gsp would jab to control range/control tempo, and off his jab work Gsp would land more offence or utilise fients/level changes/TDs. It was really hard for opponents to anticipate Gsp.
-An opponent would step in Gsp would meet them with a jab
-An opponent would square up and try to throw over hands rights, Gsp would be circling to outside their shoulder and interrupt with a jab, or jab and pivot out safely
-An opponent would anticipate the jab, Gsp would level change and take them down
-An opponent would anticipate the TD, Gsp would feint a level change and come up top with newly created offensive openings
You get the picture. The JAB was the GLUE that held Gsp's dominance together.
However you will notice how Gsp was mostly fighting orthodox fighters, and very rarely any southpaws. This is an important factor, which we will get into later.
Enter Johnny Hendricks. The reason why Gsp struggled so much with Hendricks is because Hendricks simply took away Gsp's jab. It was that simple. We will get into the WHY later on.
Gsp without his jab simply became just an average to good fighter instead of the GOAT. Its just like how Anderson when forced to lead became a mediocre striker, or just like how - when Pettis was forced on the backfoot with no more space/time to kick he became a terribly mediocre striker, or just like how when Jon Jones has his long linear kicks taken away he becomes a terribly mediocre fighter.
Btw, the only fully complete, wholey rounded, wholey skilled striker is Conor McGregor. You pressure Conor, he counter fucks you. You sit on the outside, Conor picks you apart, or he will set you up/draw you out and drop a lead or offensive counter on that ass. Conor can lead just as brilliantly as he counters. He can in-fight, fight on the outside etc. Conor in these regards is literally MMA's version of Floyd. When fighting Conor on the feet you literally have to pick your poison...
So anyway, you get the point, great fighters who were great at the thing they did better then most, you took that away from them, and they were no longer the same dominant fighter. Duh, common sense, right?
Now heres specifically HOW Hendricks took away Gsp's jab
Hendricks being southpaw - this put his lead hand at a natural interference to Gsp's lead hand (jabbing hand)
This IS why it was important that Gsp was hardly ever fighting southpaws and gaining experience vs southpaws.
This meant that there was no longer a straight uncontested easy path from Gsp's jab hand to his opponents face.
Now this doesnt mean it then becomes impossible to still jab, but it makes it very difficult...and this is why you will then see the fighters battling and jockeying for lead hand positioning and or lead hand control
A recent example of this was in boxing with Crawford vs Postol. Crawford would go southpaw to put his lead hand at a natural interference with Postol's lead hand. Postol would be jockeying for lead hand positioning trying to get his jabs and 1-2s going. Crawford countered this by continually placing his lead hand HIGHER above Postol's lead hand so that Crawford was always in better positioning to parry down the jab/counter jab/or hook around the jab (whether its feet or hands, superior positioning wins) This took away Postol's jabs.
What Hendricks did, he would march Gsp down, and control Gsp's lead hand. Literally hold it in place, parry it, hit at it constantly etc
This effectively took away Gsp's jab. And Gsp without the jab became a worse fighter in all aspects of MMA. Gsp had to gut it out to win, and Gsp still won because HES GSP!!! But theres no denying that Hendricks was his TOUGHEST fight...and it was specifically because of Hendricks southpaw stance/lead hand.
Now when we look at Conor McGregor..
Conor IS A SOUTHPAW. This will already give Conor a huge advantage in dealing with Gsp's jab (the glue that holds Gsp together)
Not only that, Conor has a very extensive high-level boxing lead hand game. Conor will use his lead hand as a probing device for multuple uses.
1. To range find
2. To bait responses and counter
3. To distract for leads
4. To time out any rushes, snuff out, and counter fuck
(We also saw Conor showing off a beautiful hard jab against Nate in the rematch. Conor continuing to add wrinkles)
Now you can ONLY imagine the kind of devestation Conor would reek on Gsp
Conor will constantly be checking Gsp's lead hand, distracting him for leads, controlling him through lead hand probes, just shutting down Gsp's jab and or countering it.
Look at Conor vs Nate Diaz. Nate has a great lead hand game/jab. Every time Nate was jabbing, Conor was slipping and countering. Conor counter fucking Nate over his jab shut Nate's jab completely down. The threat of getting countered shuts you down. Its what happens when fighters face Floyd. Its what happened when Nate faced Conor's high IQ, slick, countering game.
Conor will know Gsp wants to jab. A couple slip and counters and that alone will make Gsp more hesitant to jab (shut his jab down)
Gsp without the jab no longer can keep opponents off set and his takedowns then start becoming much more telegraphed/predictable. Conor would have an easier time defending the TDs after shutting down the jab.
On paper, skill for skill, Conor CAN BE Gsp's WORST nightmare.
The only thing is, could Gsp with his immense size advantage (and top control if he does get Conor down) still pull it off? At the very least Gsp would 100% struggle mightily against Conor - because of the style match up and boxing skill/lead hand game/countering skill of Conor.
Gsp might try to muscle Conor against the fence ala BJ, but Conor has a stellar inside game thats on another universe to what BJ ever had. Every time Nate had Conor pressed against the fence in round 3, Conor was controlling the hands, creating space, slipping and rolling shots and sneaking in wicked body shots that gassed Nate. Thats why Conor dominated round 4. Gsp will get battered no matter what...but can Gsp still pull it out? I dont know..but its NOT anywhere NEAR the blow out people are convinced it is.
I really do hope Conor vs Gsp happens EVENTUALLY because Gsp will be an overwhelming favorite despite Conor having the style for Gsp and superior striking skill set for Gsp. Theres very real potential there to make easy money on Conor. At best Conor makes history. At worst Gsp struggles and we get to see Gsp and Conor go to war. Hopefully this educates. Gsp vs Conor IS NOT the simple outcome you think it is;)
The article on the news feed "GSP I'll fight Woodley or Diaz, not BJ" states he won't be eligible to fight until December 10th.
Cleanemissions -/thread. Nobody can even be bothered to scroll past that babble.Might as well take this oppurtunity to breakdown the fight
Gsp working effectively behind his jab was a near perfect MMA fighter. Gsp's jab served multiple uses. Gsp would jab to control range/control tempo, and off his jab work Gsp would land more offence or utilise fients/level changes/TDs. It was really hard for opponents to anticipate Gsp.
-An opponent would step in Gsp would meet them with a jab
-An opponent would square up and try to throw over hands rights, Gsp would be circling to outside their shoulder and interrupt with a jab, or jab and pivot out safely
-An opponent would anticipate the jab, Gsp would level change and take them down
-An opponent would anticipate the TD, Gsp would feint a level change and come up top with newly created offensive openings
You get the picture. The JAB was the GLUE that held Gsp's dominance together.
However you will notice how Gsp was mostly fighting orthodox fighters, and very rarely any southpaws. This is an important factor, which we will get into later.
Enter Johnny Hendricks. The reason why Gsp struggled so much with Hendricks is because Hendricks simply took away Gsp's jab. It was that simple. We will get into the WHY later on.
Gsp without his jab simply became just an average to good fighter instead of the GOAT. Its just like how Anderson when forced to lead became a mediocre striker, or just like how - when Pettis was forced on the backfoot with no more space/time to kick he became a terribly mediocre striker, or just like how when Jon Jones has his long linear kicks taken away he becomes a terribly mediocre fighter.
Btw, the only fully complete, wholey rounded, wholey skilled striker is Conor McGregor. You pressure Conor, he counter fucks you. You sit on the outside, Conor picks you apart, or he will set you up/draw you out and drop a lead or offensive counter on that ass. Conor can lead just as brilliantly as he counters. He can in-fight, fight on the outside etc. Conor in these regards is literally MMA's version of Floyd. When fighting Conor on the feet you literally have to pick your poison...
So anyway, you get the point, great fighters who were great at the thing they did better then most, you took that away from them, and they were no longer the same dominant fighter. Duh, common sense, right?
Now heres specifically HOW Hendricks took away Gsp's jab
Hendricks being southpaw - this put his lead hand at a natural interference to Gsp's lead hand (jabbing hand)
This IS why it was important that Gsp was hardly ever fighting southpaws and gaining experience vs southpaws.
This meant that there was no longer a straight uncontested easy path from Gsp's jab hand to his opponents face.
Now this doesnt mean it then becomes impossible to still jab, but it makes it very difficult...and this is why you will then see the fighters battling and jockeying for lead hand positioning and or lead hand control
A recent example of this was in boxing with Crawford vs Postol. Crawford would go southpaw to put his lead hand at a natural interference with Postol's lead hand. Postol would be jockeying for lead hand positioning trying to get his jabs and 1-2s going. Crawford countered this by continually placing his lead hand HIGHER above Postol's lead hand so that Crawford was always in better positioning to parry down the jab/counter jab/or hook around the jab (whether its feet or hands, superior positioning wins) This took away Postol's jabs.
What Hendricks did, he would march Gsp down, and control Gsp's lead hand. Literally hold it in place, parry it, hit at it constantly etc
This effectively took away Gsp's jab. And Gsp without the jab became a worse fighter in all aspects of MMA. Gsp had to gut it out to win, and Gsp still won because HES GSP!!! But theres no denying that Hendricks was his TOUGHEST fight...and it was specifically because of Hendricks southpaw stance/lead hand.
Now when we look at Conor McGregor..
Conor IS A SOUTHPAW. This will already give Conor a huge advantage in dealing with Gsp's jab (the glue that holds Gsp together)
Not only that, Conor has a very extensive high-level boxing lead hand game. Conor will use his lead hand as a probing device for multuple uses.
1. To range find
2. To bait responses and counter
3. To distract for leads
4. To time out any rushes, snuff out, and counter fuck
(We also saw Conor showing off a beautiful hard jab against Nate in the rematch. Conor continuing to add wrinkles)
Now you can ONLY imagine the kind of devestation Conor would reek on Gsp
Conor will constantly be checking Gsp's lead hand, distracting him for leads, controlling him through lead hand probes, just shutting down Gsp's jab and or countering it.
Look at Conor vs Nate Diaz. Nate has a great lead hand game/jab. Every time Nate was jabbing, Conor was slipping and countering. Conor counter fucking Nate over his jab shut Nate's jab completely down. The threat of getting countered shuts you down. Its what happens when fighters face Floyd. Its what happened when Nate faced Conor's high IQ, slick, countering game.
Conor will know Gsp wants to jab. A couple slip and counters and that alone will make Gsp more hesitant to jab (shut his jab down)
Gsp without the jab no longer can keep opponents off set and his takedowns then start becoming much more telegraphed/predictable. Conor would have an easier time defending the TDs after shutting down the jab.
On paper, skill for skill, Conor CAN BE Gsp's WORST nightmare.
The only thing is, could Gsp with his immense size advantage (and top control if he does get Conor down) still pull it off? At the very least Gsp would 100% struggle mightily against Conor - because of the style match up and boxing skill/lead hand game/countering skill of Conor.
Gsp might try to muscle Conor against the fence ala BJ, but Conor has a stellar inside game thats on another universe to what BJ ever had. Every time Nate had Conor pressed against the fence in round 3, Conor was controlling the hands, creating space, slipping and rolling shots and sneaking in wicked body shots that gassed Nate. Thats why Conor dominated round 4. Gsp will get battered no matter what...but can Gsp still pull it out? I dont know..but its NOT anywhere NEAR the blow out people are convinced it is.
I really do hope Conor vs Gsp happens EVENTUALLY because Gsp will be an overwhelming favorite despite Conor having the style for Gsp and superior striking skill set for Gsp. Theres very real potential there to make easy money on Conor. At best Conor makes history. At worst Gsp struggles and we get to see Gsp and Conor go to war. Hopefully this educates. Gsp vs Conor IS NOT the simple outcome you think it is;)
Cleanemissions -Nigga,you gayMight as well take this oppurtunity to breakdown the fight
Gsp working effectively behind his jab was a near perfect MMA fighter. Gsp's jab served multiple uses. Gsp would jab to control range/control tempo, and off his jab work Gsp would land more offence or utilise fients/level changes/TDs. It was really hard for opponents to anticipate Gsp.
-An opponent would step in Gsp would meet them with a jab
-An opponent would square up and try to throw over hands rights, Gsp would be circling to outside their shoulder and interrupt with a jab, or jab and pivot out safely
-An opponent would anticipate the jab, Gsp would level change and take them down
-An opponent would anticipate the TD, Gsp would feint a level change and come up top with newly created offensive openings
You get the picture. The JAB was the GLUE that held Gsp's dominance together.
However you will notice how Gsp was mostly fighting orthodox fighters, and very rarely any southpaws. This is an important factor, which we will get into later.
Enter Johnny Hendricks. The reason why Gsp struggled so much with Hendricks is because Hendricks simply took away Gsp's jab. It was that simple. We will get into the WHY later on.
Gsp without his jab simply became just an average to good fighter instead of the GOAT. Its just like how Anderson when forced to lead became a mediocre striker, or just like how - when Pettis was forced on the backfoot with no more space/time to kick he became a terribly mediocre striker, or just like how when Jon Jones has his long linear kicks taken away he becomes a terribly mediocre fighter.
Btw, the only fully complete, wholey rounded, wholey skilled striker is Conor McGregor. You pressure Conor, he counter fucks you. You sit on the outside, Conor picks you apart, or he will set you up/draw you out and drop a lead or offensive counter on that ass. Conor can lead just as brilliantly as he counters. He can in-fight, fight on the outside etc. Conor in these regards is literally MMA's version of Floyd. When fighting Conor on the feet you literally have to pick your poison...
So anyway, you get the point, great fighters who were great at the thing they did better then most, you took that away from them, and they were no longer the same dominant fighter. Duh, common sense, right?
Now heres specifically HOW Hendricks took away Gsp's jab
Hendricks being southpaw - this put his lead hand at a natural interference to Gsp's lead hand (jabbing hand)
This IS why it was important that Gsp was hardly ever fighting southpaws and gaining experience vs southpaws.
This meant that there was no longer a straight uncontested easy path from Gsp's jab hand to his opponents face.
Now this doesnt mean it then becomes impossible to still jab, but it makes it very difficult...and this is why you will then see the fighters battling and jockeying for lead hand positioning and or lead hand control
A recent example of this was in boxing with Crawford vs Postol. Crawford would go southpaw to put his lead hand at a natural interference with Postol's lead hand. Postol would be jockeying for lead hand positioning trying to get his jabs and 1-2s going. Crawford countered this by continually placing his lead hand HIGHER above Postol's lead hand so that Crawford was always in better positioning to parry down the jab/counter jab/or hook around the jab (whether its feet or hands, superior positioning wins) This took away Postol's jabs.
What Hendricks did, he would march Gsp down, and control Gsp's lead hand. Literally hold it in place, parry it, hit at it constantly etc
This effectively took away Gsp's jab. And Gsp without the jab became a worse fighter in all aspects of MMA. Gsp had to gut it out to win, and Gsp still won because HES GSP!!! But theres no denying that Hendricks was his TOUGHEST fight...and it was specifically because of Hendricks southpaw stance/lead hand.
Now when we look at Conor McGregor..
Conor IS A SOUTHPAW. This will already give Conor a huge advantage in dealing with Gsp's jab (the glue that holds Gsp together)
Not only that, Conor has a very extensive high-level boxing lead hand game. Conor will use his lead hand as a probing device for multuple uses.
1. To range find
2. To bait responses and counter
3. To distract for leads
4. To time out any rushes, snuff out, and counter fuck
(We also saw Conor showing off a beautiful hard jab against Nate in the rematch. Conor continuing to add wrinkles)
Now you can ONLY imagine the kind of devestation Conor would reek on Gsp
Conor will constantly be checking Gsp's lead hand, distracting him for leads, controlling him through lead hand probes, just shutting down Gsp's jab and or countering it.
Look at Conor vs Nate Diaz. Nate has a great lead hand game/jab. Every time Nate was jabbing, Conor was slipping and countering. Conor counter fucking Nate over his jab shut Nate's jab completely down. The threat of getting countered shuts you down. Its what happens when fighters face Floyd. Its what happened when Nate faced Conor's high IQ, slick, countering game.
Conor will know Gsp wants to jab. A couple slip and counters and that alone will make Gsp more hesitant to jab (shut his jab down)
Gsp without the jab no longer can keep opponents off set and his takedowns then start becoming much more telegraphed/predictable. Conor would have an easier time defending the TDs after shutting down the jab.
On paper, skill for skill, Conor CAN BE Gsp's WORST nightmare.
The only thing is, could Gsp with his immense size advantage (and top control if he does get Conor down) still pull it off? At the very least Gsp would 100% struggle mightily against Conor - because of the style match up and boxing skill/lead hand game/countering skill of Conor.
Gsp might try to muscle Conor against the fence ala BJ, but Conor has a stellar inside game thats on another universe to what BJ ever had. Every time Nate had Conor pressed against the fence in round 3, Conor was controlling the hands, creating space, slipping and rolling shots and sneaking in wicked body shots that gassed Nate. Thats why Conor dominated round 4. Gsp will get battered no matter what...but can Gsp still pull it out? I dont know..but its NOT anywhere NEAR the blow out people are convinced it is.
I really do hope Conor vs Gsp happens EVENTUALLY because Gsp will be an overwhelming favorite despite Conor having the style for Gsp and superior striking skill set for Gsp. Theres very real potential there to make easy money on Conor. At best Conor makes history. At worst Gsp struggles and we get to see Gsp and Conor go to war. Hopefully this educates. Gsp vs Conor IS NOT the simple outcome you think it is;)
Cleanemissions -Everyone is shitting on you, but I think you're right.Might as well take this oppurtunity to breakdown the fight
Gsp working effectively behind his jab was a near perfect MMA fighter. Gsp's jab served multiple uses. Gsp would jab to control range/control tempo, and off his jab work Gsp would land more offence or utilise fients/level changes/TDs. It was really hard for opponents to anticipate Gsp.
-An opponent would step in Gsp would meet them with a jab
-An opponent would square up and try to throw over hands rights, Gsp would be circling to outside their shoulder and interrupt with a jab, or jab and pivot out safely
-An opponent would anticipate the jab, Gsp would level change and take them down
-An opponent would anticipate the TD, Gsp would feint a level change and come up top with newly created offensive openings
You get the picture. The JAB was the GLUE that held Gsp's dominance together.
However you will notice how Gsp was mostly fighting orthodox fighters, and very rarely any southpaws. This is an important factor, which we will get into later.
Enter Johnny Hendricks. The reason why Gsp struggled so much with Hendricks is because Hendricks simply took away Gsp's jab. It was that simple. We will get into the WHY later on.
Gsp without his jab simply became just an average to good fighter instead of the GOAT. Its just like how Anderson when forced to lead became a mediocre striker, or just like how - when Pettis was forced on the backfoot with no more space/time to kick he became a terribly mediocre striker, or just like how when Jon Jones has his long linear kicks taken away he becomes a terribly mediocre fighter.
Btw, the only fully complete, wholey rounded, wholey skilled striker is Conor McGregor. You pressure Conor, he counter fucks you. You sit on the outside, Conor picks you apart, or he will set you up/draw you out and drop a lead or offensive counter on that ass. Conor can lead just as brilliantly as he counters. He can in-fight, fight on the outside etc. Conor in these regards is literally MMA's version of Floyd. When fighting Conor on the feet you literally have to pick your poison...
So anyway, you get the point, great fighters who were great at the thing they did better then most, you took that away from them, and they were no longer the same dominant fighter. Duh, common sense, right?
Now heres specifically HOW Hendricks took away Gsp's jab
Hendricks being southpaw - this put his lead hand at a natural interference to Gsp's lead hand (jabbing hand)
This IS why it was important that Gsp was hardly ever fighting southpaws and gaining experience vs southpaws.
This meant that there was no longer a straight uncontested easy path from Gsp's jab hand to his opponents face.
Now this doesnt mean it then becomes impossible to still jab, but it makes it very difficult...and this is why you will then see the fighters battling and jockeying for lead hand positioning and or lead hand control
A recent example of this was in boxing with Crawford vs Postol. Crawford would go southpaw to put his lead hand at a natural interference with Postol's lead hand. Postol would be jockeying for lead hand positioning trying to get his jabs and 1-2s going. Crawford countered this by continually placing his lead hand HIGHER above Postol's lead hand so that Crawford was always in better positioning to parry down the jab/counter jab/or hook around the jab (whether its feet or hands, superior positioning wins) This took away Postol's jabs.
What Hendricks did, he would march Gsp down, and control Gsp's lead hand. Literally hold it in place, parry it, hit at it constantly etc
This effectively took away Gsp's jab. And Gsp without the jab became a worse fighter in all aspects of MMA. Gsp had to gut it out to win, and Gsp still won because HES GSP!!! But theres no denying that Hendricks was his TOUGHEST fight...and it was specifically because of Hendricks southpaw stance/lead hand.
Now when we look at Conor McGregor..
Conor IS A SOUTHPAW. This will already give Conor a huge advantage in dealing with Gsp's jab (the glue that holds Gsp together)
Not only that, Conor has a very extensive high-level boxing lead hand game. Conor will use his lead hand as a probing device for multuple uses.
1. To range find
2. To bait responses and counter
3. To distract for leads
4. To time out any rushes, snuff out, and counter fuck
(We also saw Conor showing off a beautiful hard jab against Nate in the rematch. Conor continuing to add wrinkles)
Now you can ONLY imagine the kind of devestation Conor would reek on Gsp
Conor will constantly be checking Gsp's lead hand, distracting him for leads, controlling him through lead hand probes, just shutting down Gsp's jab and or countering it.
Look at Conor vs Nate Diaz. Nate has a great lead hand game/jab. Every time Nate was jabbing, Conor was slipping and countering. Conor counter fucking Nate over his jab shut Nate's jab completely down. The threat of getting countered shuts you down. Its what happens when fighters face Floyd. Its what happened when Nate faced Conor's high IQ, slick, countering game.
Conor will know Gsp wants to jab. A couple slip and counters and that alone will make Gsp more hesitant to jab (shut his jab down)
Gsp without the jab no longer can keep opponents off set and his takedowns then start becoming much more telegraphed/predictable. Conor would have an easier time defending the TDs after shutting down the jab.
On paper, skill for skill, Conor CAN BE Gsp's WORST nightmare.
The only thing is, could Gsp with his immense size advantage (and top control if he does get Conor down) still pull it off? At the very least Gsp would 100% struggle mightily against Conor - because of the style match up and boxing skill/lead hand game/countering skill of Conor.
Gsp might try to muscle Conor against the fence ala BJ, but Conor has a stellar inside game thats on another universe to what BJ ever had. Every time Nate had Conor pressed against the fence in round 3, Conor was controlling the hands, creating space, slipping and rolling shots and sneaking in wicked body shots that gassed Nate. Thats why Conor dominated round 4. Gsp will get battered no matter what...but can Gsp still pull it out? I dont know..but its NOT anywhere NEAR the blow out people are convinced it is.
I really do hope Conor vs Gsp happens EVENTUALLY because Gsp will be an overwhelming favorite despite Conor having the style for Gsp and superior striking skill set for Gsp. Theres very real potential there to make easy money on Conor. At best Conor makes history. At worst Gsp struggles and we get to see Gsp and Conor go to war. Hopefully this educates. Gsp vs Conor IS NOT the simple outcome you think it is;)
if true GSP will whoop that ass. It will be a one sided ass beating.
Take my money!
This fight should never happen.
Does anyone believe Conor can stop the best takedowns in MMA? He's hardly fought anyone with good tds except Mendes. GSP is a takedown and guard passing machine, and he's done it to everyone.
Conor needs to rematch Aldo.
If not, then stay @155. He's too small for 170.
Nick Diaz still GOAT - the more I think about this the angrier I get, was GSP always looking for the easiest fight? he'll never think of fighting Anderson yet he'll call out Nate and Conor, and Bisping?He's never called out Nate or Conor and bisping is a middleweight.. what's wrong with that?
Conor said Nate needs to go to 55 for the trilogy because the weight difference in the cage was a lot to handle. GSP would come in even heavier than Nate. That being said I watch, see how GSP deals with a southpaw that's long.
Gsp is a really smart guy. He is 35. He is coming back for the big money big ticket fights. The casual fan thinks conor is the goat. They dont realize he is MUCH smaller than Gsp. Gsp putting a beatdown on conor will really "elevate" gsp's brand and open the door for many more opportunities for him in merchandising, acting etc.