Why was Chad Mendes more successful than Eddie?

Underground
1

Mendes 5 ft 6. Alvarez 5 ft 9.

Mendes 66 in reach. Alvares 69 in reach.

Mendes 145 pounds. Alvares 155 pounds.

Mendes took fight on short notice and had to fly to NV. Eddie had full prep.

 

Mendes landed some good shots. Took him down multiple times. Landed some hard ground and pound and was able to close the distance.

 

Alvares could not get close to Conor without getting hurt. Got countered constantly and all his grappling attempts were stuffed with relative ease.

 

Was Chads shorter body harder to stuff for Conors longer, upright stance? Is this a credit to how good Chad Mendes is (was)?

Or has Conor just reached another level?

2

Short notice fight. Conor wasnt ready to sprawl

3

CraftyMighty -

Short notice fight. Conor wasnt ready to sprawl

This. Also Mendes knew he didn't have 25 in him so he went for broke out of the gate. And Chas didn't have Conor taking up residence in his brain for an entire fight camp. Phone Post 3.0

4

SidRival135 -
CraftyMighty -

Short notice fight. Conor wasnt ready to sprawl

This. Also Mendes knew he didn't have 25 in him so he went for broke out of the gate. And Chas didn't have Conor taking up residence in his brain for an entire fight camp. Phone Post 3.0
*Chad Phone Post 3.0

5

Conor wasn't prepared for Chad. When he realized how big that wrestling hole was in his game he started working on it. It's obviously an easy path to victory for anyone that can't wrestle. I'm sure after the Chad fight, Conor made it #1 priority to not get ragdolled like that again. He was lucky Chad gassed that night and taught him a valuable lesson. 

6

Conor was also had a pretty bad knee injury going into that fight. He won't drop out because of all his fans buying tickets in advance. He's obviously also continuing to improve. 

7

IMO Conor is better than he was 

8

28 years old, getting better every time you see him is why.

 

That Mendez is better wrestler than Eddie .

9

Chad is a better wrestler than Eddie.

Also, Conor was supposedly dealing with an injured knee for that fight. Phone Post 3.0

10

Conor was badly injured right up to that fight. You could see it in the media workout he did for 189 and even in the fight itself he just wasnt moving right. Its a testament to Conors toughness that he mangaed to get the W in that one.

11

Alvarez tried to strike with Connor standing. He left his strength zone and paid for it. Once he realized he couldn't hang he then was in a spot where Connor had timed him and there was no way Eddie was getting the fight back to a ground game.

Chad had great success with his ground work and had he had the gas to stay there he might have had more success. Once he gassed and Connor got his timing, Chad was lit up on his feet.

Connor seems to get better as the fight goes on. He has uncanny skills around learning your timing and if you try and strike with him he's quicker, more accurate, and has weird power because he uses different angles.

Connor is still working up his ground game so the chances that someone is going to take him there and beat him are diminishing by the minute.

12

"Connor seems to get better as the fight goes on."

lmao

13

Conor fought with an injured leg vs Chad

14

Chad is shorter, a shorter guy shooting on you is harder to defend than a taller guy, harder to time because they don't have to drop as far. Phone Post 3.0

15

Because like Conor said before the fight Chad is a better fighter than Eddie?

Also Conor fought Mendes on short notice, Eddie was full camp.

16

Chad is the best wrestler at 145lbs and Conor was coming into the fight with a bad wheel. Eddie got hurt fairly early in the fight and couldn't recover. I don't think he expected Conor to hit as hard as he did. 

17

Chad is an amazing all American division one wrestler and Eddie done okay wrestling in High School Phone Post 3.0

18

BrckNoHitBk - 

"Connor seems to get better as the fight goes on."

lmao


My apologies. I should have said his ability to time his opponent seems to get better as the fight goes on.

19

Conor had a bum knee v. Chad Phone Post 3.0

20

I hate these kind of excuses typically. But if Conor had the same knee problem he did against Mendes hed of had a lot more trouble with Alvarez. Still think hed of won, but itd be siilar. Also seems like he got better at stuffing takedowns too.