in Martial Art, MMA, UFC
Dustin WILL Try to take Conor down | Chael Sonnen
Conor, Poirier, where are you guys’ head on this? What do you guys think? Because we do not have a ton of evidence, right? You cannot just look at their last fight and go, well, you know there is a gap there, and Dustin got better. And Conor is not the same. You cannot do that, man.
A lot was going into that fight. Conor had been out forever. He touches down one time in January, locks up with Cerrone, but it was 40 seconds, 20 seconds. A fight will happen at a speed that is different from anything you will see in practice. That speed will affect you and you can get used to it. You get a couple of rounds and boom; you are back used to it. No big deal.
But you got to get used to it, and the same thing goes with your energy. When do I put the foot down? When do I pull back? Those are things that you learn on the go. You adapt and take with you from experiences that you previously had. Conor had to look back so far and right I got to throw that fight out. Anybody has shown us? Through history. That they can adapt that they can learn and that they can come back against the same opponent and get a different outcome. It is Conor because of the name Diaz. That was not an overly competitive fight, Nate, which is that he was fun to watch, but you are misremembering if you think that was overly competitive. Nate walked through it. And did it in seven minutes.
Conor learned he adapted, he changed, and he came back but that fight specifically. I mean Conor specifically. Go back to the Nate Diaz fight part One. Conor hit him with that big left hand. The same shot that would put anybody else down and out. Nate was big enough; he could absorb it. And that rattled Conor. It rattled him in the second fight, and he did not use that same energy have put everything behind that left hand. Did it allow him to extend?
He came in extremely late, kicking heavy with a game plan. And I think that was the worst version of Conor I have ever seen. But I also think it is the worst version of Conor. I am never going to see. I also do not think it was Conor’s fault.
Conor was the one trying to get in there and stay active and get into fights. He could not get any. They will hold them out trying to do this whole Khabib business. Part two, I think. I think it was a miss. I think if we were all come to the table and be real, honest, and fair, we made a mistake in 2020 with Conor McGregor.
He wanted to fight four times. We gave him one. Come on. So, then what with the Poirier fight he was sluggish, but there were areas. You understand all we are doing is talking right? The fight between these boys, but we have a little talk before. I do believe that I am right. That was the worst version of Conor that we have ever seen. I also think I am right when I say it is the worst that we are going to see, but we can identify why right now, since removal from the competition, we can identify why it was his worst version.
The other side of this that you cannot miss, is even though the loser of the contest seemingly would have more motivation to work hard and prepare and prepare differently and more things to learn, even though that seems to be where our mind defaults. The winner of the contest got those same experiences. To make believe that Poirier is not going to work on getting better, or work to change things, just because he got his hand raised is false. Poirier had some major success in that fight and one surprising error which was the takedown, Conor hard to takedown. He is a pain in the ass. He is a pain ass to hold down. Chad Mendes got it down, had a harder time holding him there.
I do not think anybody was more surprised in Poirier because that takedown attempt, was bad. That was not Poirier’s best takedown, or he was trying to offer Conor something to make Conor think and worry a threat existed when they went down to the canvas, nobody looked more surprised than Poirier himself. So, I think that is going to be a part of Poirier’s plan. Coming to this third fight. I think Poirier is going to do everything and make everybody believe, including Conor. This is going to be a shootout and I think Poirier going to do it whether he succeeds or not. I think he is going to go for those takedowns and if he can get it and he can keep him there and he gets some groundwork, you going to have quite a different fight than what you are preparing for. If your team McGregor.
What you do need to understand and the point I am truly trying to push on you guys as it goes both ways. It does not just go OK everything is great for Conor. Nope, Poirier had those same experiences, he felt those same things. He gained confidence because he ate that left hand.
The above post are the thoughts of former UFC fighter Chael Sonnen. We thank him for his contribution. Click here for is video version of the post above. Leave a comment in the FORUM on what are your predictions for the upcoming fight Conor vs Poirier 3, register, create an account and tell us your thoughts.
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