McGregor vs Dos Anjos OFF

This fight is reportedly off...Dos Anjos with a foot injury forcing him out of the March 5th Clash. Injury bestows another Brazilian ahead of a title fight with the polarising Irishman. I'm starting to think McGregor carries a voodo doll of his opponents around with him. Legitimate injury or has Anjos realised what he may be walking into?

The layoff will play to the benefit of McGregor who will feast on this pull out much like he did Aldo. Sad news though as I couldn't wait for this!

No announcement on whether Connor will be scrapped altogether but I'd imagine he will happily take on someone else...Aldo rematch? Edgar catch weight? Or maybe even Donald Cerrone?

Am sure Connor will say another brazilian has gone running scared.

I would like to see him put the a55 wooping on Cerrone.

Just announced that McGregor is fighting Nate Diaz in a non-title fight at WW. Diaz is some way past his best (talks a good fight though) but credit to both guys for stepping up to the plate. be some feat if McGregor can do it

DAVE667 wrote:Just announced that McGregor is fighting Nate Diaz in a non-title fight at WW. Diaz is some way past his best (talks a good fight though) but credit to both guys for stepping up to the plate. be some feat if McGregor can do it

Really? I know Nate wants to fight him, but pretty sure his last fight was at LW, which also seems to be his best weight. Should be a good fight, Nate has very good boxing and if it was to go to the ground very good BJJ.

His last fight was at Lw, but I guess the fight is too close, for Nate to come in at 155.

Ahh yes makes sense, although a catchweight would make sense for Nate, pretty sure he doesn't have to cut a huge amount for LW. This does tests the water for CM at this weight. Have heard he is on about going up to WW.

McGregor is probably around 170-172 as it stands. He won't have to dehydrate before the fight. Nate maybe is slightly heavier. He will probably need to cut a few pounds.

It is a good fight to test the water. I am always surprised how Conor made Feather. He looks pretty big for 155, never mind 145. He always cut an awful lot of weight.

Imo we will never see him at 145 again. He will fight at 155-170 from now on.

Defo, there's nothing left for him at 145, the money and the hype, which = more money, will be in the higher weights. How do you see him doing at WW, fights against Condit, Lawler, Thompson?

I forget that Nate is quite a bit taller.

I honestly have no idea my man. If he carries the weight he will be a monster on his feet. I'm not sure about his grappling. It is hard to tell. He certainly has the confidence to go up and give it a good go.

Who's showing this in the UK??

TopHat24/7 wrote:Who's showing this in the UK??

BT Sport.

Awesome. Will set up the recording as am in Rome with the missus

Lucky you. Have never been in Rome. Been to Sorrento twice and love Italy.

Must make a trip over sometime soon. Enjoy!!

Combined Valentines & anniversary gift for the missus, don't think I can spoil it by watching UFC live though! haha

Haha I guess not.

Something to look forward to when home.

Diaz is really a dull individual(certainly compared to cm, alot of fighters are i guess).

When asked a question all he really says is motherfkr.

I think CM will put him away, probably not much later than waht he did with Jose.

My prediction.

The guy is seriously thick, surely has the lowest intelligence of any pro sportsman.

It'll last longer than that but how much is another question. I think Diaz has the potential to make it interesting, will have a height and reach advantage, has good boxing, good BJJ, a good chin and comes to fight & win. Still going CM by stoppage.

Recording set up for this. Happy days, come on CM!! KO2

Decent fight.

Didn't see that coming to be honest, but fair play Diaz.

When CM was taken down that was it. Diaz is quality on the ground and was in control, game over for Connor.

Was in the bookies last night and was close to putting a fiver on Diaz.
Shame I didn't now.

Be good to see how CM comes back from this.

Great from Diaz in fairness.

Also pleased for Miesha.
Only saw the last round, but great finish.

Rousey v Tate again maybe or a rematch.

glad connor got beat, sick to death of all the chavs who have seen 4 mma fights harping on about him like he's some unbeatable monster. no mma fighter is unbeatable (think gsp in his pomp was as close as you get) and think connor was getting caught up in all the hype.

generally go against dana whites love childs, started with spider and he dicked about in too many fights, then it the brock circus followed by ronda. all of whom i turned against. im a full grown adult who enjoys the sport, i dont need to watch to grown men bickering beforehand to enhance the fight for me

credit to diaz, 11 days notice, no training camp and beats him. you could see from the second round that cm wasnt giving diaz enough credit and got complacent. the first round was good, 2nd he just wanted to stand and trade and suited diaz to a T, as he's tough and been around way before anybody had even heard of connor mcgregor.

be interesting to see how he comes back, will he do a rousey or come back stronger

I do find Connor entertaing, both fighting and the build up.

He does bang on about money to much, but that's him and he has to sell the fight.

Not saying I'm glad he lost, but makes it interesting.
Not a fan of Diaz but he is a quality fighter and it showed.

Be confident in your abilities, and that you will win, but shouldn't run your mouth to much and how your going to batter your opponent, you need to back it up, which on this occasion he didn't and looks a bit stupid maybe.

Anyone can beat anyone in this sport.

I don't watch a lot of UFC and like Compelling always want White's new money maker to lose as the hype is tedious, the genuine greats of MMA didn't need it but interest is waning so they've resorted to this crap.

I generally don't mind sportsmen running their mouths if they've earned the right to do so but Mcgregor hadn't so it grated.

MMA is a sport in its infancy. If CM was a boxer jumping up 25lb, the first question would be "will his power travel?, 2nd question "will he be able to absorb the extra power". CM had no plan b.
CM is a serious talent though, he should have fought to Diaz's weakness, and kicked the snot out of him. Instead of his strengths and boxing/grappling with him.
Conor can come again. Fair play to Diaz, he was in training for a marathon, so was always going to have staying power regardless of 11 days notice.

Conor is great at what he does. Too many holes in his game. He gets off with his flaws against smaller men.

Fair play to McGregor, he's taken the loss like a man.

In stark contrast to Ronda, of course.

Yeah he is being a man about it for sure.

Wonder if CM regrets agreeing to 170lbs now given that they originally told Diaz 160 lbs and Diaz was apparently happy with 165lbs.

Too much too quick for CM. Can't think of a boxer in decades to take on a challenge such as this - maybe RJJ moving from LHW to HW (25lbs) for a one-off.

And yes, as others have mentioned, taking his loss like a man not spoilt petulent child like Rousey.

I still think Diaz would of won at the lower weight. He is too tough and well rounded.

Conor has some great skills, but some major flaws. He could walk through smaller men to land his own bombs. Also his left hand was dynamite in the smaller division. I reckon there isn't much difference between McGregor and Diaz walking around weights.

TopHat24/7 wrote:Wonder if CM regrets agreeing to 170lbs now given that they originally told Diaz 160 lbs and Diaz was apparently happy with 165lbs.

Seemed to me he really tired in the second round even before Diaz caught him.

He didn't have stamina trouble against Chad so could be the extra weight or change in training/diet regime to bulk up had a big effect.

Definitely he made a mistake in thinking he could blast guys out at the higher weights in the way he was doing at 145 but he looked comfortably the more skillful fighter in the first round and able to catch Diaz at will - even in the clinches he looked strong early on.

I think if he can manage the cut and beat Aldo again he can have another crack at Dos Anjos or Diaz but realistically if he can't beat the top fighters at 155 he has nowhere to go in the UFC and 170 is a pipe dream now for sure.

I don't think he won the first that comfortably. He was the aggressor, but Diaz was landing a lot of hard jabs as well.

In fact over the two rounds, Diaz threw more and landed more.

I'm a huge McGregor fan, but I don't think he could ever beat Diaz if they fight again. He needs to learn a ground game fast as well.

McGregor blew his a$$ swinging for the fences. Thought he was heading for a stoppage but then saw how alarmingly quickly he ran out of steam. He needs to grow into the weight not just bung on an extra 25lbs and call himself a WW with addressing the extra stamina issues that come with such a significant weight gain.

Fair play to Diaz though, he took his licks and hung in there.

McGregor will be back, his loss was nowhere near as humiliating and Rousey's and I'm afraid Rhonda for all her bluff and bluster seems a very insecure individual. McGregor treat defeat and victory the same. He'll know he's in for some stick on social media but he won't give a flying one and all those laughing will be cheering him when he gets back to winning ways.

Tall Poppy Syndrome I'm afraid

Did you all enjoy the fight? I thought It was a cracking two rounds.

Speaking of social media stick - Tyson Fury has been laying into him. That could be a hell of a war of words!

TopHat24/7 wrote:Speaking of social media stick - Tyson Fury has been laying into him.  That could be a hell of a war of words!

Yes I seen that. There is nothing wrong with tapping. He was smart enough to know, Diaz had him and he would of passed out otherwise.

I have done some training in mma. I tried to hold on and nearly passed out, but was smart enough to tap at the end. It's a very weird feeling. You aren't being choked, but rather the brain isn't getting it's blood supply.

Fury should wait until his rematch with Wlad before shooting his mouth off. There's every possibility he'll be eating canvas as well as his words.

I think McGregor sounds daft with the nonsense he comes out with, his grasp of the English language makes him sound like Chris Eubank in his hey day (or at anytime since!). However, he does come out with some stuff that's right on the money. He talked about what happened after Dos Anjos pulled out saying "Jose Aldo and Frankie Edgar wanted to get it on but they only got on Twitter." Diaz stepped in, saved the day and put on a show for the fans. McGregor could have cancelled saying he'd wait for Dos Anjos but wanted to fight.

Don't get me wrong, I think both McGregor and Dana White thought Diaz's best days were behind him which is why he was chosen over everyone else and it backfired but, once again, Dana White comes out smelling of roses despite his latest flavor of the month fighter getting beaten.

Nate looked excellent in his last fight. Nate just hasn't always been consistent with his performances. He can fight though and as tough as old boots.

It's that consistency that made White and McGregor choose him. he said that whilst he's in shape he's not always in the best shape. Ironic then that McGregor should lose in part largely to stamina issues

DAVE667 wrote:It's that consistency that made White and McGregor choose him. he said that whilst he's in shape he's not always in the best shape. Ironic then that McGregor should lose in part largely to stamina issues

McGregor was putting everything into his shots. I think he felt, that Nate would crumble. Especially with a lack of training camp.

A fair strategy, when you think about it.

Also, McGregor has never fought at that weight professionally, it takes a lot more energy to throw those shots with that kind of muscle mass. Bet it takes some getting used to.

Pr4wn wrote:A fair strategy, when you think about it.

Also, McGregor has never fought at that weight professionally, it takes a lot more energy to throw those shots with that kind of muscle mass. Bet it takes some getting used to.

I fully agree, also Nate is a tough, tough man. Many couldn't take the shot he can in mma.

AdamT wrote:

Pr4wn wrote:A fair strategy, when you think about it.

Also, McGregor has never fought at that weight professionally, it takes a lot more energy to throw those shots with that kind of muscle mass. Bet it takes some getting used to.

I fully agree, also Nate is a tough, tough man. Many couldn't take the shot he can in mma.

It's not the number of shots McGregor threw but the number he missed that did for him. Like he said in the post fight interview, he was inefficient in his work. Hopefully he'll learn to be a tad more circumspect, but that may have an impact on UFC's ability to sell him as a hell for leather, all out gunslinger

I like him, but I struggle to see him repeat his 145 form at 155.

Hopefully I'm wrong, but I think the bubble has burst. He will still win more fights, than he loses. However I doubt he will look the wrecking ball of recent.

Still think he is excellent for the sport and really hope he proves me wrong.

Needless to say, I'd love to see him batter Aldo again.

I think he would. Aldo will always struggle with McGregors size and style.

Aldo talking trash now. Conveniently forgetting that he was dribbling all over the canvas after 13 seconds of McGregor.

On Ronda, bet she's hating the fact that Miesha did what she couldn't and is the new champ.

Bit silly of Aldo to be abusing Connor.

AdamT wrote:I still think Diaz would of won at the lower weight. He is too tough and well rounded.

Conor has some great skills, but some major flaws. He could walk through smaller men to land his own bombs. Also his left hand was dynamite in the smaller division. I reckon there isn't much difference between McGregor and Diaz walking around weights.

I think with hindsight you could be right. I rewatched the Johnson fight before linking it to a friend as well as a highlights video, and whilst watching and listening to the commentary it was all sort of there that an upset was very possible. Over an over Nate was landing the same left that rocked connor, ground & pound, stretching guys out before choking them out, seeing how he finished Conor you've seen it before. Added to which Diaz wanted this fight and was very confident.

I'm pretty sure they weigh the same between fights just that Nate cuts to 155 as opposed to 145. Nate also has experience fighting at 170 and stamina wise is in much better condition than Connor, he is a triathlete and was apparently training for a marathon.

I have to admit though even though I said beforehand that Diaz had the potential to make it interesting I was going Conor by stoppage.

Great post.

Pr4wn wrote:A fair strategy, when you think about it.

Also, McGregor has never fought at that weight professionally, it takes a lot more energy to throw those shots with that kind of muscle mass. Bet it takes some getting used to.

I doubt his muscle mass was that different to the Aldo fight, he didn't pack on 25lbs of muscle in the space of two months.

Did you see him??? It certainly wasn't 25lbs of chub.