Conor McGregor - 5 things we learned about 'Notorious' after UFC 189

Conor Mcgregor is the face of Irish MMAJust the mention of the name Conor McGregor draws visceral yet passionate reactions. 50% of the MMA world think of him as the lord and savior who can do no wrong. The other 50% think he’s an overhyped phony being given a push he doesn’t deserve. It’s almost impossible to have a calm, logical discussion about the Irishman especially after UFC 189.His star is brighter than it has ever been and both groups of people are doubling down on their stance. Amidst the pandemonium that surrounds him, we take a look at what we learnt about Conor after his win over Chad Mendes.

#1 One of the best strikers in MMA regardless of weight class

Conor’s striking has always been on point

As a striker, McGregor is effortless. His stand up is very natural unlike other elite strikers like Lawler and Macdonald who while devastating standing up are so much more methodical. Conor seems to make stuff up as he goes. He puts together combinations that haven’t been seen and are so out of the box that they can’t be trained for. Nobody else in MMA throws three spinning back kicks or that double jab left cross combination. What’s even more devastating about him is that he can attack from every direction. Some of the best fighters can only land their shots when they move forward, some need to circle to the outside to open up angles, but McGregor can do it from everywhere.

His shot accuracy is also frightening. It’s unprecedented how many shots he manages to not only land, but land exactly where he wanted it. His background as an amateur boxer and relentless work ethic all add to his arsenal on the feet. It’s difficult to think of a fighter more devastating in the stand-up department than Conor. Joanna Jedrzejczyk is probably the only active member of the UFC roster who can compete with him in that department. If striking is an art then McGregor may not be Picasso, but he isn’t too far off.

#2 His movement is exceptional

Conor is exceptionally quick for how big he is

In almost every interview he has ever given, Conor talks about movement and how important it is. He regularly watches videos of animals to study how they move and considers movement to be a martial art in itself. At UFC 189, he displayed why movement is so important and how good he is at it. He froze Chad Mendes’ feet and had him against the cage within 5 seconds of the fight. Mendes became very flat footed because he did could not gauge which way McGregor was going to move. McGregor set up conditions for Mendes to fail and used his movement to establish dominant position. It’s rare to see someone of the caliber of Chad Mendes look so planted in his position.

The shortened camp didn’t help but even with a longer camp, but Mendes was more perplexed than anything else. After taking his first punch he became very cautious on the feet. He realized just how strong Conor is and didn’t want to make any mistakes. It was exactly the situation you don’t want to put yourself in. If you want to beat Conor McGregor you need to move forward. Backing up is inviting danger. Conor’s movement is perhaps the biggest revelation of the fight and it will be something Jose Aldo will need to study very carefully.

#3 Excellent submission defense but he cannot wrestle

McGregor lacks submission offence but is very good at defense

Conor McGregor’s submission offence is not very good. His submission defense however, is excellent. Even when taken down McGregor was able to get Mendes in his guard. He had a lot of trouble with the ground and pound and it’s defiantly an area he needs to work on but he proved that while on his back his ability to scramble and defend submissions is unquestionably top class. He ate a lot of elbows while on his back but his ability to get back up in a scramble is what won him the fight. It’s truly fascinating breaking down McGregor’s ground submission game. Offensively, it’s almost nonexistent. Defensively however, there can be no denying that he is excellent. In a lot of ways Conor McGregor is like Anderson Silva.

That is not to say that McGregor is as good as Silva but much like the Irishman, Silva was routinely taken down and had a tough time against wrestlers. However his ability to get back to his feet and his submission defense is what helped him overcome those deficiencies. Going into the fight many wanted to see if Conor could answer the ‘wrestler question,’ and he did. He can’t wrestle. But he has enough in his defensive arsenal to mask those weaknesses.

#4 Weak Ground Game

McGregor’s guard is nonexistent

McGregor’s guard is nonexistent and his take down defense is average at best. There are rumors that he had an MCL tear in the lead up to the fight and didn’t want to pull out given the hype surrounding the fight. However it wasn’t just his hip and leg movement that was questionable, his hand positioning was far off the level it needs to be. Mendes had his hands on the mat at various points while he was in Conor’s guard and even a mixed martial artist with a very good ground game, not necessarily a world class one, would have wrapped Mendes up and got him into a triangle and submitted him.

However McGregor’s lack of hand movement and hand control was painfully displayed. Maybe the injury contributed to it and maybe when we see a fully fit Conor McGregor he will blow us all away with his ground game but on the evidence from this fight, it’s not looking good for him on the mat.

#5 Leaves a lot of openings

McGregor drops his hands far too often

Whether he’s on the microphone or he’s in the octagon, there is an obvious cockiness about Conor McGregor. It’s all fun and games and it’s very entertaining when he’s talking but when that cockiness carries enters the octagon, it spells trouble. Through the who fight, Conor was leaving his hands down and taunting Chad. Much like Anderson Silva against Chris Weidman, if Conor keeps doing it, it will backfire.

Dropping his hands and standing in front of his opponent is playing with fire. A Muay Thai expert like Jose Aldo will blast him in those situations. It’s one thing to do it against someone like Dennis Siver; it’s something else when you do it against a top level guy like Chad Mendes or Jose Aldo. As great of a fighter as he is, the clowning around is a recipe for disaster.