Nate can go between 155 and 170 seamlessly. McGregor with his style is not effective with the extra bulk. He was clearly more muscular and labored in those fights. I've said this after both fights that McGregor would absolutely destroy him at 155. Relatively speaking of course. He did better than Barboza, Johnson, Poirier, Dos Anjos and despite being finished Aiquinta. Round 1 was competitive and despite losing 2 in a lopsided fashion won the 3rd before being finished in the 4th. He did a decent job at minimising the damage he took as well and despite be controlled showed surprising resilience as far as not being put in totally dominant hopeless positions until the 4th where he was finally overwhelmed and stopped.
I guess we will agree to disagree because imo Rd 1 was not competitive. Khabib did what he wanted, took Conor down to the mat within 30 seconds, kept him down the whole round slowly sapping his gastank and took zero damage himself. Rd 2 Khabib lands a good right hand and drops Conor then is completely destroying him towards the end of the rd nearly stopping him. A clear 10-8 rd. The ONLY success Conor had the whole fight was in rd 3 where he probably edged out an uneventful rd on the feet. Conor's world is supposedly the stand up but in rd 3 he didn't drop,hurt,visible wobble etc etc Khabib at all. It appeared to most that Khabib was just coasting that rd to save himself for rds 4/5 etc. I really don't see what you are seeing in this fight. Conor was not competitive at all and basically took a beating and quit. The choke was not under the neck so it really was a neck crank. How often does that cause someone to tap at the elite level of mma. Very very rare. Conor quit at the end. He was a beaten man.
We're arguing semantics man. Khabib clearly won and was largely in control I'm just saying McGregor has done better than most of his opposition especially recently.
I doubt Masvidal could make 155, and if he did he wouldn't be strong enough to withstand Gaethje's or Conor's strikes.
Masvidal was always partially compromised at 155, he would be 173 during fight week back in Strikeforce. He didn't have the strength or durability (his words) at 155. I think he Decisions Conor at 155 and loses a decision vs Khabib at 155. If he were to fight Conor right now at 170 or go to 165 (Masvidal's actual division, along with RDA, etc,.) he would finish Conor. I don't know about Masvidal beating anybody right now but I hope he wins against Diaz (he should) then fights and beats Usman.
Stop overrating Masvidal. Gaethje vs Conor. Hard to call. Either McGregor early or Gaethje early - who ever finds the most succes. If it goes longer than three rounds, i actually favor McGregor HEAVILY.
Depends. The Gaethje we have seen in the third or fourth are so tired, with no explosion, power or tactical sense. If his 'new' style makes him more durable, he might be in favor the longer the fight goes. But we haven't seen him go past one round in his last three, so hard to say whatever he really have changed and controls his cardio better.
Lol. Masvidal are well-rounded, but not elite anywhere. Maia out-wrestled and out-grappled him. Wonderboy outstruck him. Both Colby and Usman most likely dominates Masvidal.