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Norm Smith Medallist
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Surprised there are no comments about this morning's card by now. Zabit vs Kattar was a great fight. I figured Zabit would try and stay out of boxing range as I expected him to be at a disadvantage there. He fought a great fight and had a guy with superb striking second guessing himself for most of the first two rounds. Kattar finished strong, but didn't do enough to get the nod for me. Zabit has shown a bit of a drop off in a few fights now where he's been taken deep, so while I think he has the size and skills to trouble a guy like Max, I think in the end he would get overwhelmed. It would make for great watching as long as it lasted though.

For all the horrible stuff Hardy has done in the past, I respect what he did this morning. Fighting Volkov in Russia after less than 2 years in the pro fight game is a huge effort and he didn't look that out of place. I doubted he would amount to much, but he's showing rapid improvement and could be something in 2 or 3 years time.

I was so surprised no chat about it! Good post mate.

It was an excellent fight. It's the s**t that makes me love MMA, high level technicians. I think Zabit is a GREAT martial artist. Technique wise he's as good as anyone we've seen - BUT; he has some issues that I think will hold him back from ever being 'the guy' in that division. Obviously his gas tank issue - now I've seen people dismiss this by saying he just needs to pace himself... well that's a silly statement because pacing himself probably means his first 2 rounds aren't as dominant as they are and he may not even end up winning them. His second big issue is the lack of power. Genuinely seems like he can't hurt people in there. He's a great fighter and I reckon he beats 90% of that division. Would love to see him v Yair or Ortega next. Don't think he could get past Max or Volk the cardio machines. Kattar came out of the loss looking good, finished fantastic. Rematch with Moicano maybe? Both coming off losses, makes sense.
 

Topkent

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I was so surprised no chat about it! Good post mate.

It was an excellent fight. It's the s**t that makes me love MMA, high level technicians. I think Zabit is a GREAT martial artist. Technique wise he's as good as anyone we've seen - BUT; he has some issues that I think will hold him back from ever being 'the guy' in that division. Obviously his gas tank issue - now I've seen people dismiss this by saying he just needs to pace himself... well that's a silly statement because pacing himself probably means his first 2 rounds aren't as dominant as they are and he may not even end up winning them. His second big issue is the lack of power. Genuinely seems like he can't hurt people in there. He's a great fighter and I reckon he beats 90% of that division. Would love to see him v Yair or Ortega next. Don't think he could get past Max or Volk the cardio machines. Kattar came out of the loss looking good, finished fantastic. Rematch with Moicano maybe? Both coming off losses, makes sense.
Was it Stephens who was just walking into his punches basically? I think it's a real issue for him. Especially against blokes like Holloway and Volk who can take some damage coming forward.
 

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Norm Smith Medallist
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Was it Stephens who was just walking into his punches basically? I think it's a real issue for him. Especially against blokes like Holloway and Volk who can take some damage coming forward.

Stephens and Bochniak were walking through his shots like they were butter. I think it'll be an issue. If you don't have power you NEED the cardio to make for it. You're spot on with that; Holloway has one of, if not the best chin in the divisions and Volkanovski can eat shots to get in range, although mother*er has a great jab for his height.
 

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Topkent

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Stephens and Bochniak were walking through his shots like they were butter. I think it'll be an issue. If you don't have power you NEED the cardio to make for it. You're spot on with that; Holloway has one of, if not the best chin in the divisions and Volkanovski can eat shots to get in range, although motherf***er has a great jab for his height.
Ortega too took a pounding from Holloway. You gotta have that KO ability even if you don't use it every fight. Someone like Volk who has a great scramble and take down defence might be difficult for him as he will just walk into whatever he has and start pressuring him. Same with Holloway.
 

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Norm Smith Medallist
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Ortega too took a pounding from Holloway. You gotta have that KO ability even if you don't use it every fight. Someone like Volk who has a great scramble and take down defence might be difficult for him as he will just walk into whatever he has and start pressuring him. Same with Holloway.

Max, Volk, Ortega, Zombie, Yair all seem to have chins. I don't know; I like Zabit - I really do; I just don't think he's the guy to dethrone Max. I don't think anyone currently on the FW roster is.

To be fair - I'm biased as s**t, Max is far and away my favourite fighter. Of all time; second only behind GSP for me in terms of being a gobbling fanboy.
 

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Who wins now if Conor went back to 145. I think Max finishes him easily. Max is twice the fighter he was then.

Again, being biased like I said above I would HAVE to choose Max. I really do think he takes Conor over a 5 round decision or a late stoppage due to the volume.... BUT

Having said that - I'm not down on Conor like most are. I still think he is ******* phenomenal; I really do. Take away his personality and name and he still beats the majority of Featherweights... Lightweight who the * knows he needs a bigger body of work.
 

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Yeh Zabit vs Kattar was a sick fight. That 1st round was a spectacle, both throwing down. I think Kattar would have won a 5 rounder, Zabit was really slowing down in round 3 & kind of just danced around knowing he had it locked up on the cards. Cardio will definitely be a problem against the top guys. His striking is so smooth though & really is a pleasure to watch.
Hardy did better than I expected, although Volkov honestly looked like he was playing it safe & was picking his shots carefully, don’t blame him after the Lewis fight. Hardy definitely needs to improve his tank though & we still don’t really know what his TDD is like, I feel a wrestler like Blaydes would completely expose that part of his game. We just haven’t seen it yet
 

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Who wins now if Conor went back to 145. I think Max finishes him easily. Max is twice the fighter he was then.

Max doesn’t really have knock out power against the top guys. He hit Aldo about 100 times both fights before they were stopped by TKO. Same as Ortega/corner stoppage.

I think if he was to beat McGregor it’s by decision.
 
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Max doesn’t really have knock out power against the top guys. He hit Aldo about 100 times both fights before they were stopped by TKO. Same as Ortega/corner stoppage.

I think if he was to beat McGregor it’s by decision.

Max isn't a big hitter, but that's not a huge factor against a guy who will fade in fights. McGregor has never had great cardio and he would have to kill himself to get back down to 145. For Conor to win, he would have to rediscover his power punching and hurt Max early and often to keep him at bay. If Max was to win, he would need to be able to withstand his power shots. If he can, I could see him working over Conor in the late rounds and folding him like he did to Pettis and Aldo in the second fight. His ability to raise his output as fights go on is crazy and he doesn't let guys rest for a second. I think he would eventually hit Conor enough that he would break him and win by 4th or 5th round TKO.
 

NonPhixion

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Max isn't a big hitter, but that's not a huge factor against a guy who will fade in fights. McGregor has never had great cardio and he would have to kill himself to get back down to 145. For Conor to win, he would have to rediscover his power punching and hurt Max early and often to keep him at bay. If Max was to win, he would need to be able to withstand his power shots. If he can, I could see him working over Conor in the late rounds and folding him like he did to Pettis and Aldo in the second fight. His ability to raise his output as fights go on is crazy and he doesn't let guys rest for a second. I think he would eventually hit Conor enough that he would break him and win by 4th or 5th round TKO.

Great breakdown. I see it playing out exactly like this
 

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Max isn't a big hitter, but that's not a huge factor against a guy who will fade in fights. McGregor has never had great cardio and he would have to kill himself to get back down to 145. For Conor to win, he would have to rediscover his power punching and hurt Max early and often to keep him at bay. If Max was to win, he would need to be able to withstand his power shots. If he can, I could see him working over Conor in the late rounds and folding him like he did to Pettis and Aldo in the second fight. His ability to raise his output as fights go on is crazy and he doesn't let guys rest for a second. I think he would eventually hit Conor enough that he would break him and win by 4th or 5th round TKO.
I’m not quite sure how it would go down now but when Conor fought Max he was able to move with Max and didn’t get hit a great deal. He won every round, it may well be different now. Championship rounds seem like they’ll always be a struggle for Conor.
 

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Topkent

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I’m not quite sure how it would go down now but when Conor fought Max he was able to move with Max and didn’t get hit a great deal. He won every round, it may well be different now. Championship rounds seem like they’ll always be a struggle for Conor.

7 years ago lol.
 
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I’m not quite sure how it would go down now but when Conor fought Max he was able to move with Max and didn’t get hit a great deal. He won every round, it may well be different now. Championship rounds seem like they’ll always be a struggle for Conor.

No doubt it was a great performance by McGregor, but this is a vastly different version of both fighters. Max has spent that 7 years constantly improving and has developed the best gas tank in the game. Conor initially went on a fantastic run after beating Max, but his inactivity in the last few years and perhaps a lack of hunger due to having made his millions makes this a very different fight. The weight cut became very rough for Conor towards the end of his time at 145, so if that's where the fight was to happen I think it would make things very difficult for him.
 
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Max isn't a big hitter, but that's not a huge factor against a guy who will fade in fights. McGregor has never had great cardio and he would have to kill himself to get back down to 145. For Conor to win, he would have to rediscover his power punching and hurt Max early and often to keep him at bay. If Max was to win, he would need to be able to withstand his power shots. If he can, I could see him working over Conor in the late rounds and folding him like he did to Pettis and Aldo in the second fight. His ability to raise his output as fights go on is crazy and he doesn't let guys rest for a second. I think he would eventually hit Conor enough that he would break him and win by 4th or 5th round TKO.
Totally agree.

Regardless of KO power or not - I think also think one of the biggest factors would be being punched in the face even at 50% over 150+ times is extremely cardio sapping - ask Nates past opponents. Particularly with the cut to 145.
 

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Ortega out of fight vs Korean Zombie.

Edgar steps in on 3 weeks notice. He was meant to fight at bantamweight in late January.
 
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