Quote (zNick @ Mar 11 2017 10:32am)
Obviously through years of training and practice. To reach this level of perfection takes years of practice, analysis and perfecting of the said technique. But there are other factors too that need to be factored into why his left is so devastating:
On Conor's staggeringly strong left hand, Firas Zahabi, a well respected coach who heads Montreal's Tristar gym said it was “the touch of death” and added “he could throw an infinite number of punches if he wants to”. Zahabi's assessment is an endorsement of the hardwork he has put into honing the strike.
Conor without doubt possesses the most crisp southpaw cross counter I've seen in MMA and that was part of the reason I was convinced right from the outset that he was destined for superstardom. His left is his weapon of choice and rightly so because of the amount of weight and power the punch packs.
Even today you find him amassing wins off his famed counter left. If you study McGregor's fights prior to his UFC debut you'll find that not much about his game has changed. His ‘plan A' has remained pretty much the same. His entire game revolves around drawing out his opponent's right to release that left counter, with the entirety of his arsenal which includes his feints, his spectacular footwork, guard, body positioning and even the manner in which he conduct himself in the octagon revolving around forcing his opponent to come out with the right hand.
Think of Conor as a hypnotherapist. Just like how a hypnotherapist would draw you into a state of lull, in the process of putting you in a hypnotic state, Conor focuses on forcing his opponents into an awkward position by lulling his opponents into a false sense of security or urgency, where they can't do much else other than throwing out a right. This was evident in the Alvarez fight in UFC 205. Alvarez a more natural wrestler of the two, was forced a position where he was trying to outbox McGregor inspite of his initial gameplay revolving more around wrestling as he accepted in his post match pressers. Even Alvarez was struggling to fathom why he was trying to box against an opponent who was clearly superior at striking than he is.
To sum up, it is a combination of all of the aforementioned, that makes McGregor's left so deadly rather than one specific practice regime or the mere hours spent in a gym honing the strike.
Hope that was helpful and answered your question.
I remember when I said conors counter punches were his best weapons and arguably one of the bests at counters in the ufc leading up to aldo fight and everybody called me stupid because he always pushed forward in his ufc fights besides against brimage
Still holds true, probably main reason I like him because of how good he moves and throws them counters
Nothing quite like watching somebody over extend and eat a perfectly placed punch on the chin
Main thing I liked about Andersons style as well, although he had a very different set of tools in the striking department