How Good is Conor McGregor?

To simply say that Conor McGregor is a great fighter, would be a criminal understatement. McGregor is perhaps one of the rarest of rare combatants who've broken through to the zenith of Mixed Martial Arts glory.

Conor McGregor's aura is that of a true king; his fighting prowess akin to a mythical martial arts expert from ancient times; all coupled with the trademark "Notorious" swagger and stoic approach towards the savage science. The Irishman may seem emotional and unhinged at times, however, once that Octagon door slams shut--McGregor is all business.

Today, we take a look at just how good a fighter Conor McGregor really is. Bear in mind though, the factors that will influence our following article include not only the physical element of the game, but also the myriad of other complex variables at play in the unpredictable sport that is MMA...

#5 Conor McGregor -- The Martial Arts Student

Conor McGregor has a ton of respect for his coach John Kavanaugh

For long, Conor McGregor has been criticized by his detractors for being an individual who doesn't seem to respect the game or train to the best of his abilities--getting by simply on his powerful left hand, with nothing much going on in the other departments of his MMA arsenal.

Honestly speaking, that couldn't be further from the truth! McGregor has time and again stated that he considers himself to be a student of the game--according respect to the game as a whole, talking trash in the lead-up to the fight, and then putting away all his mind games and engaging in a show of respect and sportsmanship with his opponent in the aftermath of the fight.

McGregor--contrary to his social image of being a lad who likes to party the nights away and isn't shy to down a few bottles of his own Notorious Irish Whiskey every now and then--is indeed a highly-dedicated worker when it comes to training and performing in the sport of Mixed Martial Arts. The former UFC Featherweight and Lightweight Champion is a true student of the game, and irrespective of the great heights of success he's scaled in the past, this intelligent young man never ceases to amaze us with the considerable amount of improvements he keeps making to his overall combat weaponry over time.

#4 Striking

With 18 of his 21 wins as a professional MMA fighter, coming by way of Knockout, it'd be safe to say that Conor McGregor is an excellent striker. In fact, the Irishman is so very deft at the stand-up aspect of MMA, that elite strikers such as Nate Diaz and Jose Aldo visibly struggled against McGregor--with Aldo being KO'd by the latter in 13 seconds.

Granted that McGregor fell to Diaz by submission in their first meeting, however he did drop the latter multiple times en-route to a close decision victory in their rematch at UFC 202. Despite having a notable stamina disadvantage against the cardio-machine that is Diaz, McGregor's timing and distance management help him best the former on the judges' scorecards.

Perhaps the best aspect of his striking game, is his timing and precision--as the man himself has claimed on several occasions--which help him follow the cardinal rule of fighting; "hit and don't get hit".

#3 Grappling

McGregor has been training with grappling ace Dillon Danis for quite some time now

Conor McGregor has been time and again derided by his critics for, what they claim to be, a lack of grappling skills. Well, if only someone had sent McGregor the memo, perhaps he may not have been able to out-grapple several notable foes over the course of his career.

Despite blowing out his knee during his fight against a young Max Holloway, McGregor continued to soldier on--transitioning from a striking-oriented strategy to a more grappling-based route. Furthermore, McGregor also memorably out-grappled Eddie Alvarez as well as Nate Diaz--the latter in their rematch--stuffing Alvarez's takedowns, and going toe-to-toe with Diaz in the clinch.

Love him or hate him, one simply cannot deny that McGregor's grappling skills are in fact criminally underrated.

#2 Mental warfare

Mental warfare is said to have played a huge role in Aldo getting annihilated by McGregor

Conor McGregor is a master manipulator, when it comes to controlling his opponent's mental state. In fact, McGregor's uncanny skill of playing with his foe's mind, is credited by many to the man's unmatched control over his own mind!

Much like the old adage goes--"Control yourself, before you can control your enemy"--McGregor has mastered the art of entering the "flow state". The UFC star can expertly switch back-and-forth between his motormouth promotional persona and his zen-like combat avatar.

Several past McGregor opponents such as Dustin Poirier and Eddie Alvarez have confessed in the aftermath of their fights with the former, that they'd deviated to an abhorrent degree from their respective game-plans, probably because they found themselves being angered to no end by The Notorious One.

#1 The law of attraction

Conor McGregor and his wife Dee Devlin are big believers in the law of attraction

Simply put, the law of attraction is a philosophical idea which states that the level of significance we accord to our thoughts have a huge influence on the occurrences in our lives. In other words, should we focus on positive thoughts, the results would most probably be great; whereas on the flip side, if we happen to deviate towards negativity, the outcomes would generally be less-than-desirable.

Conor McGregor and his wife have, for long, claimed to be strong believers in the law of attraction--with the former often aggressively putting forth his intentions for the world to see; by speaking out loud regarding how he intends to destroy his opponents.

After all, it isn't for no reason that the MMA community refers to him as "Mystic Mac"--what with him predicting the exact round in which he'll KO his opponents; and said predictions often times coming to fruition!

Which characteristics do you feel make Conor McGregor great? How good do you feel The Notorious One really is? Sound off in the comments below!