He transferred over to boxing.
Why is that relevant?
It's relevant because to beat Khabib Nurmagomedov
he's going to have to transfer over to wrestling.
He's going to have to know one dimension of
wrestling and only one.
He does not have to know a lifetime of work.
He does not have to have been doing this since
he was 6 and 7 and 8 years old.
He just has to know how to stop a takedown,
and more specifically, a single-leg takedown.
I still maintain and I still would fully admit
to you that that is a big ask of somebody
to do over the course of training camp.
A training camp is not very long.
I will concede that to you.
But when I've looked at the evidence that
he was able to transfer sports and go over
half of an hour with a guy who walked over
Canelo—and that guy just beat GGG—and
he could go a half of an hour with him in
a sport he'd never done, wearing gloves he
never even owned let alone put on until training
camp, I think that there's some interest there.
I remember when that fight was coming up.
A lot of Conor’s supporters said, “Well,
you know, it's not that big of a transfer
of sport.
He's a striker.
This is a striking sport.
He's been boxing or some elements of boxing
for many years.”
That wasn’t a very good argument.
It showed a lack of understanding.
But that perception, and perception being
reality particularly when you're battling
something in the media like a fight promotion,
is relevant and fair game.
But if you're using that argument, Conor has
also been wrestling and using elements of
wrestling and spending just as much time on
his wrestling as it pertains to mixed martial
arts as he did in boxing as it pertains to
mixed martial arts.
It's a wash.
It's even.
So what do you do with that info?
What is it I'm trying to tell you?
I don't know.
I don't know, but there are many guys whose
careers come where two plus two does not equal
four.
They just come, they defy a lot of logic,
and the outcome is not what you think it's
going to be.
Jon Jones is one of those guys who defies
logic.
When I speak on Jon’s career, it will often
sound like I'm coming from a negative standpoint
when it's not my intent at all.
Athletes are told from day one they must sacrifice,
they must be dedicated, they must want it,
they must work hard.
That's all really good advice, but there are
some guys who will come along that don’t
have to do any of those things and can make
it to the top.
They're rare, but they happen.
You guys remember Dennis Rodman?
Dennis Rodman was this scumbag basketball-playing
knucklehead that will go out of his way to
make sure the media caught him partying and
staying up till four and five in the morning
at the clubs on the morning of the NBA playoffs,
then going out and doing great in the game
and ultimately winning championships when
he was with the Bulls.
This became his shtick and his gimmick.
He marked out for his own gimmicks, so you
know how that ended in later life – not
great.
We are whoever we pretend to be.
He went out of his way to pretend he was a
scumbag.
But the point is, he did still play in those
games and he did still start and he did still
put up great numbers and he did still win
championships.
There are just some guys.
There are just some guys where the basic rules
don’t apply, where less is more.
There are just some guys like that.
