Photo by Billie Weiss/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

They say that the Irish treat a serious thing as a joke, and a joke as a serious thing. Seeing the reactions to the comically manipulative matchmaking that was Conor McGregor versus Dennis Siver, you could certainly believe that.

Siver never had a chance as The Notorious Conor McGregor picked him apart at range. In the co-main event Donald Cerrone and Benson Henderson went at it for a third time, and on the rest of the card there were some quality finishes and an awful decision.

So without further delay, let's talk about the fights.

McGregor Cements His Claim

There might not be a better pure striker at featherweight than Conor McGregor. Coming into the sport with a good boxing pedigree, and the reactions and counters to put away anyone who swung at him, McGregor has rounded out his game, while keeping his focus in the right place.

It all begins with those so-called “hipster kicks”, the hook kicks and spinning kicks. They aren't so much to knock the opponent out (though if they do, fantastic) but to force the opponent to return. If you've got McGregor standing in front of you, with his arms out and his mouth moving, you know he's looking to counter you. When he's spinning or throwing hook kicks, fighters forget this.

After every spin or kick, McGregor is back in his stance and ready to bounce back, or slip a punch, and return with his bread and butter left hand. He doesn't kick at opponents, he kicks to them—there is no sacrificing his stance for power as you will often see out of power kickers like Donald Cerrone or Edson Barboza.

The side kick which McGregor debuted in the Holloway fight was on full display, serving the dual purpose of forcing range and setting up McGregor's bicycle kicks, a la Saenchai. Where McGregor will often feint the lead leg kick and jump into a snap kick, he had tremendous success with a jump into a knee strike and a jump into a round kick.

For Siver's part, it was pretty much what most of us expected. His constant attempts to throw that straight arm left hook, and his dangling right hand throughout, had him ducking into left high kicks, just as he did against Donald Cerrone. He's a game fighter, but he's predictable and limited in his striking, and he's getting slower.

McGregor landing the left straight at range, the high kick as Siver goes to his one-size-fits-all counter left hook, and Siver cutting out McGregor's standing leg. More on that in a moment.

The end came in the second round as McGregor had ground Siver down and kept him at range. His long left straights had been connecting since early on, and one more put Siver down to be mounted and finished with strikes.

While Siver looked woefully outclassed—as was the point of this fight—he did at a couple of points demonstrate something that has been discussed for a while, the balance of Conor McGregor. McGregor's stance, long and narrow, is very susceptible to low kicks. But when fighters see this, they think inside low kick, and that leads to them kicking the shin and knee all night.



McGregor ending a fight with a good check.

Even in a long stance, you're just a slight turn of the leg away from checking an inside low kick—McGregor ended an early fight like this, and Max Holloway broke his foot early on by attempting the same thing. The exact same thing happened in Cyborg versus Nick Diaz. See the long stance, think 'low kicks', then punt his shin ineffectually until you are forced to give up.

No it is the outside low kick that troubles men with stances like McGregor's. On the few instances he eats them, he loses his balance just as Nate Diaz did against Benson Henderson and Rafael Dos Anjos. From the narrow stance that McGregor uses to facilitate springing in and out, and turning for kicks, checking the outside low kick is a large movement away, and the effects of the kick result in a loss of balance. You could see the exact same thing happening to Conor McGregor's teammate who also works from this narrow stance, Patrick Holohan.



This same thing happens to McGregor maybe once a fight against opponents who aren't really looking for it. Against an opponent with disciplined game plan, this kind of small loss of control can turn into bigger things.

Moreover, McGregor's constant kicking leaves him open to cut kicking of the standing leg, as Siver did successfully a couple of times.

By crushing Siver (who mysteriously crept up the rankings between the time the bout was announced and the closing of the cage door), McGregor has booked himself into a fight with featherweight king, Jose Aldo. And really, it had to be this way because aside from Cub Swanson, there's no one left for The Notorious One to fight in the UFC top fifteen who could be described as “not a wrestler”.

But all of my cynicism and distrust of promoters aside, frankly, it's a fascinating match up! McGregor's counter striking—particularly his ability to lead and counter-the-counter, makes him a threat that Aldo, hasn't faced. Meanwhile, Aldo's vaunted low kicking game might all mean nought against the southpaw McGregor if he chooses to focus on inside low kicks with his strong right leg rather than training to use his weaker left to exploit McGregor's stance.

Henderson versus Cerrone

In the co-main event, Benson Henderson and Donald Cerrone squared off for a third time and both men looked pretty good considering the last minute change of opponents. Cerrone is what I have referred to as a fighter who brings questions rather than answers. He kicks them at range and knees them when they step in, and it's up to them to deal with it.

Henderson looked as though he had been working extensively on his striking as we saw a number of new features in his game. Where the right hook has always been his money punch, his jab—which is usually a sort of back-handed afterthought—was looking sharp and dangerous against Cerrone. And a lead side kick to the lead leg troubled Cerrone throughout the bout.

Against Henderson's originally scheduled opponent, Eddie Alvarez, this jamming side kick could have worked wonders to deny Alvarez the boxing range where he works so effectively. An interesting addition.

Henderson once again had success by using his rear (left) leg to kick his opponent's rear (right) leg.

A veteran move because the effects of kickboxing training are to condition the lead leg to getting kicked, while the rear leg often remains somewhat tender because it is targeted far less. The great Andy Hug had seasoned kickboxers crumbling to the mat under his kicks to the rear leg.



Hug putting Mark Russell away with a kick to the back leg.

What made Hug so effective, though, was his ability to feint this kick and move into a powerful left straight. Henderson instead went with a high kick which stunned Cerrone.

While Henderson got the better of the kickboxing for the most part, Cerrone secured takedowns and landed with good front kicks to the body. In fact Cerrone went to the low kicks to the rear leg later in the bout, as if he had learned it during the fight.

At the end of fifteen thoughtful, entertaining minutes, Cerrone was awarded the decision and moved to 1-2 against Henderson. The decision was a little unexpected, but certainly not a robbery. I will say how refreshing it was to see these two behave so amiably towards each other both before and after the fight. It gets tiring that the only angle people know how to push in combat sports is “these two guys hate each other”.

Odds and Ends

Elsewhere on the card Patrick Holohan picked up a good decision to get his second win in the UFC. Cathal Pendred picked up an atrocious decision while getting punched full-force in the face repeatedly. Lorenz Larkin walked through John Howard in a return to form. And Matt Van Buren went full Stefan Struve against Sean O'Connell, by repeatedly giving up his reach advantage to allow O'Connell to hit him in the face.

The card wasn't stellar, but it was decent. It was enough to get the casuals talking about McGregor again, and to get us in the fighting mood and have us looking forward to Anderson Silva versus Nick Diaz.

Correction: In an earlier version of this story, we incorrectly stated that it was Paddy Holohan's first win in the UFC.

Check out these related stories:

Jack Slack: Conor McGregor Is the Future of Mixed Martial Arts

Jack Slack: How Conor McGregor Scratched 'The Diamond'

Conor McGregor Talks Evolution, Secret Counters, and Finishing Fights