WBC heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury has weighed in on Conor McGregor’s upset loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 257.
‘Notorious’ had spent more than one year out of the cage prior to his bout with Poirier in Abu Dhabi. Since 2016, the Irishman has been largely inactive, fighting just three times in MMA.
Fury is no stranger to inactivity. ‘The Gypsy King’ spent three years out of the ring battling addiction and depression. In 2018, he returned to fighting and opted to take two warm-up bouts before stepping in with heavyweight king Deontay Wilder.
In an interview with Gareth A Davies, Fury backed McGregor who pointed to inactivity as the reason he failed to beat Poirier at UFC 257.
“He did [use inactivity as an explanation for his defeat], and he’s bang on right,” Fury said. “Conor McGregor fought in 2016, then he had two years out and then he fought Khabib. Then he had another two years out, and then he fought [Donald] Cerrone. Then he had another year out, and then he fought this guy, [Dustin] Poirier. So inactivity kills the cat, no doubt about it.
“When one man’s been active – fighting, sparring and in camps – and one man’s been on the couch, it’s no good,” Fury added. “You lose your timing, you lose your distance, you lose it all. You lose it all, it’s all gotta be gained back within camps and within fighting.
“If you had three fights on the bounce after you’d never been in the ring for three years, in the third one you’d be ten times better than the first,” Fury concluded. “I’ve always known it. Because I’m a boxing historian I’ve always known about the inactivity.” (Transcribed by Talk Sport)
Do you agree with Tyson Fury? Did inactivity cause Conor McGregor to lose at UFC 257?