Conor McGregor reflects on his KO loss to Dustin Poirier and tries to analyze where things went wrong.
Conor McGregor has released a lengthy post-fight statement following his knockout loss to Dustin Poirier, revealing that he was treating the bout as a precursor to a boxing match with Manny Pacquiao and that the damage he accumulated to his lead leg was thoroughly deserved due to his one-dimensional approach to the fight.
McGregor posted the following statement, combined with video highlights from the UFC 257 main event, on his Instagram earlier today.
“Some highlights from my last fight! What a trilogy I now have on my hands. Exciting! With a handle on the leg kicks I will get back to having fun in there. I was in second gear cruising this fight. Best condition I’ve ever been in. After the wrestling and clinch exchanges my shots still held their pop. First time for me with this so I am very encouraged to keep going. It was the first time I did not use/nor need the stool between rounds also. I did need the stool after tho that’s for sure.
As well as to this day loads and loads of @tidlsport recovery spray. This stuff is truly magic by the way! All the swelling, bruising, and pain on my leg has literally vanished using it! Try this stuff if you are in pain or banged up. Doesn’t work? I’ll personally refund you. THIS STUFF IS MAGIC! @tidlsport! Plant based cryotherapy spray. FIRST AND ONLY ONE OF ITS KIND. Magic! I am extremely happy I did not need to use the stool between rounds here anyway. Another first for me! I am most certainly on the right path. Despite the loss I am on the correct path of evolution.
Thoughts on the bout: I enjoyed racking up some more time inside the famed UFC Octagon. 40 seconds in 3 years is all I’d had up to this bout. I was savouring very second and enjoying my work. A little single disciplined in my approach and stance with mostly boxing. It’s what I get for picking this bout and opponent as a precursor to a boxing match against Pacman. I deserved to get the legs kicked off me going in with this thinking. This is not the game to play around with. Besides this tho my shots where sharp and I was in full control. Albeit the leg attacks where building up on me throughout the course. 18 in total thrown at me, with the final one buckling my leg fully, that was that. The peroneal nerve compromised. Fascinating! First time to experience it. Then a tremendous finishing flurry by my opponent. Hats off! A well fought fight by The Diamond. 1 a piece now with a Trilogy bout for all the marbles! Wow! Exciting! Not a trilogy I was expecting, nor the tactical affair I was anticipating, but I’d be lying if I said this wasn’t meant to be. This is exactly how this was always meant to be! Buzzing!!”
McGregor might be ‘buzzing’, but the fact he suffered his first ever knockout defeat has to sting a little. The Irishman had previously been submitted by Nate Diaz and Khabib Nurmagomedov but never knocked out cold. Poirier battered McGregor’s lead leg with calf kicks before cornering him against the cage and finishing the fight with a nasty flurry in the second round.
McGregor has reportedly been ‘harassing everybody’ about an immediate rematch and, while Poirier seems open to a trilogy bout, ‘The Diamond’ is also current in talks with Nate Diaz over a potential fight at welterweight.
McGregor is a former simultaneous two-division champion, but the SBG Ireland product has been inactive over the last three years and is no longer considered a top-five fighter at 155 pounds.