Conor McGregor suffered his first loss by KO/TKO in his MMA career at UFC 257 against Dustin Poirier. It was one of the biggest upsets in the recent history of the UFC. Fans, experts, and fellow fighters were left stunned by the outcome and heaped praise on ‘The Diamond’ for his excellent gameplan and execution.
One man who has faced both fighters inside the Octagon is former UFC and Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez. ‘The Underground King’ shared his thought on the fight recently, shedding light on what went wrong for ‘The Notorious’ upon his return to the Octagon.
“(Dustin) put a sprint on (Conor), Mike Brown had a good game plan of chopping that lead leg down. They chopped that down really well. Then Dustin put that sprint on him that Dustin does so well,” said Alvarez.
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He added that the plan caused McGregor to panic, and the Irishman couldn’t stick to his style of staying on the outside and controlling range with his sharp accuracy and effectiveness. That ultimately proved costly and caused the knockout.
“I think it’s difficult to fight with $100 million. It’s very simple to fight when you ain’t got a pot to piss in or a window to throw it off.
“You almost have to fight. It needs to become part of your character in order to be successful. You need to become a fighter,” Alvarez further added.
Conor McGregor put on perhaps the best performance of his career against Eddie Alvarez
McGregor fought Alvarez at UFC 205 in 2016, as the then featherweight champion challenged for the lightweight belt. McGregor put on a clinic on Alvarez, knocking him out in the second round. He subsequently became the first-ever two-division champion in the history of the promotion.
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Alvarez has also fought Poirier, not once, but twice. The first one ended in a no-contest and ‘The Diamond‘ won the second after an illegal elbow from Alvarez. He is currently preparing for his next outing for Asian promotion, ONE FC.
What do you make of Alvarez’s comments? Can McGregor come back stronger?