McGregor Was Not The Same After The Poirier Loss
Matt Brown says that Conor McGregor was not the same fighter after Dustin Poirier beat him at UFC 264.
The duo have faced off on three occasions as Poirier leads the head-to-head with a 2-1 record. McGregor won the first fight before Poirier won the next two, the latest of which was at UFC 264. Conor suffered the third loss out of his four previous UFC bouts, breaking his leg in the process. McGregor has not fought since then as he works his way back from the injury. He was scheduled to fight Michael Chandler at UFC 303 on June 29.
But the Notorious pulled out off the fight after breaking his toe. The CEO of the UFC, Dana White, has already confirmed that McGregor will fly early next year. But Chandler has moved on, as he will have a rematch with Charles Oliveira at UFC 309. During his absence, McGregor has shown a lack of discipline. He has repeatedly been seen drinking his Forge Irish Stout brand while also smoking what appears to be marijuana on some occasions.
McGregor’s Future
The Irishman still has two fights left on his UFC contract, while he is also a part owner of BKFC. The BKFC venture also allows McGregor the opportunity to fight under the organization. This is something which he has been very vocal about doing.
There are also opportunities for the Irishman to take a boxing bout. He has had one boxing fight when he took on Floyd Mayweather in 2017. Despite losing by a 10th-round stoppage, McGregor earned a reported $100 million. But even with the opportunities available, Brown felt that McGregor was not the same man after the Poirier loss.
Brown Reacts
“When that [fight] happened, it looked to me that Dustin took his soul that day. I think we all felt that. Maybe we didn’t know it would be as severe as it is. We thought Conor’s a warrior, he’ll be back soon. But when you back and you watch that fight, Dustin took his soul. I thought Nate Diaz might have taken a little bit the first time [he beat Conor] but Conor bounced back from it. Whatever Dustin did to him, I think Dustin actually took his soul, and he no longer had the desire to compete anymore,” Brown said
Nevertheless, McGregor’s change in attitude could also be traced back to when he faced Khabib Nurmagomedov. The Irishman admitted that he had been drinking during the build-up. The build-up for the press conference was controversial, with McGregor commenting about Khabib’s faith. The Irishman also threw a chair at Khabib’s team bus. The two then settled their feud in the octagon.
Khabib stopped McGregor via a submission after which the Russian jumped over the Octagon, and a brawl broke out. McGregor never got the rematch, as Khabib would later retire after beating Justin Gaethje in his last fight. That loss haunted McGregor, especially since he talked about a big game. But he was ultimately dominated in a one-sided fight, and since then, McGregor has not looked the same.
Comments
Find all the latest boxing news and MMA breaking updates on boxingnews.com.
