UFC 257: Poirier vs McGregor 2 - Jan 23 🇦🇪 🏝

[wandshogun09]

The first PPV of 2021. Hopefully it’ll be a better year than 2020. I know it’s a bit of a way off yet and the card is definitely not complete but it’s probably going to get a fair bit of discussion given who’s involved so let’s get the ball rolling. There’s been no official announcement of a location yet but I’m guessing they’ll probably be back on Fight Island.

PPV MAIN CARD
Dustin Poirier vs Conor McGregor

Dan Hooker vs Michael Chandler

Jessica Eye vs Joanne Calderwood

Andrew Sanchez vs Makhmud Muradov 

Amanda Ribas vs Marina Rodriguez

ESPN PRELIMS
Arman Tsarukyan vs Matt Frevola 

Brad Tavares vs Antonio Carlos Junior

Julianna Pena vs Sara McMann

Khalil Rountree vs Marcin Prachnio

ESPN+/FIGHT PASS PRELIMS
Nik Lentz vs Movsar Evloev

Amir Albazi vs Zhalgas Zhumagulov

 

Like I said, this isn’t it and that won’t be the final bout order. I just wanted to whack this up so we can get talking about it. I actually think most of what’s there so far is pretty good but it could definitely do with a co-main event. I’ve got a feeling we might get Justin Gaethje vs Michael Chandler in that spot but I don’t want to get my hopes up. As always, I’ll edit as and when there’s changes, additions and cancellations. You know they’re coming.

 

 

Dustin Poirier vs Conor McGregor 2. OK then, this’ll probably be a long one. Where do you even start with this? Seems like this has been talked about forever now but it finally got confirmed. The rematch is on. And with Khabib’s recent retirement, who knows what’s going on with the vacant title but these two must be right in that mix now to snatch the gold at 155. The first fight feels like a lifetime ago now, doesn’t it?

September 2014. UFC 178. These two were just trying to climb the ladder at the time. Poirier was 16-3, he’d already had a couple of setbacks but was coming off some wins here. McGregor was 15-2 and riding a wave of momentum coming off that crazy Dublin show where he knocked out Diego Brandao. McGregor was catching on big time but Poirier was seen as his first real serious test. I was a big McGregor fan at the time, he hadn’t yet revealed himself to be a massive scumbag and he felt like a breath of fresh air and brought some real excitement into the UFC, at a time when it was badly needed. Him and Ronda Rousey both skyrocketing at the same time was probably the most fun the UFC has been since the 2006-10 boom period.

The night arrived and McGregor vs Poirier was just the third fight on the main card. Mad to think now that Chris Cariaso headlined above these two but they were still on the rise. Despite being positioned in the mid-card though, this fight got the most buzz of any on the entire show. Easy. And it was a pretty stacked event with names like Demetrious Johnson, Donald Cerrone, a debuting Eddie Alvarez, Yoel Romero, Dominick Cruz and Amanda Nunes scattered throughout. Granted, they weren’t all the big names they’d later become but it was still a ridiculously deep card. And these two were stealing all the limelight...

I still vividly remember McGregor’s detractors saying Poirier was going to expose him here and how McGregor hadn’t fought anyone. McGregor was talking shit, calling Poirier ‘Pea Head’ and forecasting a first round KO and his critics lost their head over the absurdity of it.

“I don’t just knock them out, I pick the round.” - Conor McGregor 

After 1:46 of the first round, it was indeed over. He’d called it, ‘Mystic Mac’ was born. The goalposts got moved then though and the McGregor haters had now decided that Poirier was a ‘favourable style matchup’ and McGregor was being protected from the wrestlers of the division.

You know the rest. McGregor went on to stop Dennis Siver and Chad Mendes before shockingly sparking Jose Aldo in 13 seconds to become the UFC Featherweight champion. Things went a bit wonky after that and he spent the bulk of 2016 trading losses, wins and insults with Nate Diaz. But he closed out the year in style, moving to Lightweight and stopping Eddie Alvarez at Madison Square Garden to become the UFC’s first ever dual champion.

In the meantime, Poirier had been rebuilding from that disastrous night against McGregor. He’d immediately moved up to 155 following that loss, made a fresh start and it was going well. He racked up 4 wins in a row but then hit another roadblock in the form of Michael Johnson, who knocked him stone dead in the first round.

It was a devastating setback and you’d have been forgiven at this time for writing off Poirier’s chances of ever making real waves in any title picture in the UFC. It just didn’t seem to be on the cards for him.

2017 rolled around and it was a big one for McGregor. Personally and professionally. With ups and downs in both. He became a father and seemed to be loving life.

On top of that, he managed to bag himself a fight that had been rumoured for a while but seemed ludicrous and unlikely to ever realistically happen. But in August 2017, it fucking well happened.

Floyd Mayweather vs Conor McGregor. In a Boxing match. 48-0 vs 0-0.

Mental. We’re over 3 years removed from this circus now and I still can’t believe it actually materialised. That whole summer of buildup was off its tits. From the Paulie Malignaggi saga to that nutty series of press conferences to Brendan Schaub going on TV and saying with a straight face that Conor had way more power than Canelo. It was a total farce but one you couldn’t turn away from. Even the most vocal of people cacking all over it going in still had to tune in so they could comment how right they were after the fact. Not to mention it had the built in Boxing vs MMA thing and the tiresome debates that brings with it. It was an event I wouldn’t have missed for the world. But it was never going to be anything other than a W for Floyd and I was glad when it was over.

Of course, like anyone else who faces Mayweather, McGregor bagged himself a colossal payday for that spanking.

Depending on what reports you believe, he got somewhere in the region of $100 million. And swiftly and seriously went off the deep end. I don’t think I need to rattle off his laundry list of acting like a total bellend around that period, do I? From the Mayweather fight in August 2017, he never fought for 15 months. And from late 2017 on, he was constantly getting into trouble. At this time, the most serious sounding incident was when he reportedly gave some bloke a few digs in a Dublin pub and the old fella turned out to have links to the Irish mafia or something.

I don’t know how much truth there was to that but there was talk of the Kinahan drug cartel demanding €900K off him in compensation or he’d basically disappear. Well, 3 years later he’s still here so it was either a load of bollocks or he paid up.

He returned to the UFC side of the news in 2018. Again making an absolute pillock of himself attacking a bus that time which led to the long awaited clash with Khabib. Where he again embarrassed himself by showing up all coked up at the press conference.

Just look at the prick. By this point I’d gone right off him anyway and we hadn’t even had the worst headlines about him yet. But his most loyal fans were still licking his anus and were insisting Khabib was terrified after that cringefest of a press conference.

“It’s only business.” - Conor McGregor 

A beautiful night. Khabib vs McGregor finally happened in October 2018. And Khabib broke him up. Battered him, dropped him with a punch, grounded and pounded the bollocks out of him, had him audibly asking for mercy then made him tap. McGregor and his fans have tried their best to rewrite history as if he somehow came out with some kind of moral victory that night but he got fucking crushed and no amount of dressing it up changes that.

And if you want any proof, just look at how McGregor unravelled in the aftermath of that defeat. He went quiet for ages and the only times you’d hear about him at all was when he was up to no good. In March 2019 he announced one of his many retirements then just kept endlessly tweeting shite. When he wasn’t tweeting he was constantly getting himself into bother. Seriously, I’m sure you all remember that period where there was a new story every week of some crime or other he’d committed. From relatively minor stuff like swiping some bloke’s phone and smashing it up all the way up to sucker punching an old man for merely refusing a shot of his whisky...

Then there was all that talk of him getting other women pregnant and stuff. Honestly, in mid 2019, barely a week would pass without some scandal or other making the headlines. And then came the big one. The sexual assault reports. I still don’t know what was what with all that but there was so much of it going around at the time. Stemming from an alleged incident at a hotel in December 2018 and then another couple of reports of incidents in late 2019. Meanwhile, the vast majority of the MMA media and the likes of Ariel Helwani ignored all this and just kept retweeting McGregor’s charity work and fight rumours.

While this mess was going on, Poirier was again rebuilding himself and went on the best stretch of his entire career from 2017 to 2019. He managed to string together a series of wins over Jim Miller, Anthony Pettis, Eddie Alvarez and Justin Gaethje. FOTN after FOTN. Crazy wars and FOTY contenders left and right. The Gaethje fight in particular was incredible. By the time 2019 rolled around he’d got himself in a position to fight for the Interim Lightweight belt against Max Holloway who’d been on an absolute tear coming in.

But Poirier put on a masterclass and took the decision in a tremendous fight. Maybe the single best overall performance of Poirier’s career. I said at the time and I stand by it, I know Interim champs aren’t seen as proper champs but, as far as that goes, Poirier’s was as legit as it gets without being the Undisputed strap. For the run he’d been on, the work he’d put in and the guys he beat, he had as real a claim to calling himself champion as a lot of ‘proper’ champs do. If not more. 

“In the words of Teddy Atlas, I knew I had 25 minutes to make life fair tonight. Nothing mattered. When I’ve been overlooked, knocked out, dropped fights in the past and had to climb back up. Nothing mattered but 25 minutes tonight to make life fair and be a world champion. I was willing to leave a piece of myself in there tonight, and I might have.” - Dustin Poirier

He was rewarded with a unification fight for all the gold. ‘Rewarded’ by being locked in the Octagon with Khabib Nurmagomedov. Of course, Khabib dominated him and the fairytale story was over for Dustin. But he didn’t embarrass himself by any means.

McGregor’s legal troubles basically got brushed aside and he returned to the cage at UFC 246 in January 2020, ‘invented shoulder strikes’ and bashed up Donald Cerrone in just 40 seconds.

And right away the talk started about how this was the ‘real, motivated’ Conor McGregor. Cack. This was simply McGregor vs Cerrone rather than McGregor vs Khabib. That was the difference. Not motivation or any of that. But the silly talk continued all year while McGregor teased comebacks that never happened.

Poirier got back to winning ways in June with yet another FOTY candidate against Dan Hooker.

Another amazing fight. Maybe second only to Zhang vs Jedrzejczyk in 2020. Don’t know how Poirier keeps doing it. 

Somewhere along the line, McGregor got in touch with Poirier about doing a fight for Poirier’s charity ‘The Good Fight Foundation’. At first there was talks of it being a Boxing match, then a MMA bout, but it would have nothing to do with the UFC. Dana and co obviously weren’t having that so they got involved and here we are.

What do we make of this one? Does it go any differently than it did back in 2014? They’ve both improved and grown as fighters. McGregor has had his issues outside the cage and he’s a massive cunt so I’m hoping he loses every fight from here on in. But purely looking at him as a fighter, he is undeniably incredibly skilled and he seems to have knuckled down more of late. On the face of it at least. There certainly hasn’t been the weekly reports of him getting in trouble lately like there was a year or so ago. He seems a bit more focused on his career again and style-wise, I think Poirier is one McGregor will always do well against. I hate admitting that but that’s how I see it. Poirier’s a good dude and I’d be made up if he pulls it off, but I think it’s another win for McGregor sadly and then we’ll be hearing again how ‘he’s back’ and all that. Whatever happens it should be an entertaining fight however long it lasts.

 

Dan Hooker vs Michael Chandler is a late addition to the card and now ***WAND’S ONE TO WATCH***, this is exactly what this card was missing. It hasn’t been confirmed where this fight will sit yet but I’d assume it’ll be the co-main event. Got to be. Tremendous fight. And it makes all the sense in the world to whack it on this card so that, in the event of Poirier or McGregor dropping out, you’ve got a choice of two backups who are trained and on weight. Really great fight. The long awaited Octagon debut of former Bellator Lightweight kingpin Chandler. 

He became a free agent over the summer and, from the noises he was making in interviews, it was no surprise when it was announced in September that he’d signed with the UFC. Interesting times ahead. I’ve said a few times on here that I think this move is coming a little bit too late for him. He’s 34 now, which is by no means ancient, but he’s been in some battles and had some setbacks. I think the best time for him to do well in the UFC’s 155 division would’ve been around 2013/14 when he’d have been competing with Pettis, Melendez, Bendo, Cerrone and his old pal Eddie Alvarez. I also felt like that’s when he was at his own best as well. I don’t think he’s quite the same force now but you never know. One thing going for him is at least Khabib’s retired now. His chances at UFC gold shot up massively when Khabib dropped that bombshell on us. In that sense, Chandler might’ve accidentally timed this jump to perfection. He certainly doesn’t seem to be lacking confidence...

Hooker isn’t going to be rolling out the red carpet though. And he isn’t going to be an easy first fight in. Chandler’s getting no free passes here. Hooker is a scrapper, he’s tough, he’s dangerous and he’s game for any kind of fight. He’s 20-9 now and coming off that aforementioned FOTY contender war with Poirier in June. He took a L there but he was on top form before that with wins over the likes of Paul Felder, Al Iaquinta, James Vick and Gilbert Burns. He’s no joke. A tough welcome for Chandler but these are the fights he’s going to have to win if he’s going to swim in the deep end of the UFC’s Lightweight shark infested waters. Love this fight.

 

Jessica Eye vs Joanne Calderwood then. It’s an alright fight but nothing special. Both are coming off losses and are sort of floundering in the Flyweight division at this point. I don’t particularly enjoy watching Eye fight. I’m still kind of invested though, just because I’m a fan of Calderwood and don’t really like Eye. So it’s at least got a little bit of a babyface vs heel dynamic to it for me. There’s been some Twitter beef in the past between these two as well. Something about Eye missing weight for a fight and JoJo having a pop as I recall. Needless to say I’m rooting for Calderwood in this one but my expectations aren’t especially high for the fight itself.

 

Andrew Sanchez vs Makhmud Muradov. Was supposed to be Sanchez vs Andre Muniz but Muniz is out. This is a vast improvement. Muradov is someone well worth keeping an eye on. When he first signed with the UFC, the main talking point about him was that his career was being managed by none other than Floyd Mayweather.

That was about the extent of the hype on him. But he’s more than just ‘Floyd’s boy’. He’s 30 years old, from Uzbekistan and his record currently stands at 24-6 with 19 finishes. I’m not sure how far he can go but I’ve liked the look of him so far. He made his UFC debut in September 2019 and beat Alessio Di Chirico on points. Then in his next fight he followed that up with a devastating one punch KO on Trevor Smith...

A crushing knockout. About as clean as it gets. It’s been a whole year and I don’t think Smith’s been seen or heard from since. Hopefully he’s alright. But yeah, Muradov might be a real issue. A potential darkhorse in the Middleweight division in the not too distant future. Only problem now is he was inactive for all of 2020. He was scheduled for a fight or two that didn’t end up happening, including one with Kevin Holland that would’ve been amazing. Just wasn’t to be. Hopefully he can crack on in ‘21 and be more active. Sanchez is 12-5 and coming off a nasty KO win over Wellington Turman in August. And he looks like the lovechild of Luke Thomas and Gerald Meerschaert.

 

Amanda Ribas vs Marina Rodriguez. This was originally supposed to be Ribas vs Michelle Waterson but Waterson pulled out. It’s a solid backup and could actually be a more evenly matched and competitive fight but it’s a bit shit for Ribas. Waterson would’ve been a nice name to add to her resume. Rodriguez is arguably a slightly tougher fight but nobody really knows her. More risk, less reward. I think Ribas should win though. From what I recall of Rodriguez, she’s primarily a striker and not a devastating one. She’s 12-1-2 and the 3 blemishes were all against grapplers - a loss to Carla Esparza and draws with Cynthia Calvillo and Randa Markos (who Ribas dominated). Looking at the styles, I think Ribas should be too much for her on the ground. I think Ribas is ace. In the cage she’s showing real potential. She’s 10-1, she’s the only woman to date to beat Mackenzie Dern in MMA, beat Randa, then pissed through Paige VanZant in 2 minutes in her last fight. Yeah, the opposition hasn’t always been stellar but she’s looked dominant. On top of that, out of the cage she’s constantly smiling and happy. She’s got that JDS quality about her but she has a slightly nicer arse. Impossible to dislike. Stranger things have happened but I’d be a little bit surprised if Ribas doesn’t win this fairly comfy.

 

Arman Tsarukyan vs Matt Frevola. What a total mess this has been. The original lineup had Tsarukyan vs Nasrat Haqparast and Frevola vs Ottman Azaitar. But Azaitar violated the health and safety protocol and had someone from outside the bubble enter Fight Island and he’s gone. The fight is off and he’s cut from the UFC. Absolute wally. He had so much potential as well and he’s squandered it. And Haqparast was pulled from the card due to illness. So this is the fight they’ve salvaged from it. Not a bad save, in fairness. I’ve been bigging Tsarukyan up as someone to keep an eye on for a while now. He got thrown right in the deep end in his UFC debut in 2019, taking on Islam Makhachev. And while he came up on the wrong end of a decision, it was a hell of a fight. One of the better grappling heavy fights in recent memory. Since then he’s beat Olivier Aubin-Mercier and Davi Ramos and looked really good doing it. He’s 15-2 with 10 finishes and he’s just turned 24. I think the sky is the limit with him. He’s got a tough test in Frevola here. Especially under the circumstances with the late switch in opponent and stuff. It’s not ideal for either man. Frevola’s a Serra-Longo guy, 8-1-1 and coming off wins over Luis Pena and Jalin Turner. I like Frevola but he’s up against it here. I think Tsarukyan has more upside and potential but we’ll see what happens.

 

Brad Tavares vs Antonio Carlos Junior. Solid matchup this. Tavares has never been a real contender or anything but he’s mixed with some of the best. The fact that he’s gone the distance with Israel Adesanya (5 rounds) and Yoel Romero (3 rounds) tells you what a tough dude he is. He’s got some good wins on his record too like Lorenz Larkin, Thales Leites and Nate Marquardt. He’s not bad, he’s just not elite. Carlos Junior is my guy here though. Always been fond of ‘Shoeface’. Ever since he won TUF Brazil years back. Comes across as such a laid back, good guy. Like a younger Demian Maia. Seems like he’s been around donkey’s years now but he’s still only 30 years old. He’s had very mixed results in the UFC. He was on a nice little streak for a while but that hit a brick wall and now he comes into this fight off back-to-back points losses to Ian Heinisch and Uriah Hall. I don’t mind Tavares but I’m hoping Shoeface gets back on track here.

 

Julianna Pena vs Sara McMann got moved here from the Holloway vs Kattar card for some reason. Not in love with this matchup. I never really got on the Pena bandwagon. And there was a bandwagon at one time. I even remember some on here acting like she’d be the one to stop the Rousey reign. I recall people predicting she’d beat Valentina Shevchenko before their fight as well. I’ve just never seen it with her or rated her that much. Her last fight against Germaine De Randamie was decent, to be fair. But even then, she got submitted by a Dutch Kickboxer who supposedly had no ground game. Not the best look. I do like McMann but she’s 40 years old now and will have been inactive for a whole year by the time she steps into the cage here. I hope she wins but I don’t know how much longer she’s got in the game now. She’s got a lot of miles on her when you factor in her amateur wrestling days as well. She won the Olympic silver medal over 16 years ago now, for fuck’s sake!

 

Khalil Rountree vs Marcin Prachnio. I’m neither her nor there on this really. Actually, wasn’t Rountree meant to be retiring ages ago? I remember that seemed really out of the blue when he first said he was hanging the gloves up but he has had a really hot and cold run in the UFC. Just look at his last 4 fights. Surprised everyone by knocking out Kickboxing ace Gokhan Saki, then gets wiped out by Johnny Walker. Bounces back with a Muay Thai masterclass over Eryk Anders, then gets battered by Ion Cutelaba. He seems to have some raw skills but he’s been unable to put it together into any kind of consistent series of performances. He’s 8-4-0-1 now, only 30 years old but he’s already suffered a couple of heavy knockouts of late. Don’t know if he’s changed his mind on retiring or what but if he loses here it’s probably a wrap. I recall sod all of Prachnio but I must’ve seen him. He had a successful stint in ONE but since debuting in the UFC in 2018 he’s gone a miserable 0-3 and been stopped all 3 times in the first round. Like I said, on paper he sounds tailor-made for Rountree to wallop but you never can tell when a fighter starts talking about retirement.

 

Nik Lentz vs Movsar Evloev. Quite like this pairing. Lentz was slated to face Mike Grundy on the Holloway vs Kattar card on the 16th but Grundy fell out and here we are. Just as good a fight, if not better in my opinion. Lentz is a crafty veteran with a record of 30-11-2-1. He’s never been in that top level mix and he’s lost pretty much every time he’s stepped in with the contenders but he’s had his moments. His series against Charles Oliveira was class, one of the forgotten trilogies in MMA. Evloev is a guy that’s kind of being going unnoticed a bit but he looks good. He’s 26 years old, 13-0 unbeaten, a real good wrestler, former M-1 Bantamweight champ. He’s looking like a bit of a handful but nobody is talking about him yet. Probably because he’s got that silent assassin thing like most Russian fighters. And he hasn’t had a fight against anyone with any real buzz yet. To put it in pro wrestling terms, he’s yet to get ‘the rub’. Good fight this. I’d like to see Evloev get the win just because there’s more upside there. Well, that and Lentz seems a bit of a dick.

 

Amir Albazi vs Zhalgas Zhumagulov. This was supposed to be on the Fight Night in late November but got moved here. Little bit of a mystery. I’ve read good things about both and the limited footage I’ve seen has backed that up. I just haven’t seen enough so it’ll be nice to get a proper look at them here. Albazi is 26 years old out of Sweden, 13-1 with 12 finishes and looked great submitting Malcolm Gordon with a sweet triangle choke in his UFC debut in July. He took that fight on short notice and it was one of those debuts that instantly gets your attention. Zhumagulov is from Kazakhstan, 13-4 with 7 finishes. Came up short in his debut at UFC 251 but does have wins over Tyson Nam and former UFC Flyweight title challenger Ali Bagautinov.

 

So that’s that for now. 

Edited January 23, 2021 by wandshogun09

[jimufctna24]

49 minutes ago, wandshogun09 said:

But Poirier put on a masterclass and took the decision in a tremendous fight. Maybe the single best overall performance of Poirier’s career. I said at the time and I stand by it, I know Interim champs aren’t seen as proper champs but, as far as that goes, Poirier’s was as legit as it gets without being the Undisputed strap. For the run he’d been on, the work he’d put in and the guys he beat, he had as real a claim to calling himself champion, if not more than a lot of ‘proper’ champs do.

Poirier was a better fighter at that time than anyone at heavyweight, light-heavyweight and possibly other divisions. 

He was/is just unfortunate that he shares the same division as Khabib, Gaethje (who he holds a win over), and to a lesser extent Ferguson, all of which are/were P4P kingpins, so he doesn't always receive the credit he deserves. 

That said, I haven't decided who I am picking between him and McGregor yet. 

Edited December 7, 2020 by jimufctna24

[David]

I know we got the "he's back, baby!" chat after McG starched Cowboy, but I'm not reading all that much into that fight. Cerrone is a funny one for me. Sometimes he seems well up for it, but other times he seems mentally fragile, and in the build to the McGregor fight he was doing that thing where he goes out of his way to smile and be his opponents friend, as if he's just hoping he doesn't get smashed up too much.

Basically, he just looked happy to be there. And that's usually when he loses.

Poirier is a different animal altogether these days. I know McG has "the big left hand!!!!1!!1!!" and can put anyone away at any time, as we all witnessed in the Mayweather fight, but I don't see him coming out on top in this one unless he catches Dustin early.

I think Poirier gets the stoppage via TKO late in the third or so.

[thevestofdeanambrose]

21 minutes ago, David said:

I know McG has "the big left hand!!!!1!!1!!" and can put anyone away at any time, as we all witnessed in the Mayweather fight. 

Rent free 

[neil]

I'll be well upset if Poirier loses. I couldn't be more thirsty for him to win to be honest, both because I think he's a sound lad and a great fighter but also because I'm beyond tired of McGregor.

[wandshogun09]

I really hope you’re right @David. Poirier is definitely made of different stuff to Cerrone. It’s definitely a harder fight. Should be a better gauge to tell us where Conor really stands these days. I’m leaning towards McGregor but if it becomes a war I’d definitely give Poirier the edge. I’m not sure McGregor has the same kind of fight in him that Poirier does if it gets really nasty in there. I’ve always felt like he’s a bit of a front runner in that sense. My main worry with Poirier is the insane shift he’s put in over his last 10 fights or so. Just brutal. At what point does that catch up to him? 

You’ve got me doubting my prediction of a McGregor win now. Poirier’s going to be, and has proven to be, harder to put away at 155 than he was when he was cutting to 145. And while McGregor’s power is often over exaggerated, it was most effective at 145. So I can see him being surprised here at the difference in how a bigger Dustin takes his shots. 

You’ve gone and raised my hopes for a Poirier win now so you best be right. 

Edited December 8, 2020 by wandshogun09

[David]

I mean, there's every chance he falls off a cliff during this fight, of course. But he's still only 31, and while he's been in some wars it's worth remembering that he has taken the best that the likes of Dan Hooker, Eddie Alvarez, and Justin Gaethje had to throw at him.

When he fought McGregor last time he was 25 years old, fighting at featherweight and was fresh off a couple of wins over the likes of Akira Corassani and Diego Brandao. 

This time he's 31, in his prime, and coming off a win over Dan Hooker and fights with Khabib and Max Holloway. 

Totally different dude in my opinion. I think if he weathers the early storm that McG brings those first few minutes he'll slowly grind him down and take him out by the end of the third.

If McGregor is going to win it'll be a first round stoppage I reckon. Beyond that first round his output and threat drops off considerably.

Edited December 8, 2020 by David

[Carbomb]

The other factor to take into account is that Poirier has been way more active. Since they last fought, McGregor's fought 8 times to Poirier's 13. Whilst it doesn't seem that much more, I'd say the quality of opposition both guys have faced renders that difference even more stark. They've both been fighting mostly top-level guys, with the edge to Poirier. Not to mention that McGregor's been dissolute in the intervening periods, whereas Poirier's most likely been very disciplined like he's had to be for an active fighting career.

[Kfogg1991]

well if ever there is a argument for a ufc ppv solely depending and relying on the main event then look no further folks!!! 

You know full well that with this being headlined with Conor McGregor this will be put on box office and there is literally nothing else on this card anywhere near the calibre of this main event. As it's been said there is still time to build on this event but you have to bloody hope at the very least we get a fairly sizeable Co-main to go with it 

[jimufctna24]

McGregor is at his most dangerous in the early rounds, but he hasn't always been a front-runner. 

In the rematch with Diaz, he adjusted well enough in the later rounds to eek out a decision win. He also weathered the early storm against Mendes and gradually wore him down with body kicks. 

[Dai]

32 minutes ago, Kfogg1991 said:

well if ever there is a argument for a ufc ppv solely depending and relying on the main event then look no further folks!!! 

You know full well that with this being headlined with Conor McGregor this will be put on box office and there is literally nothing else on this card anywhere near the calibre of this main event. As it's been said there is still time to build on this event but you have to bloody hope at the very least we get a fairly sizeable Co-main to go with it 

Id say theres a very good chance of that not happening. Just go back and check the McGregor/Cerrone undercard. Dana knows its Conor and Conor only who sells the PPVs, and doesnt need to waste an extra few hundred grand on having a substantial co main.

 

The McGregor factor, and his die hard fans, are already at play with the odds. Hes currently a 2 to 1 favourate to win. Does anyone on this board see Poirier as a nearly 2 to 1 dog here? Doubt it. Id be very suprised to see Poirier at these odds nearer fight time, as I can see plenty of cash going on him closer to fight time.

[WeeAl]

I'm picking Poirier all day. These aren't the same men that fought in 2014. They aren't the same as if it had even happened in 2017.  Poirier by submission in the third or fourth. As long as Dustin gets out of the first 90 seconds, I don't think I would be even sweating it if I had him backed.

Poirier will have to weather a heck of a storm early, but until he shows me he doesn't have that ability anymore, I'm going to believe that he does. 

[wandshogun09]

1 hour ago, jimufctna24 said:

McGregor is at his most dangerous in the early rounds, but he hasn't always been a front-runner. 

In the rematch with Diaz, he adjusted well enough in the later rounds to eek out a decision win. He also weathered the early storm against Mendes and gradually wore him down with body kicks. 

The short notice could’ve been a factor in how the Mendes fight played out as well. I hear what you’re saying and the Diaz rematch is a decent example. But he’s never really taken a beating and came back to win. And he’s shown he can break when it gets really rough in there. I’m not just talking about the obvious Khabib example either. It could be argued that the fact he chose to shoot in on BJJ black-belt Nate Diaz in their first fight after getting smacked around on the feet a bit was him basically admitting defeat. And even in his career as a whole, aside from that Diaz loss, when he loses a fight he generally disappears and goes off the rails. Which kind of suggests he’s a bit weak there. Again, not just the aftermath of the Khabib loss. Even very early in his career, he almost jacked MMA in after a loss and John Kavanagh had to go around Conor’s mum’s house and get him off the sofa. He’s unquestionably a highly talented fighter but, for all his bluster and talk of mental warfare and stuff like that, he doesn’t half have a habit of checking out when things don’t go his way.

Poirier’s the total opposite of that. He’s had some disastrous losses in his career. The type that would and have permanently derailed a lot of fighters. But he keeps bouncing back and refusing to fuck off. Reminds me of Bisping’s career in that way. And there’s zero question of his ability to gut it out through adversity. The Gaethje fight being the best example of that. Gaethje fucking terrorised him in the early rounds of that fight. Busted his legs up and rocked him a bunch of times to the point it looked like he was fighting a losing battle. Then he comes out in the 4th round, barely able to stand, and puts Gaethje away.

I’m just not convinced McGregor has that next level of insane toughness he can tap into. If it becomes that kind of fight, at what point does a guy with all that money in the bank just think ‘Sod. This! I’m gonna be in agony on my yacht tomorrow.’ 

Edited December 8, 2020 by wandshogun09

[jimufctna24]

16 minutes ago, wandshogun09 said:

It could be argued that the fact he chose to shoot in on BJJ black-belt Nate Diaz in their first fight after getting smacked around on the feet a bit was him basically admitting defeat.

I revisited that fight a while back. 

I'm not sure whether he did break mentally. Rather, I think he may have blew his load earlier and gassed himself out. He used a lot of energy into stopping Diaz early on, and his style consumes a lot of energy anyway.

19 minutes ago, wandshogun09 said:

The short notice could’ve been a factor in how the Mendes fight played out as well.

Perhaps, but those front kicks take a lot out of a fighter. For example, Jon Jones wore down DC twice primarily with those kicks. 

31 minutes ago, wandshogun09 said:

I’m not just talking about the obvious Khabib example either.

McGregor and Poirier both fared about the same against Khabib. 

I don't think either broke mentally as such. In fact, both had their best moments only minutes before they were finished. I just think Khabib's grappling was too much for both of them. 

[David]

15 hours ago, Kfogg1991 said:

well if ever there is a argument for a ufc ppv solely depending and relying on the main event then look no further folks!!! 

You know full well that with this being headlined with Conor McGregor this will be put on box office and there is literally nothing else on this card anywhere near the calibre of this main event. As it's been said there is still time to build on this event but you have to bloody hope at the very least we get a fairly sizeable Co-main to go with it 

I assumed that was the way the UFC operated now? The main event was the selling point, with a mildly interesting co-main, and boxing-esque shit undercard, no?