Conor McGregor on UFC 257 loss to Dustin Poirier: “I Deserved to Get Legs Kicked off Me”

Days after his loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 257, Conor McGregor released a lengthy statement on his Instagram page, admitting that he deserved to get his “legs kicked off” as he overlooked Dustin Poirier going into the bout. He said he was not fully focused as he was treating the Poirier bout as the precursor to a boxing match with Manny Pacquiao, giving the fight a one-dimensional approach.

Though Conor McGregor entered the rematch at UFC 257 as the betting favourite, he suffered a second-round KO loss after The Diamond unloaded on him with a barrage of right and lefts. Dustin Poirier entered Fight Island with a great gameplan as he used his devastating leg kicks to slow McGregor down, before taking over the bout. With the win, Poirier gave the former two-division champion his first-ever KO loss (fourth loss in general).

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Conor McGregor breaks down his UFC 257 loss to Dustin Poirier

In the lengthy statement, Conor McGregor showed interest in fighting Dustin Poirier again as the two are currently tied at 1-1. He claimed that around 18 leg kick were thrown at him by The Diamond which compromised his “peroneal nerve,” allowing Poirier to take over. He said he was fit going into the bout and was “enjoying [his] work”, but admitted that his opponent delivered a great performance and deserved to win.  

“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,” he added.

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Not just Conor McGregor, but Manny Pacquiao also thinks that the Irishman underestimated Poirier as he had defeated him in the past. The two fighters first collided in a featherweight bout at UFC 178 in September 2014, where the Irishman came out on top via a first-round knockout.

The Dustin Poirier loss not just pushed Conor McGregor to the sixth spot of the lightweight rankings but also cost him a boxing bout with Pacquiao, which was rumoured to take place later this year. According to reports, Manny Pacquiao vs Conor McGregor was almost a done deal, with both the fighters verbally agreeing to fight somewhere in the middle east. However, after UFC 257, Manny Pacquiao and team scrapped the McGregor bout plans and started talking to rising boxing star Ryan Garcia.

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