5 pieces of tactical advice MMA superstars have offered Conor McGregor for his trilogy fight with Dustin Poirier
Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier will collide in a highly anticipated trilogy bout in the main event of UFC 264. The blockbuster pay-per-view event will take place on July 10 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
McGregor and Poirier will be fighting for the right to challenge UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira. But for 'The Notorious' Irishman, the stakes are much greater than a title fight as his legacy and reputation will be on the line.
With Conor McGregor having a lot to lose at UFC 264, several MMA stars have come forward to share their tips for the Irishman. Here are five tactical pieces of advice MMA superstars have offered Conor McGregor ahead of his trilogy fight with Dustin Poirier at UFC 264.
#5 Chael Sonnen believes Conor McGregor should check and counter
Former UFC middleweight title challenger Chael Sonnen has given Conor McGregor a history lesson on how he can defend against Dustin Poirier's dreaded calf kicks. According to 'The American Gangster,' there are only two ways to stop them:
"Step one – and we saw this with our own eyes but we'll also listen to Conor (McGregor), we'll take Conor's opinion for it – the calf kick. Problematic. Can Conor stop that? And there's only a couple of ways you can defend a calf kick. One, you could just bring it up and block."
Speaking of memorable examples of the same, Sonnen said:
"Think about what (Chris) Weidman did to Anderson Silva the night that Anderson Silva had that accident with his leg. That was called a check. Weidman was able to bring his leg up turn in to where his shin was coming to cause damage back to the opponent. If you defend a kick correctly, you will hurt your opponent far greater than if you landed a kick."
Speaking about the second way to stop calf kicks, Sonnen said:
"Let me tell you about a night. Tim Sylvia became the champion of the world because Rico Rodriguez threw a kick. And while Rico was on one foot, Tim threw one straight down the middle and knocked him out. That's the other defense to a kick."
For Sonnen, the fight ultimately boils down to:
"There's two things he can do. There's no other things created. He can check the kick or he can respond to the kick. There's no other technique that's been created. The question becomes: How does Poirier set it up? And that's not a question for us to answer. That's a question for Conor McGregor."