Artem Lobov explains why Conor McGregor will win at UFC 257 despite Dustin Poirier improving a lot since their first fight
Artem Lobov believes that UFC 257 will not have a different outcome than the last time Conor McGregor met Dustin Poirier inside the octagon. The last meeting took place at UFC 178, where Conor McGregor further cemented his legacy in UFC with a first-round knockout of 'The Diamond' just like he predicted.
A former UFC featherweight, Artem Lobov is a longtime close friend and teammate of Conor McGregor. He has seen Conor McGregor's rise to the top and every one of his wins and losses from up close. He was there when Conor McGregor defeated Dustin Poirier more than six years ago as well.
Speaking with BT Sport, Artem Lobov predicted that this time the contest will end in the same manner. That does not mean Dustin Poirier has not improved since the last fight, or he was not good enough the last time.
Lobov pointed out that Poirier was in line for the featherweight title in 2014 had he gone through McGregor. In Lobov's opinion, Conor McGregor was simply too much for Poirier back then, and he still is.
"Had he beaten Conor (McGregor), he was gonna be fighting for the title. He was the guy. He had finished (Diego) Brandao previously as well, he had stopped another top ten guy (Erik) Koch at the time. He was killing guys! And then he just got absolutely demolished by Conor, and after that, went back to being Poirier - destroying guys once again. He was good back then, he is good now, and Conor is just gonna do what Conor did to him back then. And that's it, nothing is gonna be different this time," Artem Lobov said.
Artem Lobov says Conor McGregor will defeat Dustin Poirier
This is not the first time Artem Lobov has made a similar prediction for UFC 257. Mirroring Conor McGregor's own claim that he will knockout Dustin Poirier in 60 seconds, Artem Lobov expressed similar sentiments to MMA Junkie Radio in an interview in December.
He highlighted the fact that Dustin Poirier was a great fighter back then as well, but fans just do not want to give Conor McGregor the due credit for knocking him out.
"I see this fight going exactly the same way. The reason being is everybody’s trying to make it out like Poirier wasn’t good before he fought Conor or something like that, like he’s changed so much. No, remember what Poirier was.... Poirier was a killer back then, but just stylistically, his style matches up so well (for) Conor, that Conor will stop him again in the first round, and it’ll be no different than their first meeting."