Bas Rutten gives Dustin Poirier technical advice to defeat Conor McGregor at UFC 264
Dustin Poirier is eyeing a title shot if he gets past Conor McGregor in the main event at UFC 264. Former UFC heavyweight champion Bas Rutten might have cooked up the perfect concoction for Poirier to achieve this feat.
In a recent interview with Submission Radio, the UFC Hall of Famer laid down some vital points that could be the key to success for Poirier, most important of them being counter-punching.
According to Rutten, Dustin Poirier needs to lure McGregor into countering his punches and use that to land his own counters. Bas Rutten also emphasized the importance of countering with combos rather than single punches which leave you vulnerable.
Breaking down the upcoming trilogy fight between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier, Rutten told Kacper Rosolowski from Submission Radio:
"So I thought that (Dustin) Poirier did a really good thing in the beginning. He threw a punch, (Conor) McGregor countered that and then he countered the counter. And he connected with that one. That was right in the beginning of the fight somewhere. And I think that he needs to start doing this more. And you can do that. You can trigger your opponent to do that. Because McGregor, his go-to move, is the left cross. Because he is so accurate with it, it's so powerful, if he connects its lights out. So if you throw a lazy punch, you kinda know that he is gonna throw the cross. And then if you use that move and counter that counter, that's when you're gold. And also start countering counters not with single shots. Everybody does that. And it blows me away."
What Dustin Poirier needs to watch out for
While Bas Rutten devised a winning strategy for Dustin Poirier, he was also quick to point out a flaw. According to Rutten, Dustin Poirier puts himself at risk by throwing single kicks which can easily be seen coming. Bas Rutten further said:
"Now Poirier, Poirier is a little...sometimes he takes risks when he throws single kicks. And he needs to watch out for that. Because a single kick, he can simply block, counter with a punch and that's it. And specially McGregor is so good with his counters, that could be very dangerous."