"I would blitz them" - Georges St-Pierre gives Conor McGregor advice on handling leg kicks
Georges St-Pierre has suggested that if he were to help Conor McGregor deal with leg kicks, his advice would be to ‘blitz’ the opponent while the opponent is throwing the kick.
Conor McGregor faced Dustin Poirier in the main event of UFC 257 (January 23, 2021). McGregor had won their first fight that transpired in 2014 via first-round TKO, but Poirier ended up winning their rematch at UFC 257 via second-round TKO.
One of the biggest talking points coming out of the fight – something that both Conor McGregor and his head coach John Kavanagh also admitted – was that Poirier’s leg kicks, calf kicks, to be specific, compromised McGregor’s lead leg (right leg).
This eventually turned McGregor into a stationary target and helped Poirier knock McGregor out with a series of beautiful punching combinations.
MMA legend and UFC Hall of Famer Georges St-Pierre has now weighed in on how Conor McGregor could’ve countered the calf kicks. On an edition of the Michael Bisping Podcast, Georges St-Pierre spoke to fellow MMA legend Michael Bisping about the same.
“Well, there is many ways of dealing with that particular technique. You talk about the new kind of technique? We’ve seen the calf kick. We see also, now, more and more, the teep (kick) to the leg. Bruce Lee used to talk about it a long, long time before, in his books. Use your longest weapon against the narrowest point of your opponent. You know, like, the point that is the closest to you, of your opponent, use your longest weapon against it. And now, we see Jon Jones made that technique very popular. Now everybody is using it.
“And now, that calf kick, we don’t see it a lot in Muay Thai because in Muay Thai, there’s no takedown. So, the fighter’s legs when they stand up are more close. They’re not widespread. So, it’s very easy; when you see that kick coming, you shield. You shield it with your shin, so it hurts; when your opponent will hit your knee or the big part of your shin bone. But in MMA, a lot of guys because of the takedown and the size of the cage, their stance are wider. So, a good way to deal with that – Me, when I used to fight guys that have good kicks. For example: Dan Hardy or Carlos Condit or Thiago Alves – I used to blitz.
“Blitz in, I mean, when I time the kick or sometimes I made it on purpose, you know. I bait them to throw the kick, and I blitz them with my straight right. So, there’s many ways of using it. But if your legs are wide open and you try to shield it like a Muay Thai style, you won’t have the time to do it because your legs are too wide. Unless you fight with a stance where your legs are close to each other, but if you do that, your mobility will be compromised standing up. So, there is no perfect way, you know. There is always a counter to the counter. But personally, me what I like, is to blitz them when that kick is coming.” (*H/T Sportskeeda for the transcription)
Furthermore, Michael Bisping agreed with Georges St-Pierre. Bisping noted that one must ‘crowd the kicker’ and ‘put the kicker on the back foot,' as an effective way of countering leg kicks.
Georges St-Pierre has reiterated his support for Conor McGregor
Georges St-Pierre has often been praised for his supportiveness and the respect he displays towards fellow fighters. In the aftermath of Conor McGregor suffering the first knockout loss of his professional MMA career, Georges St-Pierre emphasized that he believes McGregor can make a comeback.
Speaking to Michael Bisping, Georges St-Pierre indicated that McGregor has previously proven that he can correct his mistakes and return from a loss.
Presently, Conor McGregor and his team have been urging the UFC to book the trilogy fight between McGregor and Poirier to take place, likely in May 2021.