"In my opinion, it's his big mistake" - Khabib Nurmagomedov on where Conor McGregor went wrong in trilogy fight against Dustin Poirier
Khabib Nurmagomedov thinks wasting precious energy over trying to get inside Dustin Poirier's head was Conor McGregor's biggest mistake heading into the trilogy bout at UFC 264. McGregor suffered a broken tibia in the later stages of the opening round of the fight, resulting in the bout being called off and Poirier being declared the winner.
Although he ultimately lost due to an unfortunate leg break, McGregor was being brutalized by Poirier in the fight. He was out-boxed, out-grappled, and destroyed on the ground by the Louisiana native. According to Khabib Nurmagomedov, McGregor should have focused on himself rather than his opponent heading into the fight.
'The Eagle' claims McGregor's attempt to try and get inside Poirier's head caused him to lose precious energy, and that's why he ended up losing the fight. Nurmagomedov also said that McGregor's trash talk didn't work because it seemed fake after his friendly behavior with Poirier back in January.
In an interview with ESPN's Brett Okamoto, Khabib Nurmagomedov stated the following:
"Sounds like same thing that Dustin said, it sounds like noise, you know. He is not him you know, I think he tried to... it was fake Conor in my opinion. Because couple months ago we see how he was nice and now... It looks fake, you know, that's why this trash talk don't work on Dustin Poirier and my opinion, it was his big mistake. He lose so much energy because he tried to get under his skin. Don't lose energy because why you have to focus on your opponent? Focus on yourself."
Watch the clip below:
Conor McGregor vows to come back better than ever
Conor McGregor's bones may be broken, but his spirit isn't. Just after his three-hour-long surgery on Sunday morning, the Irishman addressed his future in a video on Instagram. McGregor said he will build himself back and come back better than ever.
"Onwards and upwards we go, team. We dust ourselves off, we build ourselves back, and we come back better than ever. Let's go, team!"
Also Read: Conor McGregor threatens Dustin Poirier in latest series of deleted tweets after UFC 264