'It could've been a big factor why he lost that fight' - Georges St-Pierre explains what possibly led to Conor McGregor's loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 257
Georges St-Pierre has given his take on Conor McGregor's historic loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 257. The former UFC welterweight champion believes that McGregor changing his stance for the fight might've been a big factor. He also added that the COVID-19 pandemic might've impacted McGregor's camp.
During a recent interview with ESPN's Ariel Helwani, Georges St-Pierre reflected on McGregor's performance against 'The Diamond'. GSP revealed how a fighter's lead leg can end up vulnerable when using a boxing stance. Hence, McGregor changing up his style for the Poirier rematch should be taken into consideration:
"It could've been a big factor why he lost that fight. I know he talks about how he got hurt with that calf kick and when you're in a Boxing stance, very often your leg or your stance is wider and a lot of your weight is put on the lead leg, which makes you very vulnerable for those leg kicks. That could've been a big factor and don't forget also that a lot of athletes are impacted by COVID."
Georges St-Pierre further explained that due to the pandemic, he is not eligible to train for a fight in Canada and would have to move out. GSP also questioned McGregor's decision to change up his style because of COVID rules in Ireland.
However, the former UFC middleweight champion gave full credit to Dustin Poirier for an amazing performance. St-Pierre added that the former interim UFC lightweight champion definitely deserved the win:
"For example me in Canada, even if I would want to train for a fight, it's illegal. In Canada you cannot even train, I would have to move away, so I don't know how COVID has impacted Conor McGregor's camp. I don't know how it is in Ireland. Did he had to modify the way he was training because of the COVID rules? Did he do more Boxing? That's perhaps what made him not perform as good but we talk about Conor but let's talk about also Dustin Poirier. Poirer did amazing, let's not take away the performance of Dustin Poirier. It was amazing. He deserved the win."
Will Georges St-Pierre return to the octagon for one more fight?
While there has been talk of a potential Georges St-Pierre vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov fight, the former has finally ruled out a showdown with 'The Eagle' following his retirement at UFC 254.
Georges St-Pierre seems to be enjoying life outside the octagon. It remains quite unlikely for the former UFC welterweight and middleweight champion to ever step back into the cage.