“It is a mindset” – Chael Sonnen on Dana White’s claims that Conor McGregor overlooked Dustin Poirier at UFC 257
Chael Sonnen has addressed Dana White’s claims that Conor McGregor overlooked Dustin Poirier at UFC 257.
Sonnen believes White is alluding to the fact that Conor McGregor might have been physically well-prepared for the fight but overlooked Dustin Poirier mentally.
Conor McGregor has fought Dustin Poirier twice thus far. McGregor spectacularly defeated Poirier via first-round TKO at UFC 178 in September 2014. However, he lost the rematch that transpired at UFC 257 in January 2021. The fight witnessed Conor McGregor perform well in round one, but get stopped in round two, losing to Poirier via TKO.
In the aftermath of Conor McGregor’s loss, UFC president Dana White recently opined that McGregor may have overlooked Dustin Poirier ahead of their UFC 257 fight.
On an episode of Beyond the Fight, MMA legend Chael Sonnen weighed in on White’s comments. Sonnen stated –
“While the outcome of part three might not be different, the fight is going to be different. It is going to be a different match, and they are going to prepare and they are going to assess this thing different. And if everybody doesn’t learn from the lessons of this, including Dustin – If Dustin does what a lot of victors do, which is everything is fine because we got the result, we got the desired outcome – If you do that, you make a mistake. You have to find the problems. And if you didn’t have any problems, then you have to find out what were his problems. Maybe I brought the problems. Instead of I had the problems, maybe I am the problem. But what were they? Identify them, as a way of stopping them from happening to you.”
“It’s the most basic rule that every civics teacher tells their student. The reason we learn history is because history will repeat itself unless we can identify and stop it. It is a cycle, and we have to break the cycle. I’m repeating for you what you already know. But I want to elaborate on this because I really think this fight is something that we have to look forward to, for a lot of different reasons.”
“And I see where Dustin will be favored. I see a gap there, that if this fight is to go off in May (2021), there just isn’t enough time – no matter what you do from a physical standpoint – to change the outcome of a physical match, by May. That’s not a lot of time. But to speak of what Dana is alluding to, it is a mindset. And you can change that overnight, once you identify it.”
Chael Sonnen also referenced the timeline for the Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier trilogy matchup. The vast majority of MMA fans and experts believe that the trilogy fight could take place in mid 2021.
The background to Chael Sonnen’s hypothesis on Dana White’s statements and Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier
Chael Sonnen prefaced his aforementioned hypothesis by harking back to Conor McGregor’s one-sided win in his first fight against Dustin Poirier. The American Gangster had stated:
“When it’s something you’ve already done and you had no resistance the first time, yes, Conor overlooked Poirier. Yes. And Conor would probably deny that adamantly, prior to the fight – because he would look at – did I skip practice? No, I did not. Did I pay attention to my nutrition? Did I get enough rest? Did I sit down with the coaches? Do we have a strategy? Yeah, I did everything you could do. I’m ready to go. But in hindsight, you’ll look back because that’s something that's inside. It's not necessarily reflected on the miles on the road or the rounds in the room. What Dana’s speaking to of overlooking is a mindset.” (*H/T Sportskeeda for the transcription)
Furthermore, Chael Sonnen indicated that Conor McGregor expected the UFC 257 fight to be hard, much like any other fight, but the difference-maker was that the fight turned out to be harder. Sonnen added that under such circumstances, things go downhill really fast in a fight.
Moreover, Chael Sonnen gave props to Dustin Poirier for the pressure he brought against Conor McGregor. Sonnen also highlighted Poirier’s ability to take McGregor’s best strikes and still stay in the fight.
What are your thoughts on Chael Sonnen’s take on Dana White’s statements and the Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier series of fights? Sound off in the comments.