Javier Mendez gives his prediction for Conor McGregor vs Dustin Poirier 3 at UFC 264
The founder and head coach of AKA, Javier Mendez, has given his prediction for the rubber match between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier.
Mendez has previously been in the opposing corner for both men, during his time training Khabib Nurmagomedov.
In a recent interview on the Real Quick with Mike Swick podcast, Mendez was asked if he believes Conor McGregor will be able to right his mistakes shown in the most recent fight with Poirier and come out on top this time-
"I definitely think he can do it," said Mendez. "Because I think the calf kicks were the deciding factor, and the second deciding factor was when Conor put a good one on Dustin, and Dustin took it. That's when he said, oh, I can take your shots. I'm a give you some of mine."
Whilst he does give Conor McGregor a chance, Mendez has a huge amount of personal bias against the Irishman due to the disrespect that was shown to Khabib Nurmagomdov when the two men fought.
Mendez ultimately stated that he thought Poirier would defeat McGregor again. He said-
"I'm gonna go with Dustin because I like Dustin and I'm not a fan of Conor. I can never be a fan of Conor. I'm never a fan of his, never. I never want him to win so it is what it is. He doesn't want my guys to win I don't want him to win. Tough, it is what it is. I'm going with Dustin. A lot because I think he can do it. But also because I don't like the other guy."
Mendez says McGregor and his team can't make the same mistakes
One aspect of the second fight that Mendez is adamant that Conor McGregor and his coaching staff need to fix is that of his weakness when it comes to leg kicks. He stated-
"If we see the same, if Conor's leg gets, you know, again. In that scenario again. Ok well some of you guys aren't doing your job right because that shouldn't happen again. You should have been aware of that and if your not aware of it then shame on you. It shouldn't happen again. It should not happen again."
Mendez had to go through a similar process when preparing Khabib to fight Justin Gaethje-
"Listen, when Khabib fought Justin Gaethje, when that bout was brought up, I really looked at the whole thing," said Mendez. "I told Khabib, okay, Justin's coming for your leg.
"I go look, listen. I understand your gonna have a lot going on but I need you to focus on that because that's the only way I see him being able to potentially get you. I'm not saying he'll get you but that's gonna be his number one go to weapon."
It is this mentality that Conor McGregor's head coaches, John Kavanagh and Owen Roddy, must adopt in order to avoid a repeat of what took place in January.