"Our bad, our mistake, our fault" - John Kavanagh reveals main reason why Conor McGregor lost to Dustin Poirier at UFC 257
Conor McGregor's coach, John Kavanagh, has given his take on why Dustin Poirier defeated his pupil at UFC 257 last January.
MMA fans were shocked when Conor McGregor was knocked out for the first time in his MMA career in the rematch against Poirier, who the Irishman had defeated six years ago.
According to Kavanagh, Conor McGregor focused exclusively on one aspect of his fighting techniques - a fatal error in mixed martial arts.
Speaking to BT Sport's Adam Catterall, the world-famous coach explained what went wrong the second time his student walked into the octagon against Poirier.
"It's a game of spinning plates, that you're spinning the boxing plate, and you realize the wrestling plate is about to stop. So, you have to go and spin that one, then you got to spin the jiu-jitsu, and you got to spin the kickboxing one," Kavanagh said.
Conor McGregor was criticized for his performance at UFC 257 as he made himself an easy target for Poirier's low kicks, which had a devastating effect on the Irishman's calves.
With his movement hindered, Conor McGregor became easy prey for Poirier's attacks, culminating in a technical knockout in the bout's second round.
John Kavanagh said Conor McGregor was preparing for his next boxing match
Further elaborating on his answer, coach John Kavanagh revealed that Conor McGregor was focusing too much on his boxing game because he was already aiming to fight Manny Pacquiao.
He continued the spinning plates' analogy to explain that 'The Notorious One' left some essential parts of mixed martial arts aside to concentrate exclusively on his standup abilities.
"We got a little bit obsessed with the boxing plate, and, you know, there was talk of a big boxing fight after that. Our error, our bad, our mistake, our fault. No one to blame. We just got to make sure that we keep spinning that kickboxing plate and all the other aspects of MMA and get ready for a rematch," Kavanagh said.
While the boxing match with Pacquiao seems to have lost momentum, Dustin Poirier's rematch talks come at full throttle.
The two fighters are opened and inclined to the idea. The UFC has already expressed the intention of booking the fight for this summer, possibly in May.
Would you rather see Conor McGregor rematching Dustin Poirier or having a boxing match with Manny Pacquiao? Sound off in the comments.