Watch: Conor McGregor is pushing himself hard in training ahead of Dustin Poirier trilogy fight
Conor McGregor is leaving no stone unturned in preparation for his trilogy fight against Dustin Poirier. The Irishman is pushing the pace really hard to avenge the UFC 257 loss.
The former double champ recently posted training videos on his Instagram stories. The videos show McGregor running on the treadmill and doing other drills in his gym. The stories suggest that the Irishman's struggles with the nerve injury suffered in his last fight must be over. The clips were compiled and uploaded on the YouTube channel Wrestling Vendetta.
Conor McGregor is scheduled to fight Dustin Poirier in the trilogy fight at the UFC 264 pay-per-view event in July 2021. The Irishman suffered the first knockout loss of his career against Poirier in the much-anticipated rematch at UFC 257 in January 2021. McGregor had defeated Poirier via knockout in their first meeting all the way back in 2014.
The Notorious One looked good initially in the rematch. However, he succumbed to a persistent leg-kicking game from Dustin Poirier. McGregor lost the fight after Poirier attacked him with a barrage of punches in the second round.
Although Poirier was an overall better fighter on the fight night, McGregor had his own significant moments.The Irishman's loss was primarily attributed to the recent inactive phase of his career. Many experts suggested that the distractions in McGregor's new lifestyle might have stripped him of the desire to fight.
If the training videos mean anything, Conor McGregor appears hungry to lay all the speculation about his fighting future to rest.
Conor McGregor's personality change in recent times
Conor McGregor has long been considered to be the master of playing mind games. The brash and outspoken persona was an important aspect of the Irishman's personality in the heyday of his UFC career.
One of the most surprising visuals in the lead-up to UFC 257 was Conor McGregor's respectful approach and absence of trash-talking. None of McGregor's trademark swagger was present during the entire process of UFC 257. The former double champ received a lot of praise for the positive change in his personality.
However, breaking his opponents mentally before the fight was an inseparable aspect of Conor McGregor's game. A large section of the MMA community hypothesized that adopting a respectful personality played a major role in McGregor's loss to Dustin Poirier by taking away the mental edge.
Conor McGregor later uploaded a cryptic Instagram post hinting at his return to the old ways. His recent social media interactions with Dustin Poirier and Kamaru Usman have been hinting at the return of the vintage Conor McGregor at UFC 264.