Conor McGregor doesn’t think Dustin Poirier truly scored a knockdown against him in their rematch.
Back in January, McGregor and Poirier shared the Octagon a second time in the main event of UFC 257. Back in 2014, the “Notorious” one defeated “The Diamond” via first-round TKO. The rematch played out far differently with Poirier scoring the second-round knockout.
One key factor to Poirier’s win was his execution of the calf kicks. Poirier then landed a punch to the head, dropping McGregor. He then connected with a follow-up punch for the finish.
During an interview with Ariel Helwani for BT Sport, McGregor dismissed Poirier’s knockdown in their second encounter.
“I thought I looked well in the position I ended up in. I was looking like I was relaxing almost. I was happy with it. It is what it is. The leg was immobilized. I was on the back foot against the cage and I couldn’t bear weight on my right leg. The knockdown wasn’t even a knockdown. It was just a right hook that stepped me on the leg that was immobilized and I went down, and it was the shot that followed that (that ended the fight). But it was a flash. I was up in seconds. I was alert, everything.
“Remember when I bounced his head off the canvas like a basketball back in the day, he jumped up and he was looking at Herb Dean didn’t know what the fuck was going on. I jumped up and knew what was going on. It is what it is. It’s the fight business.”
McGregor and Poirier will once again go one-on-one this Saturday night (July 10). The lightweight battle will headline UFC 264 inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
MMA News will be providing live coverage of UFC 264 this weekend.
