With Ufc 257 only hours away, all eyes are fixed on the Conor McGregor - Dustin Poirier main event. While Conor is still sporting his usual hyper confident demeanour, he seems to be taking a more respectful approach than in previous events.
Moving away from typical mental warfare, bombarding his opponents with verbal attacks, he instead is focusing on his own abilities and skills, without needing to downplay that of his opponent. Even Michael Chandler, who is fighting Dan Hooker in the Co Main Event, verbalized his recognition of McGregor’s growth and maturity as a man, in the pre fight press conference.
Despite that, McGregor still gives himself an Everest like feat, by claiming he will K.O. Poirier within the first 60 seconds of the fight. Poirier, who hasn’t been finished by strikes since his 2016 bout with Michael Johnson, has grown considerably into his lightweight frame, tearing through the likes of Justin Gaethje, Eddie Alvarez, Dan Hooker and Max Holloway. In addition to that, we have also seen Dustin seriously develop his offensive and defensive boxing skills since his first fight against McGregor, where he was stopped in just over a minute and half via TKO. Poirier, who often starts slow and picks up in the later rounds, will need to avoid the big opening shots of McGregor to allow himself an opportunity to find his footing and get a read on McGregor’s timing. Will we see the return of the Mystic Mac in 2021, or will Dustin steal the spotlight? With the current champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov, reportedly willing to come out of retirement for a spectacular performance on Saturday, the pressure couldn’t be higher for either man.
Top comments (11)
Great post @jlant024 ! I must admit, I like this version of Conor but I still think it all depends on whether his opponent offers mutual respect, if not, the warfare will no doubt return. What I did like was his appreciation of being back and being welcomed and recognising he needs it in his life. Never seen him so humble and I guess his recent severe legal issue had something to do with that. Have you read @markb2201 recent post on his predictions?
I fully agree and expect that if anyone shows McGregor an ounce of disrespect, the gloves will come off. It is nice to start things respectful and only go the trash talking route if needed. I haven't seen @markb2201 post on the prediction but I will head on over and give it a read, thanks for the heads up!
Totally! Enjoy the fight Jordan, let’s see how close @markb2201 is with his predictions.
UFC 257 Preview & Predictions!
mark blanchard ・ Jan 22 ・ 6 min read
Great read Jordan, welcome to This MMA Life! 👊
Thanks Mark! Read your article for your predictions tonight, well written and I agree with a lot of your choices for tonight. Excited to see how things play out, enjoy the fights tonight.
I am really curious to see what his next move is, he looked really good in the first round, didn't seem to have any ring rust. Surprised he wasn't more conditioned, saw that he tried to catch them a few times. Does that mean that every opponent now goes for the calf?
In his camp for Dustin, Conor worked a lot of boxing. That came through in this fight as he was not as in and out as he usually is, sitting on his punches more which give more power, but take away speed and make him more flat footed. He either changes his approach slightly or I'd wager its a repeat.
I have a funny feeling we might see the other side to him next time, it's like eminem v slim shady!
I hope so, I like the crazy McGregor, he is hilarious and always has that mental edge over his prey.
Definitely his age and having kids. You can still see it in him though, that cheeky and energetic laugh
No more Mr Nice guy!