American Kickboxing Academy AKA head coach Javier Mendez discusses Poirier vs McGregor and wonders how Team McGregor could have overlooked the leg kick element of Poiriers game
The mixed martial arts MMA world is still reeling from the big upset at UFC 257 where Dustin Poirier knocked out Conor McGregor halfway through the second round watch it
The Internet is full of analysts from major networks to Tiktok tearing the fight apart to pinpoint exactly how Poirier turned the tide in the second round and left The Notorious Conor McGregor senseless on the canvas
Poiriers calf kicks definitely played a big part in deadening McGregors leg and hampering his movement
Thats what AKA head coach Javier Mendez seized on when talking to Submission Radio recently and he followed that up by wondering how Team McGregor could let him go to war without an answer for those particular attacks
When I saw Dustin start going for the leg kicks I go Oh my god Conors stance is not made for checking properly leg kicks like that Mendez said Especially calf kicks So I thought that was going to be a major problem And then when he hit Dustin with the good shot and Dustin took it thats when I kind of knew oh boy things are gonna change And sure enough they did And it was a great game plan from Dustin to work the leg kicks calf kicks And it was a bad judgement on Conors part to not be prepared for that
I dont understand how you cannot be prepared for something like that when thats what everyones going to he continued
Khabib I told him I reminded him every day that Justins coming after your legs Justins coming after your legs Every day I was telling him that And you would think that you would be reminded also because thats a big weapon Until fighters learn how to deal with it its gonna be a big weapon guys big weapon
It was also a lefty vs lefty situation which left McGregors legs even more exposed than they would have been otherwise
Add in the fact that Poirier is known in the gym for his obliterating leg kicks and its a pretty big oversight in game planning Mendez was left wondering whether something different in the way McGregor set up his training camp led to his downfall
Inactivity does affect things and thats what hes saying Mendez said But I also happen to know too when you make changes in camp when things werent broken why change them I heard he went to Portugal or something like that to do training But what was wrong with where hes always trained I dont know It looks like he made a lot of changes and why change when things arent broken
Ive always told Khabib and all those guys when youre doing something good and youre winning why change it Why try to change things up Theres no need to change things if things are working Thats what Im thinking Im not saying Im right Im just saying thats what Im thinking
According to McGregor it was the same team hes been using since the beginning just imported into the Portugal gym owned by his conditioning coaches themselves a part of the team since the first Nate Diaz loss
But who knows maybe things were just a bit too posh and relaxed over there versus in Dublin Maybe there really werent enough people in positions of authority to keep McGregor on the right path
Or maybe McGregor just got hit with a bad kick that blew out his calf and these things happen in combat sports
We think we need more data Which will apparently come at some point as McGregor is already hounding UFC to set up a third fight with Poirier
Whether he returns against Diamond or gets in the Octagon against someone else well see whether he revamps his game and protects his legs better especially now that everyones undoubtedly going to target them moving forward
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