UFC: a photo behind the scenes exposes the side of Conor McGregor we ‘have never seen’

Conor McGregor blamed Octagon Rust for his devastating loss to Dustin Poirier on Sunday and has shone a torch on the UFC’s failure to unleash it in 2020.

UFC great Chael Sonnen said that after the fight, McGregor fell victim to the sport’s “great failure” when he was able to fight only once last year, a 40-second KO victory over Donald Cerrone in January, before everyone else. plans were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

McGregor was slow and slow on his return to the Octagon, and his hopes of a title fight in 2021 were probably dashed with that. Poirier will now surely fight for the title next, with the lightweight division still in murky territory following the retirement of Khabib Nurmagomedov.

McGregor’s inaction resulted in a weakness Sonnen says the world has never seen before, with Poirier cutting off McGregor’s front leg.

Front kicks are a tactic McGregor generally possesses and uses to open up opportunities for his hands, but it was Poirier who was chopping wood Sunday before finishing Conor with some sweet punches in the second round by TKO.

McGregor’s thrashed legs were the story of the fight, and it was clearly evident as he left his locker room to walk to the post-fight press conference limping on crutches.

Sonnen said McGregor’s failure to win the left-handed vs. left-handed leg kick duel was the biggest consequence of McGregor’s time in the UFC desert.

“If there was a failure in 2020 on our part as an industry, it was that Conor McGregor wanted to fight four times and we allowed him to fight once,” Sonnen told ESPN.

“To be fair, it was a mistake. Conor was slow tonight. He was slow, that’s going to happen.”

He said of Conor’s failure to stop Poirier’s kicks: “We’ve never seen that as a Conor McGregor weakness.

“Guys in the past have tried to kick him in the legs and Conor gives them a left down the middle. For some reason, Conor didn’t respond. Part of the reason I blame is that inactivity.”

McGregor confirmed it in his post-fight press conference.

“My leg is completely dead. Even though I felt like I was checking them … I was very compromised.

“Those leg kicks are not for playing. The calf kick, the calf kick, I hadn’t experienced that.

“My knee is like a football in my suit pants.”

In a juicy post-fight wash, UFC commentator Ariel Helwani speculated that a trilogy fight between McGregor and Nate Diaz is the right next fight for The Notorious, who desperately needs to regain some credibility before any sort of run for the Title.

Helwani also told ESPN that Poirier will fight for a vacant title if Nurmagomedov continues out of the game.

It was the leg kicks that opened an avenue for Poirier to land shots from long range and the fight was turned upside down when a left hand injured McGregor.

McGregor tried to get out of trouble by dancing, but with Poirier having time to choose his shots, it was a slow and painful death for McGregor.

It was a right hand that McGregor leaned into that ultimately broke the former double division champion, who fell backward before the fight was stopped.

The loss leaves the lightweight division in complete disaster and leaves McGregor’s career at a crossroads again.

McGregor said after the fight that he will fight in the Octagon again this year, but a title shot suddenly seems a long way off.

McGregor said after the fight that it was his lack of time in the Octagon, only one fight since October 2018, that left him rusty and ready for a surprise.

“The leg was dead. It wasn’t as comfortable as it needed to be. It’s inactivity,” he said.

“If you put the time in here, you feel comfortable here, and that’s it. I have to dust this off and go back and that’s what I’m going to do.

“He doesn’t get away with being inactive in this business.

“It’s hard to swallow.”