ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - JANUARY 23: (L-R) Conor McGregor of Ireland punches Dustin Poirier in a lightweight fight during the UFC 257 event inside Etihad Arena on UFC Fight Island on January 23, 2021 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
At UFC 257 we witnessed one of the UFC’s biggest stars take their first TKO loss of his career. In the main event, Dustin Poirier was able to TKO Conor McGregor in the second round. In the co-main event, UFC newcomer, Michael Chandler knocked out Dan Hooker in the first, arguably stealing the show. Today we will be looking into what is next for the losers of UFC 257.
ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - JANUARY 23: In this handout image provided by the UFC, (L-R) Conor McGregor of Ireland punches Dustin Poirier in a lightweight fight during the UFC 257 event inside Etihad Arena on UFC Fight Island on January 23, 2021 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Saturday night,
Dustin Poirier took on the biggest star the sport of MMA has ever seen,
Conor McGregor, and knocked him out. Certainly, there’s no way to take away from this achievement. McGregor was heavily favored by both fans and analysts and was widely seen as a bad matchup for Poirier. Poirier’s gameplan was stellar in both conception and execution. He used clinch wrestling to tire McGregor out, calf kicks to destroy his mobility, kept himself safe with excellent pocket defense and finished the job with his trademark killer instinct.