A video taken backstage after Conor McGregor's shock KO loss to Dustin Poirier inside two rounds of their lightweight clash in the Etihad Area on Fight Island, Abu Dhabi, has exposed the brutal damage the Irishman sustained during the bout.
Though McGregor looked relatively composed early on in the fight, landing his signature left hand and deploying smooth wrestling defense when Poirier surprised him with an early takedown, a series of crushing calf kicks clearly hampered the Irishman's movement.
"I'm gutted, it's a tough one to swallow," McGregor said after the bout. He then alluded to the damage Poirier's brutal leg kicks had caused him:
"I felt stronger than him, but his leg kicks were good. I didn't adjust. My leg was badly compromised, I've never experienced those low calf kicks, and I wasn't as comfortable as I needed to be.
"I have no excuses. It was a phenomenal performance by Dustin. I have to dust it off and come back."
This video exposes the damage that those leg kicks did to McGregor:In the post fight press conference, the Irishman expanded further on the matchup, per MMA Mania. He said:
“I’ll regroup and pick myself up off the floor and go again and that’s it. Styles make fights, there are many great stylistic matchups out there. Me and Dustin are 1-1, myself and Nate are 1-1. There are many good matchups for me and I’ll adopt a different approach for a trilogy with Dustin because those leg kicks are not to be messed with.
“That calf kick. I’ve never experienced that, and it’s a good one. It’s not that I don’t have the style in me to switch it up and keep that at bay. I’ve a lot more weapons I didn’t get to show. It wasn’t my night. Wasn’t a great night.”
Poirier said of his victory:
"It was a lot of things, but it wasn't payback. That wasn't the driving force.
"The first time I was a deer in the headlights. This time he was just another fighter that bleeds just like me.
"The goal was to be technical, pick my shots and not brawl at all. Then I had him hurt so I went a little crazy."
McGregor's next move in the UFC is currently unclear, though many are now calling for him to fight Nate Diaz in the trilogy of their long time rivalry. For Dustin Poirier, a title shot at lightweight now seems likely, though against whom in such a stacked division remains to be seen.