Analysis: Has Conor McGregor or Dustin Poirier improved more since first fight at UFC 178?

Before Khabib Nurmagomedov successfully defended his lightweight title against Justin Gaethje this past wekend at UFC 254, John Kavanagh, who serves as the head coach to Conor McGregor, tweeted his opinion of the improvements shown between his fighter and Dustin Poirier since their last meeting.

Watching @TheNotoriousMMA do MMA rounds lately has been a real joy and education. Fluidity of movement with elite level timing and skill. Dustin has improved so much since first meeting, conor has improved much more imo. To see them hydrated & healthy at 170 will be fascinating

— Coach Kavanagh (@John_Kavanagh) October 16, 2020

Watching @TheNotoriousMMA do MMA rounds lately has been a real joy and education. Fluidity of movement with elite level timing and skill. Dustin has improved so much since first meeting, conor has improved much more imo. To see them hydrated & healthy at 170 will be fascinating

Although most people, from those involved to the general public, seemingly focused on the weight class at which the fight was proposed, it’s hard not to imagine that aspect being reconsidered given Nurmagomedov’s abrupt retirement. Sure, Nurmagodmedov’s manager might claim that the lightweight title is not yet vacant, but I doubt such technicalities will stand in the way of an opportunity for the UFC to put yet another gold belt up for grabs.

So, between McGregor being the promotion’s proverbial golden ticket and Poirier one of the most deserving parties at lightweight (no disrespect to Tony Ferguson and the rest of the stable at 155 pounds), a rematch of their UFC 178 fight in 2014 makes sense for the belt.

Nevertheless, rather than get hung up on the narratives of deserved title shots and weight classes, I decided to take a closer look at each fighter’s improvements since they last met in hopes of parsing out potential adjustments and mainstay problems.