Conor McGregor was on stage in front of reporters Saturday, a situation he’s become well accustomed to at this point in his career. Unlike every other MMA post-fight news conference he’s attended, however, something was different.
Familiar with discussing knockout victories, McGregor (22-5 MMA, 10-3 UFC) opened up about his first knockout loss – a second-round TKO from strikes suffered to Dustin Poirier in the UFC 257 main event.
With a mix of emotions ranging from disappointment to numb to happy, McGregor sifted through his feelings and what went wrong in the fight.
“It’s heart breaking, John,” McGregor said when answering MMA Junkie’s John Morgan. “It’s hard to take. The highest highs and the lowest lows in this game.”
All pre-fight technical analysis and breakdowns were irrelevant when the two fighters stepped in the cage at UFC 257. Leg kicks became a major storyline in the fight. Despite McGregor’s best poker face, Poirier continued to pepper his opponent’s lead leg until the Irishman was seriously compromised.
“My leg is completely dead,” McGregor said. “Even though I felt like I was checking them, it was just sinking into the muscle in the front of the leg, and it was badly compromised. It was like an American football in my suit at the minute, so it is what it is.”
Besides leg kicks, McGregor pointed to inactivity as a contributing factor to his performance. UFC 257 was McGregor’s first competition in 12 months and only his second in 29 months.
“It’s the whole shebang, but I have no excuses here. It was a phenomenal performance by Dustin. I don’t know what to say,” McGregor said. “I’m going to go back. I’m going to chill out. I’ll watch the full fight and get a better grasp on it. The leg was compromised. I was rushing the shots a little bit, and I didn’t adjust. That’s that. It’s a bitter pill to swallow. I don’t even know if I’m that upset. I don’t know what to say.”
Following the conclusion of the UFC 257 main card, UFC president Dana White predicted McGregor will follow one of two paths: motivating himself to come back strong or walking away from MMA altogether. McGregor indicated the latter is not in his plans.
“I’ll certainly regroup,” McGregor said. “I’ll regroup. I’ll pick myself off the floor and go again. That’s it. Styles make fights. There’s many great stylistic fights out there. Myself and Dustin are one-and-one. Myself and Nate are one-and-one. There are many good matchups for me. I’ll adopt a different approach for the trilogy. … I have a lot more weapons I didn’t get to show. It wasn’t my night. It wasn’t a great night. Again, no excuses. Hats off. (I’ll) regroup and pick myself up. I look forward to going back now and seeing the kids and just taking the licks.”
Reflecting on his UFC 257 experience, competing on “Fight Island,” and returning to competition, McGregor found some silver linings between disappointment and defeat.
“I got to come out here and do this fight here in the Middle East, put on a show for the people,” McGregor said. “I’ve done my best. Things don’t go your way at times. Well, pick yourself up and carry on. I’ve got a lot of good things going on in my life, so I just keep my head high. That’s it. Take the shots, take the licks, and just keep on going.”
Conor McGregor sorts through emotions of UFC 257 knockout loss: ‘It’s hard to take’