Conor McGregor ‘too good everywhere’ to lose to Dustin Poirier in UFC rematch next month, claims Irishman’s coach
CONOR McGREGOR is ‘too good everywhere’ to lose against Dustin Poirier in their rematch next month, his coach Owen Roddy said.
The Irishman – who beat Poirier in 2014 – marks his return to the octagon on January 23 in a lightweight headliner.
Striking coach Roddy has been alongside the southpaw in his Portugal-based training camp.
And he predicts that McGregor, 32, will be ‘too clinical with his striking’ against Poirier, 31.
Roddy told The MMA Bash: “I think Poirier’s improved an awful lot since that first fight.
“I think Conor has improved, you know, more, since then as well.
“They’re definitely better fighters than they were when they fought each other but Conor is still the better fighter. I just think he’s too precise.”
“Poirier is skillful, he’s got good hands and he’s tough and durable, and he sets a good pace but I just don’t see where he beats Conor.
“Conor’s just too good everywhere, too precise, and too clinical with his striking.”
McGregor is preparing for his first fight since the start of the year, when he knocked out Donald Cerrone, 37, in just 40 seconds.
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He had spent the summer in retirement, having grown frustrated on the sidelines amid the coronavirus pandemic.
But McGregor never stopped training, and despite the inactivity in the cage, Roddy described the former two-weight champion as ‘a stone-cold killer’.
He continued: “Coming off the Cerrone camp, he was in great form, he was motivated, he was in a good place, and then he wanted to go on this run throughout the year, and then Covid messed it all up for everybody, but he didn’t stop training.
“He hasn’t stopped. He’s been very active, working all areas of mixed martial arts, and you can see that now.
“He’s in the best shape I’ve ever seen him in my entire life.”