Since Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor fought for the first time in 2014, ‘The Diamond’ has gone on to establish himself as one of the top lightweights of this era. While McGregor’s longtime coach, John Kavanagh understands that, he believes what transpired in their first bout tells a tale for the coming rematch.

Kavanagh says Poirier is in for an “uphill battle”

McGregor and Poirier fought for the first time back in 2014, when both men were competing at featherweight. The contest was billed by many as McGregor’s first, serious test in the UFC, and he quickly passed the exam by stopping Poirier in round one.

Since then, McGregor has gone to become one of the biggest names in the game, in part, as a result of winning both the UFC’s featherweight and lightweight titles.

Poirier has also done just fine for himself since then, as he won an interim belt and is widely recognized as one of the top lightweights in the game.

Well, ahead of the January 23rd rematch, Kavanagh spoke with The MacLife. While discussing the first bout, and how the second fight might play out, the Straight Blast Gym leader said this (quotes via MMA Junkie).

“I think you can spend a lifetime going to sports psychologists and talking to this person and that person; that’s not going to have been erased from his mind,” Kavanagh said.

“He knows that he is facing somebody who can shut off his lights very, very rapidly and now is a lot more powerful and a lot more experienced than he was even then, so it’s a tough, uphill battle for Dustin.”

“I think (Poirier) has definitely gotten better,” Kavanagh added. “There’s a few more takedown attempts now in his fights.

I hadn’t seen it before – he has a good guillotine. We can see that.

Then his volume and his conditioning is looking on point. You can see in his fights he has an ability to take a lot of punishment and still come forward.

Pick any of last few fights to see that quality. However, he’s fighting a different animal than any of those guys: somebody with true, one-punch knockout power that he’s already felt.”

Kavanagh also had this to say about the upcoming, second battle.

“So look, they’ve both matured physically. Age-wise, you know, they’re in their 30s now and (have) families.

Dustin’s had a couple of more contests then Conor since then in the octagon. Conor’s never stopped training and has obviously had a boxing match and has done other stuff, so it’s interesting to see how the styles meet up this time.”

Thoughts?

So, sure, since Kavanagh is McGregor’s head coach and has been with the star for years, of course, some will argue his view is biased. 

There’s no doubt that McGregor’s left is one of the most dangerous weapons in the division.

But, Poirier has rebounded from losses in the past (he was also KO’d by Michael Johnson). So, it’s not really clear whether what transpired in 2014 will get to Poirier mentally or not. 

One could also argue that there’s plenty of pressure on McGregor’s shoulders as well. A loss to Poirier would be a huge setback in his plan to reclaim the UFC belt, and could even end his days as a blockbuster draw.