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Conor McGregor has lost three times in the UFC, two of which happened against a left-handed opponent. Khabib Nurmagomedov is the only fighter with an orthodox stance that has defeated 'The Notorious One'.
Following Conor McGregor's loss to Dustin Poirier in their rematch at UFC 257, many MMA analysts and fans initiated a quest to discover possible reasons that led the Irishman to fail against an opponent who he had easily trounced before.
Many pointed to Poirier's low kicks as the decisive factor of the bout. The blows to Conor McGregor's right calf worked effectively and ultimately made "The Diamond" the winner. However, this isn't the only reason behind McGregor's defeat.
Conor McGregor retrospect against southpaws
Conor McGregor has fought 13 times in the UFC. The Irishman accumulates a total of ten wins and three losses. However, if we organize those numbers into orthodox and southpaw opponents, a pattern becomes more visible.
Against right-handed adversaries, Conor McGregor defeated seven and only lost to one, Khabib Nurmagomedov. But against left-handed antagonists, the story is very different. He fought five times, won three, and lost twice - a much tighter advantage.
Even though Conor McGregor has performed in five bouts against southpaws, he only faced three different fighters since he had a rematch with Dustin Poirier and Nate Diaz. The third contender was Marcus Brimmage - Conor McGregor's first UFC fight.
Against Diaz and Poirier, Conor McGregor has a 50/50 success rate, with a victory to each side. But why does Conor McGregor's fighting get so badly affected when facing another person with the same dominant hand?
Conor McGregor is used to competing against orthodox fighters
Former UFC welterweight contender Dan Hardy, who nowadays is an MMA analyst and a color commentator for the promotion, gave his opinion in the comment section of the Instagram post above. In the comment, Hardy broke down Conor McGregor's southpaw effectiveness against other left-handed fighters, especially in his last fight with Dustin Poirier:
"A more refined skillset against orthodox fighters, as the percentage of southpaws, is greater overall. Works the same way for southpaws usually, as well. They are more familiar with and have a more practiced arsenal against orthodox fighters because there are more of them to train with and fight against. McGregor's left-hand delivery against another southpaw is to come over the jab as a counter. It didn't work because Poirier never committed to his jab and exploited the loaded lead leg in the process. Intelligent game planning," wrote Hardy.
