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Michael Chandler's coach had an interesting take on Conor McGregor's recent loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 257. Henri Hooft stated that Conor McGregor's corner did not take the damage caused by Poirier's calf kicks into consideration during the fight last weekend. In an interview with Fight Nation, Hooft said:
"The only thing that strikes me was that after the first round, Conor McGregor's corner did not even mention the calf kicks or tell him to maybe switch the stance try to block a kick. I read somewhere that they knew that the calf kick was coming."
"If you don't know how to guard a calf kick, you have a problem. After the first round, I already knew that the leg was gone. And if you have no legs, and you are heavy on your stance because you trained boxing, then you're gonna have a problem," added Hooft.
Conor McGregor himself noted after the fight that he was unable to check Dustin Poirier's calf kicks, which caused a lot of damage to the Irishman's leg. It was due to his damaged leg that McGregor was unable to respond to Poirier's pressure.
Conor McGregor was also visibly unable to mix his strikes as well as he used to. In his last fight with Donald Cerrone at UFC 246, he used many forms of striking in just 40 seconds. However, at UFC 257, he mostly relied on his boxing.
Henri Hooft noted the difference in the mindsets of Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor
Henri Hooft, the head trainer at Sanford MMA noted a possible difference in the mindsets of Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirer leading into this fight.
"I always thought that Dustin is such a good fighter, really. He's been fighting the top guys since I saw him fight. The last couple of years, he has really groomed as a fighter. Also, [he is] a family man, organized, you know," said Henri Hooft.
"I think Conor McGregor is a great fighter, has love for the sport and everything. Maybe if you have a hundred million dollars in the bank, you probably think a little different from the people that still need to make that money, you know. So, I think, [in the] approach to the fight, Dustin was more hungry. But again, I was not part of that camp," added Hooft.
Whether the specific difference in mindset won Dustin Poirier a TKO victory over Conor McGregor or not is open to speculation. However, McGregor's preparation in striking leaned more towards boxing than an all-round MMA game. Therefore, in order to bounce back effectively, 'The Notorious One' must correct the faults in his preparation for his next fight.
