Conor McGregor's Latest Comeback Fight at UFC 257 Needs to be His Best

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Conor McGregor returns to the UFC on Saturday evening at UFC 257 following his newest lengthy layoff. If “The Infamous” needs to show he is nonetheless an elite blended martial artist, this newest comeback struggle must be his finest.

Final January, McGregor returned from a two-year layoff at UFC 246 and proceeded to dismantle and knock out Donald Cerrone in 40 seconds. The Irishman deliberate to struggle a number of occasions in 2020, with probably three and even 4 fights set to happen. The COVID-19 pandemic derailed these plans and as an alternative he is been on the sidelines ever since.

This is not the primary time McGregor has needed to take care of a protracted break. After TKO-ing Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 in November 2016 to turn into the UFC’s first fighter to concurrently maintain titles in two weight courses, he took time away from MMA for his boxing match with Floyd Mayweather. It was two years earlier than he returned to the octagon to face Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229, the place he misplaced by way of submission. That led to the 2 12 months layoff earlier than the Cerrone struggle.

Now McGregor is again at light-weight, able to face a well-known foe in Dustin Poirier. The Infamous scored a TKO win over Poirier in 2014 at UFC 178 on his method up the ladder at featherweight. Two fights later he received the interim featherweight title over Chad Mendes, and one struggle later he knocked out Jose Aldo to unify the title.

Whereas McGregor has been sidelines for a lot of the previous 4 years, Poirier was been working. Because the begin of 2017, the Louisiana native has received six of eight fights, with one loss and a no contest towards Eddie Alvarez. His solely loss got here towards Nurmagomedov who dominated, then submitted Poirier at UFC 242 in September of 2019. Given how unbelievable Khabib is, there is not any disgrace in struggling that defeat.

Poirier is an motion fighter, which ought to make him a very good opponent for McGregor. The UFC is hoping for a battle, not a staring contest. Poirier is at the moment No. 2 within the UFC’s light-weight rankings and the 32-year-old has earned that spot. He is a improbable fighter in peak situation, in contrast to Cerrone who was clearly on the downslope when he stepped in to face McGregor.

If he needs to win on Saturday evening and promote the world that he is nonetheless a title contender, McGregor should stay calm and choose his spots. Poirier goes to need to show he deserves one other title shot, so he might come out aggressive searching for an enormous, flashy win. McGregor has to make use of his accuracy and punching energy effectively with out tiring himself out. The alternatives for a knockout will likely be there, however he cannot danger gassing out early as he is achieved beforehand.

It needs to be an ideal matchup for 2 fighters who know one another effectively. If McGregor needs show he nonetheless belongs atop the UFC, he’ll have to show in his finest efficiency in years.