Dustin Poirier’s coach fires back at Conor McGregor’s cornerman after UFC 264 claim

Dustin Poirier’s coach has hit back at John Kavanagh’s stance that Conor McGregor was on the road to victory at UFC 264 before his brutal leg break, telling his coaching counterpart to check the judges’ scorecards.

The Irishman promised revenge but ended the night on a stretcher after being pummelled during a one-sided first round in Las Vegas, culminating in McGregor breaking his leg in the dying seconds of the opening five minutes.

Poirier, 32, landed a number of crisp shots on the feet and dominated on the ground as McGregor’s only chance of victory came via an unlikely guillotine submission attempt. 

The Diamond handed Conor McGregor his third UFC defeat from four in Las Vegas this month

The former two-weight world champion is typically a fast starter, while Poirier tends to grow into fights. However, The Diamond was quick out of the starting blocks and the fight appeared to be going in one direction before the doctor’s stoppage.

Despite this, McGregor’s trusted coach Kavanagh claimed that he was ‘really happy’ with the first round and that he ‘wasn’t concerned at all’ with the battering McGregor was taking. 

I wasn’t concerned at all, I was actually really, really happy,’ Kavanagh told Laura Sanko. 

The former two-weight world champion broke his leg in the dying second of the first round

Poirier had dominated most of the opening five minutes with some vicious ground and pound

‘At the 4:30 mark, everything’s gravy. Energy looked good, technique looked good. A few adjustments between rounds and I thought we were on track to getting a finish there or at least keep going, keep the rhythm going for the rest of the fight.’ 

Kavangh’s perspective of the fight has resulted in criticism of the SBG head coach, with UFC legend Michael Bisping calling for McGregor to ‘sack him immediately’.

And American Top Team chief Mike Brown has responded to Kavanagh’s stance, instructing his coaching counterpart to look at the judges’ scorecards to understand where the fight was headed.

However,  McGregor’s coach, said he ‘was not concerned at all’ by Poirier’s dominance

Brown (L) has told Kavanagh to look at the judges’ scores to see where the fight was headed 

All three judges Dustin Poirier had the first round scored in favour of Dustin Poirier 

‘It’s not just somebody’s opinion, we’re talking about the judges’ scorecards,’ Brown told MMA Fighting. ‘We had two of the judges had a 10-8 round. So I don’t know how anyone would consider that going well.’ 

Poirier v McGregor III took a nasty turn with the pleasantries of their Fight Island scrap abandoned as the Irishman returned to his trash talking ways.

However, comments made by McGregor in the build up – in which he described Poirier as a ‘corpse’ as well as making disrespectful comments about his wife – did not sit well with Poirier’s camp. 

Poirier was ahead by 10-8 on two scorecards before McGregor’s freak leg injury in Sin City

‘I’m not sure what it is but he did see much sharper with his tongue in the past,’ Brown said of McGregor’s trash talk. ‘Maybe he’s in a tough spot, I don’t know what it is but it also appears he has no lines anymore. Where he used to have some lines, some are ethnical but more lines. But those seem to have gone away.

‘He doesn’t seem to be quite the same fighter both in the ring and with his promotion wise, too. Not sure what it is but something seems different.’

McGregor is expected to be sidelined for at least 12 months after his horror injury, while Poirier is set to challenge Charles Oliveira for the lightweight title.