John Kavanagh has given his thoughts on Conor McGregor breaking his leg, which resulted in his TKO loss to Dustin Poirier in their trilogy fight at UFC 264, and what the future holds for âThe Notorious’.
Guillotine Attempt Was Planned
Early in the first round, Poirier countered McGregorâs two-punch combination with a huge left hook, which sent him stumbling back. The Irishman shot for a takedown but was put on his own back after a clinch battle.
McGregor immediately attempted a guillotine choke on Poirier, much to the surprise of many as he had said in an interview earlier that he doesnât count submission wins as legitimate. Speaking to Laura Sanko on Instagram (as transcribed by MMA Mania) however, Kavanagh said that the submission attempt was pre-meditated.
âI studied Dustin a lot on the fence, his fight with Holloway for example,â Kavanagh said. âAnd I knew Dustinâs head would be there for the guillotine. So we had drilled that a lot. Conor has a very very strong guillotine. A slight tactical error going to the back with it. We drilled getting the finish on the feet or at least it would make the takedown attempt go away and then weâd be back to the center of the Octagon and back to boxing.
âAs somebody who likes guillotines myself, the temptation to try and throw that leg over the back and just get the finish is very very strong, and Conor was the one in there, he must have thought the grip was right and he went for it. Thatâs what fightingâs about, he went for it. Dustin did an incredible job getting his leg over to the right side of his head to relieve the pressure.â
It Was All Going Well UntilâŚ
Poirier struggled with the guillotine momentarily, but was able to escape and rain down vicious elbows on McGregor from top position, up until he stood up complaining that the Irishman was grabbing his gloves.
Despite the damage McGregor took in the grappling exchange, Kavanagh said that he was relaxed as everything was going according to plan, until the former two-division championâs lower leg snapped.
âThere was a bit of a struggle to get the head free and then he landed some decent ground and pound,â Kavanagh said. âMost of it on the forearms and the gloves, Conor had no marks, no bruises, swelling, cuts, anything like that. So most of it was parried, but for sure that was Dustinâs moment. Heâs obviously winning there in the judgesâ eyes. When Dustin stood up, Conor got off some nice upkicks. Some of them whizzed by and others landed.
âSo all and all up until that point, letâs say four and a half minutes, I wasnât concerned at all, I was actually really really happy. And I knew what I was going to be saying between rounds … I was just going to tell him to keep doing what he was doing with the kicks and try to close a bit heavier this time. So weâd be looking to rather than exchange punches to slide back and left hand like he did on Aldo. Look for those kinds of techniques. Slide back left cross, slide back left uppercut, and kind of let Dustin fall into that kind of open space. At the four and a half minute mark, everythingâs 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.â
How McGregor Broke His Leg
Although McGregor’s leg gave way when he stepped on it, Kavanagh believes that the fracture happened when one of the Dublin nativeâs liver kicks landed on Poirierâs elbow moments earlier.
âYou can watch this back, thereâs lots of clips on Instagram, where he throws a leg kick, he moves away, and then he throws a teep, thatâs one of the techniques we definitely wanted to apply in this fight,â Kavanagh said. âObviously being a southpaw, that liver side is there so we were looking to teep in that area. … Thereâs a high danger of catching the elbow, and if youâre watching back you can clearly see thatâs where the fracture happened.
âHe very aggressively threw that kick. Dustin shelled with that lead hand, and the foot wraps around the elbow in a similar fashion to Weidman and Silva, they wrapped around the shin. Conor wrapped his shin around the elbow. He stands back on it and you can see the bone almost protrude through the skin. I donât know how he didnât fall there. He comes in there, they both exchange crosses, they both miss with their back hands, he goes to step back on it and thatâs when thereâs that horrifying fold underneath. Again weâve seen it a handful of times over the years, Weidman and Silva being the big ones. Of course, thatâs the end of the contest. So yeah, bitterly disappointed.â
Kavanagh continued by speculating that an ankle injury McGregor sustained in training camp may have contributed to the leg break.
âLittle bit of that ankle injury had been aggravated during that camp,â Kavanagh revealed. âWeâd gotten a scan on it. Did that have a small part to play in weakening it? I donât know. … There might have been something in there. It seems unusual that a young healthy fit man can wrap his foot around an elbow without there being something there before. But you know, you can play those guessing games all day long.
âCredit to Dustin, thatâs the way fighting goes. He won. Itâs an unfulfilling end to the night. I donât want to put words in Conorâs mouth, but even if it goes in a way where you just get punched out, you can say âAll right, you got me.â This doesnât feel properly finished, so to speak. Closure, thatâs the word I was looking for.â
McGregorâs Post-Fight Comments
In his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan, McGregor once again verbally attacked Poirier and his wife, Jolie, threatening to kill them both.
Kavanagh defended McGregor’s comments, saying that he was in a vulnerable state, and slammed Joe Rogan for interviewing him in that moment.
âHis foot is literally hanging down. Itâs a clean fracture of the fibula and tibia, it went straight through, the footâs hanging down,â Kavanagh said. âYou can only imagine the rush of hormones and whatâs going on in your body, the pain, it was on fire. And then someone sits down and sticks a microphone in your face. âHow are you feeling about the end?â
âCome on. Come on! When has he ever not been graceful at the end? Letâs get backstage, letâs get a proper assessment from a doctor. Letâs get an x-ray. So I was pretty miffed at the idea of sticking a microphone in his face at that point.â
Whatâs Next?
With his fighter suffering a gruesome injury that will take some time to recover from, Kavanagh isnât thinking too far ahead and believes the focus should be on rehabilitation for now.
âHeâs in hospital right now, Iâll be heading over after this to check in on him,â Kavanagh said. âYou know, itâs a bitter pill to swallow, this sport has the highest highs and lowest lows. We got to take some time to assess what the next move is. Obviously now, rehab and recovery is where itâs at.
âThe 24 hour goal for today is to meet with the surgeon and his team after the operation is finished. Get their take on it, get their assessment. Itâs not till theyâve opened them up and actually looked at the joint and whatâs going on in there that they can tell us what the next while is going to look like in terms of rehabilitation.â
That being said, Kavanagh is sure that McGregor will fight again.
âHe truly loves this and itâs hard to imagine him not wanting to come back, not wanting to do this again,” Kavanagh said. “Because we really just got this fantastic rhythm. Heâs turning 33, which to me is a peaking time where strength meets conditioning and mental and physical and spiritual maturity, everythingâs coming together. I think we have a couple of years of this ahead of us.â
McGregor Updates On His Surgery
In the last few hours, McGregor has taken to social media to confirm that his surgery was a success.
He also shared a video message, in which he reiterated that he’s not done with Poirier yet, and will come back stronger.
“It was not to be,” McGregor said. “You know, Dustin, you can celebrate that illegitimate win all you want, but you’ve done nothing in there. That second round would have shown all.”
Do you agree with John Kavanaghâs assessment of the Dustin Poirier vs Conor McGregor trilogy at UFC 264?
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