Conor McGregor suffered a second-round TKO defeat at the hands of Dustin Poirier on Saturday night. The pair clashed in the main event of UFC 257, with McGregor entering the bout as an extremely heavy favorite.
Confidence in McGregor’s ability to beat Poirier stemmed from his win over him back in 2014, when they fought for the first time.
History did not repeat itself in 2021. After overcoming an early flurry, Poirier’s strategy and perseverance paid off — culminating in a dominant finish over McGregor. Many a memes subsequently went viral.
After the match, Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard offered an extremely blunt assessment of McGregor’s disappointing loss.
When people suggested that Lillard was simply being a hater, he fired back by pointing out that he was actually a huge McGregor fan.
Lillard has never been one to shy away from offering his honest assessments. A few weeks back, doing so as it pertained to Stephen Curry earned him some pushback. Much as was the case in that situation, there doesn’t appear to be any malice in Lillard’s heart when he makes these comments, he is just saying what he truly believes.
Lillard wasn’t the only notable personality to respond to McGregor’s stunning loss.
Over the past year-and-change, McGregor has made headlines for things outside the Octagon. It is difficult to stay at a championship level as a mixed martial artist when your focus isn’t 100 percent on the sport.
That general idea was reflected in McGregor’s performance on Saturday night, and was likely the core principle of the message Lillard was trying to get across.
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