Ever the perfectionist, Conor McGregor can still pick out flaws in his last two first round finishes inside the Octagon
In this promo for the new Fight Pass series UFC Rising, the Irish UFC superstar breaks down his third and fourth fights in the UFC against Diego Brandao and Dustin Poirier, respectively.
McGregor scored an emphatic first round TKO victory against Brandao in front of an impassioned home crowd at UFC Dublin. However, even though he shut out the Brazilian’s lights early, the Notorious is still critical over his choice of shots in the bout.
His first regret was hesitating to follow up a partially blocked head kick with another strike.
Go back to the kick. Let it play and watch the pause.
I should have put the foot back down and into the hook kick. It’s taekwondo day one.
Just that little delay and it became calf to chin rather than heel to chin.
After stating his authority with the kicks, McGregor went on to land a barrage of punches that rocked Brandao. The Brazilian was clearly overwhelmed by the force of the strikes, dropped to canvas and turtled up until the ref ended the fight. However, McGregor even had a few issues with the dominant finish.
I wasn’t happy here. I like to showboat, I like to talk and I like to play. That’s when I become so much better. For that one, I felt rushed. I felt like I rushed the finish.
Fast forward to UFC 178, when McGregor took on the then fifth-ranked featherweight Poirier. As promised, the Dubliner pretty much took his head clean off and earned his second TKO win in a row. However, like the Brandao fight, he didn’t find the victory as sweet as you might think.
Yeah, again, there’s another shot I’m not too happy with. It was the safer shot. The uppercut was the shot to throw there.
I’m not happy with the shot. It should have been the uppercut. It should have been that long uppercut. I should have trusted my movement. I’m still finding it. I’m still finding out (about) trusting my work, but the uppercut would have been the cleaner shot there.
There’s just no pleasing this guy.
