When it comes to the deciding factor in the UFC 264 main event pitting Dustin Poirier versus Conor McGregor in a trilogy fight, retired former UFC champion Henry Cejudo believes it simply boils down to the Irishman no longer having the “Notorious” aura he once had.
During an appearance on the podcast Real Quick with Mike Swick (h/t BJPenn), the former two-division champion believes this next fight will mirror the duos bout at UFC 257, because McGregor diminished the menacing persona that proved so valuable in his previous fights by playing the role of “nice guy” six months ago.
Henry Cejudo picking another Poirier finish at UFC 264
“Conor McGregor showed his cards. Him trying to pull that nice guy role, it’s okay, but I think that’s partially what made Conor McGregor so great is that he could sh*t talk and get into somebody’s mind. And next thing you know, he’s doing exactly what he would say,” Cejudo told host and UFC veteran Mike Swick. “But now that he became this ‘good guy,’ and now that the calf kick has been working, and everybody’s seen how effective it’s been, it’s not going to go good for Conor in my eyes. I think it’s going to go the same way. Poirier’s going to stop him again. Just because of those facts. He’s lost his groove.”
After presenting a cuddlier “Notorious,” then soundly being finished in the second round last year, Cejudo thinks the advantages McGregor’s unique swagger once gave him are now gone in Poirier’s eyes. For “Triple C,” there are no takebacks in swagger, and he expects the “Diamond” to finish McGregor for a second straight fight.
“That was part of the swagger, and when you lose that; I mean you can come back to it, but it’s not the same to the other person. It might be the same to you, but not to the opponent,” said Cejudo. “I think the fight might go to the third round, but I think Poirier’s going to stop him again. I don’t know how. It might be the kicks again or it might be the hands.”
Despite all the hype and fan anticipation surrounding this rare trilogy bout, Cejudo does not see this as a booking between two elite talents. Instead, he views it as a clash of also-rans who still don’t have what it takes to beat undefeated, and now retired, former UFC 155-pound king Khabib Nurmagomedov.
“It ain’t the best versus the best. It’s two guys that just happen to be fighting for something because Khabib Nurmagomedov doesn’t want to fight. Khabib would kill them both,” he said.
