Conor McGregor told his ‘aura’ has gone after second Dustin Poirier defeat

Conor McGregor has been warned by Dustin Poirier's teammate Thiago Alves that he has "lost his aura" after losing twice to the American.

The former two-weight world champion has taken four losses in his last five contests, including three MMA fights, two of which were against Poirier this year.

And speaking on Sirius XM's Unlocking the Cage, Alves said that Poirier and his team were completely unintimidated by McGregor heading into the trilogy, having already faced him twice.

"In the third fight, there was no more mystery," Alves said. "He knew exactly who he was facing, he knew that the whole aura that Conor McGregor used to have was gone.

"In the beginning, nobody knew who Conor McGregor was, his style and there wasn't that much footage on him for us to study.

"Today it's a whole different animal, we know that at 145 lbs he was pretty tall, he packed a whole lot of power for 145, but at 155 he's just another guy at that top 10, top 5 level.

"We knew that physically and mentally we had the better fighter and we knew that when it comes down to the head of the moment, man, the diamond [Poirier's nickname] always shines.

"It was very good to see that and follow him through the last seven fights."

Poirier is now set for another shot at the undisputed lightweight title, which McGregor has already held, but has alluded him to date.

The Louisiana native was interim champion in 2019, but he lost his unification bout with Khabib Nurmagomedov in Abu Dhabi at UFC 242.

And after beating McGregor for a third time earlier this month, he sealed a shot at Charles Oliveira's belt as the Brazilian's first title challenger, with the bout expected to take place later this year.

Poirier and McGregor fought twice this year, with the American winning both bouts by stoppage, although their trilogy bout was mired in controversy.

They had a rematch of their 2014 bout at UFC 257 in January, which Poirier won in the second round by way of TKO after dominating the fight with leg kicks.

And after the pair organised a trilogy for July 10 at UFC 264, fans were excited to get a definitive conclusion to the years-long feud in Las Vegas.

But the bout was stopped after one round when McGregor broke his leg after throwing a heavy kick, and Poirier won at the end of the first round via doctor's stoppage.

McGregor has since undergone successful surgery on the injury, and has promised to return to the octagon when he's fully recovered.

He is currently in California with his family, who he left at home in Ireland for his fight camp ahead of the trilogy, and was recently spotted out at a Justin Bieber concert wearing a heavy cast.

The Irishman has already returned to training, working on his upper body while still mostly immobile due to the severity of the injury.

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