Conor McGregor urged to adapt like Mike Tyson or face Poirier trilogy torment

Conor McGregor has been urged to adapt his style to emulate Mike Tyson following his UFC 257 defeat by Dustin Poirier last month.

The Irishman was knocked out for the first time in his MMA career against Poirier, who closed the show inside two rounds of their Fight Island showdown after destabilising him with a series of brutal leg kicks.

McGregor has made it clear he wants to settle the score with the Diamond in a trilogy bout later this year, having claimed victory when they first met back in 2014.

And ahead of that potential rubber match, UFC Hall of Famer Bas Rutten has told him that he needs to adapt his stance if he wants to get the better of Poirier.

“Conor McGregor needs to adapt to a little bit more of a square stance,” he told The Schmo.

“That is what I would do. He has to put his legs a little closer to each other because then it's easier to move forward and backward and to the sides, of course, as well.”

Rutten, 56, believes McGregor needs to adopt a “wide-open stance” like former world heavyweight boxing champion Tyson in the trilogy, explaining how that will help him avoid Poirier’s stinging leg kicks.

He added: “Against a guy with low kicks, and now especially, because the blueprint is out now, right?

“Now everybody knows, 'Oh, you are fighting Conor McGregor, so it is going to be low kicks.'

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    • “So, McGregor is going to adapt, and he's going to change his style, but he needs to step more square.

    “If you stand really square like I stand, a wide-open stance like Mike Tyson, Ramon Dekkers like those guys, you know, it's very hard to get low kicks.

    “Because you can simply… you only have to lift your leg laterally, and that's it.

    “You don't have to turn it in and then lift the leg. You are going to be way too late.”

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