Tyson Fury delivers verdict on Conor McGregor’s Poirier and Nurmagomedov excuses

UFC: What next for Conor McGregor?

Tyson Fury has admitted he sympathises with Conor McGregor after the ‘Notorious’ blamed ring rust for his defeat to Dustin Poirier, and explained he felt the same way after beating Wladimir Klitschko back in 2015.

McGregor lost in the second round to Poirier at UFC 257, his first bout in a year.

It was just the second time he’s set foot in the octagon since the end of 2018, when he lost to Khabib Nurmagomedov.

The Irishman, who previously held the UFC’s lightweight and featherweight belts simultaniously, explained after the Poirier defeat that he felt he had spent too much time away from the sport.

As a result, he explained, he wasn’t sharp enough and didn’t react well enough to Poirier’s strategy of taking out his lead leg with shin kicks.

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And Fury, who had nearly three years away from boxing after beating Klitschko at the end of 2015, explained that inactivity can be deadly for a fighter and can stop them from getting any sort of rhythm.

“He did [use inactivity as an explanation for his defeat], and he’s bang on right,” he said.

“Conor McGregor fought in 2016, then he had two years out and then he fought Khabib [October 2018]. “Then he had another two years out, and then he fought Cerrone [January 2020].

“Then he had another year out, and then he fought this guy, Poirier. So inactivity kills the cat, no doubt about it.

“When one man’s been active – fighting, sparring and in camps – and one man’s been on the couch, it’s no good.”

Following Fury’s defeat of Klitschko in Germany back in 2015, he had a time away from the sport after struggling with personal issues, and later returned to reclaim the heavyweight throne.

First, though, he had to get through three warm-up fights against Sefer Seferi, Francesco Pianeta, Tom Schwartz and Otto Wallin.

And the ‘Gypsy King’, who later ripped away the WBC heavyweight belt after beating Deontay Wilder, explained the full impact of what ring rust can do to a fighter.

“You lose your timing, you lose your distance, you lose it all,” Fury continued.

“You lose it all, it’s all gotta be gained back within camps and within fighting.

“If you had three fights on the bounce after you’d never been in the ring for three years, in the third one you’d be ten times better than the first.

“I’ve always known it. Because I’m a boxing historian I’ve always known about the inactivity.”

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