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‘All Depends On That First Round’- Chael Sonnen Breaks Down Conor McGregor vs Dustin Poirier II

Published 12/01/2020, 5:27 AM EST

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Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier will meet inside the Octagon once again. The fight will happen in January 2021, and the excitement is off the charts. Chael Sonnen has already provided a breakdown of the fight on ‘You’re Welcome With Chael Sonnen‘.

“Of course. Of course, he could get it done. If you go back and look at that first fight and add trajectory to this fight, it is interesting because it was an all stand up fight. For however long it lasted. If you go back and look at it the pure boxing of that night vs today, Dustin today would get rid of that Dustin faster than Conor did. So I think it is a very different match.”

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Chael added, “Conor does have a speed advantage on opponents, so it might behoove Dustin to mix it up a little bit, particularly early, and get his hands on him and push him, pull him. Not just trade with him but even if we are left with the trade-in, I will at least maintain for you that Dustin is much better today than he was then.”

Since their first meeting, both men have become champions, even though Dustin got just an interim crown. They both lost to Khabib Nurmagomedov in their last loss in the division.

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Conor McGregor vs Dustin Poirier II: Can Dustin beat Conor this time?

Chael would also add, “Dustin has ways to beat Conor but he will have to deal with that speed. I feel it’s though rounds 2, 3, 4, 5 could be more for Dustin than round one. It all depends on how he comes out in that first round. If he takes a few of those left hands again, a few of those kicks to the stomach, that can change a guy. Dustin, I do think technically is very very good. Pure speed and power, it favored McGregor then and it favors McGregor now.”

via Getty

Chael’s breakdown of the fight is completely accurate. However, we still don’t know how Conor will look for his return to 155. Dustin has become easily one of the top fighters in the division and is possibly the hardest test for McGregor in the division right now.

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One could even argue that Dustin should be the favorite heading into this, but Conor does have a greater chance of springing a winning KO than Dustin. Nonetheless, we will see if Chael’s preview comes true.

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Written by:

Ishaan Bhattacharya

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Ishaan Bhattacharya is an NBA, NCAA Basketball, and Combat Sports writer at EssentiallySports. Currently, Ishaan is pursuing a Post Graduate Degree in Journalism from Xavier's Institute of Communication. Previously, Ishaan has written for The Indian Express, The Quint, Sportskeeda, and WrestleClub.
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