Poirier's coach plans to exploit McGregor's primary weakness

American Top Team head coach Mike Brown knows exactly what former UFC interim lightweight champion Dustin Poirier has to do to beat Conor McGregor.

Poirier and the former UFC two-division world champion from Ireland are set to collide in a highly anticipated rematch in the main event of UFC 257 on Sunday, January 27 at the Etihad Arena in Yas Island, Abu Dhabi.

“Anybody that knows this sport will realize quickly that the longer it goes, the better it is for Dustin. Conor’s obviously struggled with conditioning. This is not his strong suit,” said Brown in an interview with MMA Junkie.

“Obviously he’s got great timing, good power and good precision, a very good striker, but we’ve seen him more than once struggle with conditioning, and this is also Dustin’s strong suit. He’s got some of the best natural conditioning I’ve ever seen.”

The 32-year-old McGregor, who holds a mixed martial arts record of 22-4, has indeed faded in his past fights when taken to the later rounds.

Brown guarantees that Sunday would be a much different fight from the duo’s first encounter in 2014 where McGregor emerged victorious via first-round technical knockout. More than honing Poirier’s arsenal, the renowned coach believes that his fighter has a sharper mindset now.

“A lot has changed, so much has changed. They’re really different people at this point. Six years of development in a sport, you’re almost a completely different athlete. I would say besides all the technique and technical improvements, it’s mostly about the mindset,” he said.

“The ability to relax in certain situations and suppress emotion and things of this nature. I think this is really where the biggest changes are made, are major technical changes that we don’t want to get into too much.”

And while Brown did not predict how the fight is going to end, he guaranteed that Poirier will come after McGregor for 25 minutes.

“[Poirier is] a guy that has great conditioning, a volume puncher with big power in both hands and both legs, and it doesn’t go away. He can knock you out with either hand or either leg in round 1 or round 5, and it doesn’t go away. That’s what makes him the world-class monster that he is.” -- BAP, GMA News