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UFC's Colby Covington on Conor McGregor: 'It’s Not Saying Much to Beat Him Anymore'
July 6, 2021
Beating Conor McGregor has long been considered a huge accomplishment in UFC, but top-ranked welterweight Colby Covington doesn't view it that way anymore.
Appearing on What the Heck with MMA Fighting's Mike Heck, Covington was asked to predict the upcoming UFC 264 main event between McGregor and his former American Top Team teammate, Dustin Poirier.
In reference to Poirier, Covington said, "Yeah, he'll probably beat Conor again. But, I mean, what is that saying?"
Covington continued by expressing his belief that McGregor is no longer the same fighter he once was and isn't committed to being the top fighter in the sport:
"You're beating a guy that has no motivation left in the sport. And I love Conor. He's had a great career, done great things in the sport, but your time's up, too. It's obvious that you're not training every day, it's obvious you're not working on your craft, it's obvious you're working on other business deals to line your pockets and pad your bank account.
"It's just not the same hungry Conor from a couple of years ago. It's a different Conor towards the end of his journey and it's not saying much to beat him anymore."
When McGregor and Poirier clash Saturday night, it will be a rematch of their bout at UFC 257 in January.
Poirier somewhat surprisingly won that fight by second-round technical knockout, avenging his first-round TKO loss to McGregor at UFC 178 in 2014.
That win in 2014 was part of a 15-fight winning streak that helped McGregor become one of the biggest stars in the history of UFC.
Success has been more difficult for him to come by since then, as McGregor is just 3-3 in his past six fights with losses to Nate Diaz, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Poirier.
McGregor has stepped away from the sport on a couple of occasions in recent years, going almost two years between fights from 2016-18 and over one year between fights from October 2018 to January 2020.
Meanwhile, Poirier is on the best roll of his career with just one loss in his past nine fights, that being to Khabib.
During his hot streak, Poirier has beaten the likes of McGregor, Dan Hooker, Max Holloway, Eddie Alvarez, Justin Gaethje, Anthony Pettis and Jim Miller.
With another win over McGregor, Poirier could be next in line for a UFC lightweight title fight against Charles Oliveira in the near future.