Max Holloway certainly knows a thing or two about the devastation that both Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier are capable of.
Holloway lost twice to Poirier — by submission in 2012 and unanimous decision in 2019 — and was defeated by McGregor via unanimous decision between those fights in 2013.
So, if there's an apt fighter to weigh in with opinions on the Poirier-McGregor trilogy at UFC 264 on Saturday night, it's 'Blessed.' And Holloway did just that while appearing on Friday's UFC 264 live weigh-in show. Heading into the highly-anticipated Poirier-McGregor rubber match, Holloway thinks critics and fans alike might be honing in on leg kicks due to Poirier's success with them in the rematch, while ignoring the ramifications of 'The Diamond' taking down 'Notorious' and what that could mean.
"The one thing I hear you guys all — everyone — talk about is the leg kicks," Holloway began explaining. "But nobody talks about the takedown. Conor's takedown defense against Khabib (Nurmagomedov) was much better than what it was against Dustin. At the end of the day, that thing that Dustin is talking about with Conor, I think so is takedowns.
"If he takes down Conor, we might be in a world of surprise again."
The McGregor-Poirier rematch in January had Poirier launching a quick leg kick, before scoring his only takedown of the fight during the first round. When McGregor made it back to his feet, he was subjected to several stinging calf kicks that paved the way for Poirier to drop the Irish fighter with a heavy left hand and finish him with more punches for a second-round TKO.
Looking back, Holloway thinks that early takedown and calf kicks played mind games with McGregor and left him vulnerable to Poirier's hands.
An early takedown from Poirier in Saturday night's trilogy would certainly irk McGregor, who tweeted last month: "First one to shoots a dusty b—ch." More importantly, Poirier could use a takedown to try to sap McGregor's energy early and thwart any offensive outburst from the former double champion, who is hellbent on producing fireworks.
So, how can McGregor possibly prevent takedowns from affecting the outcome of the rubber match? Well, Holloway has an idea that might help.
"We gotta see the 'Karate Kid' Conor back," he offered, suggesting that McGregor switches up his stance to a more fluid, loose fighting game. "That's the guy I want to see."