3 reasons Conor McGregor will win against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 and 2 reasons he won't

Now we move on to the reasons why McGregor could lose at UFC 264. Here are two reasons he won't win against Poirier at UFC 264:

2) McGregor's potential boxing match with Manny Pacquiao

A day before McGregor's TKO victory over Donald Cerrone at UFC 246, Manny Pacquiao's right-hand man Sean Gibbons made a post on Instagram which touted a potential boxing match between McGregor and the only eight-division champion in boxing history.

On being asked if McGregor would like to be part of the event at the UFC 246 post-fight press conference, McGregor said:

" Yeah, that's the new football stadium is it? I would be honored to be part of that event."

He went on to say:

"What a fight that would be against Manny right? A small powerful southpaw, I'd have to figure out the weight in these type of things, but something that interests me no doubt."

McGregor was later seen at the UFC Performance Institute in Enterprise, Nevada, a few weeks before his second fight with Poirier at UFC 257. McGregor posted a short video that had clips from his training session at UFC P.I. on his Instagram. It was observed in this video that McGregor had changed his fighting stance to a traditional boxing-based stance.

McGregor has moved away from his upright body position and relatively low guard from the previous stance that allowed him to be more fluid and proactive. The new stance has left the Irishman more flat-footed and sluggish as he has his body in a more square position along with a high guard. Although this stance would allow a fighter to have a lot of offensive ability, it has one major flaw. McGregor puts an uneven amount of weight on his lead leg.

Going into his second fight with Poirier, McGregor's stance was exploited by 'Diamond.' Poirier landed several leg kicks that made it sore enough to limit the Irishman's offensive movements. Then, after finding McGregor unable to move at his best ability, Poirier went inside the Irishman's range without hesitation and landed punches that knocked him out.

McGregor needs to keep potential boxing matches out of his mind as long as he's competing in the octagon. The temptation to make money through big boxing matches is hard to resist; however, MMA demands focus and commitment. If McGregor does not respect the tenets of the sport, he might lose to Poirier again.

1) McGregor is not the same fighter he was

Fans could speculate that McGregor's riches have gotten to his head. The Irishman is now a business tycoon, which gives the impression that he's not as hungry as he used to be. Controversies and allegations related to him don't help to prove otherwise.

However, McGregor has continued to fight despite making all the money he needs. He is now cordial and friendly before fights, making fans believe that the Irishman is tired of engaging in trash talk.

His recent loss to Poirier was also disappointing for fans. To make it worse, he used inactivity because of the pandemic as an excuse for his lackluster performance, a shocking excuse by the Irishman's lofty standards.