Conor McGregor’s aura was ‘gone’ after first dramatic UFC loss to Dustin Poirier, says Diamond’s cornerman

CONOR MCGREGOR’s aura was non-existent going into his UFC 264 trilogy bout with Dustin Poirier, a fight insider has claimed.

The Notorious suffered a first-round TKO defeat to his old featherweight rival earlier this month courtesy of a broken leg, which he shattered in the final seconds of the stanza.

Sportsfile

Thiago Alves reckons Conor McGregor’s mystique has disappeared[/caption]

Reuters

The Notorious suffered a horrific leg break in his trilogy fight with Dustin Poirier[/caption]

But the Irishman was being resoundingly beaten up by the former interim lightweight well before his night was brought to a premature end.

And Poirier’s cornerman Thiago Alves believes he took out the UFC’s poster boy again because he knew exactly what to expect from him.

During an appearance on Sirius XM Radio’s Fight Nation, the former UFC welterweight title challenger said: “In the third fight, there was no more mystery.

“He knew exactly who he was facing, he knew that the whole aura that Conor McGregor used to have was gone.

“In the beginning, nobody knew who Conor McGregor was, his style and there wasn’t that much footage on him for us to study.

“Today it’s a whole different animal, we know that at 145 lbs he was pretty tall, he packed a whole lot of power for 145, but at 155 he’s just another guy at that top 10, top 5 level.

“We knew that physically and mentally we had the better fighter and we knew that when it comes down to the head of the moment, man, The Diamond always shines.

In the third fight, there was no more mystery

Thiago Alves

“It was very good to see that and follow him through the last seven fights.”

McGregor, 33, was released from hospital two weeks ago after successfully undergoing surgery on his broken leg.

And the former two-division champion recently revealed he went into the rubber match with ‘multiple stress fractures’.

In a six-minute-long Instagram video, he said: “The leg is better than ever.

“I was injured going into the fight. People are asking me, ‘When was the leg broke?

“At what point did the leg break?’ Ask Dana White, ask the UFC, ask Dr. Davidson, the head doctor of the UFC.

JOIN SUN VEGAS: GET A FREE £10 BONUS WITH 100s OF GAMES TO PLAY AND NO DEPOSIT REQUIRED (Ts&Cs apply)

“They knew, I had stress fractures in my leg going into that cage.

“There was debate about pulling the thing out because I was sparring without shin pads and I would kick the knee a few times.

“So I had multiple stress fractures in the shin bone above the ankle and then I have trouble with the ankle anyway throughout the years of f***ing fighting all the time.”