In the lead-up to Saturday night’s UFC 264 main event trilogy between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier, fans, fighters, and media have suggested the Irishman needs to return to his old self to score a victory inside the T-Mobile Arena. In a new interview, former Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight titleholder Chris Weidman explains how bringing back key technical aspects could be pivotal in “Notorious” winning this rubber match.

For many, McGregor returning to his championship form means being the brash and bold persona that became the first simultaneous two-division champion in UFC history. However, in a recent conversation with ESPN, the 37-year-old explained how McGregor’s switch to a boxing stance was pivotal in his eventual downfall at UFC 257.

Chris Weidman believes McGregor’s switch to a boxing stance was his downfall in Poirier rematch

“One of the main things I noticed after the fight was, he wasn’t in his typical karate stance,” Weidman told ESPN. “The sideways stance where he is bouncing up and down, and trying to draw guys into the big left hand. For [the rematch] it looks like he was just hands up, walking forward, plodding, and looking to box. Which is great for his punches, but it [makes it] way tougher to check kicks with that type of stance.

“Conor’s only focus [in the last fight] are these punches. So he’s going to be better at punches, but that’s the only thing he’s thinking about. Dustin [was] thinking about takedowns, kicks, he has to be very aware of Conor’s power, because he was obviously knocked out once by it. There’s just a lot more Poirier’s thinking about, so I don’t think his boxing’s going to be on par in straight boxing. But he’s smart enough to adapt and realize, ‘okay, this guys prepared for boxing, let’s kick his legs, and look to take him down.’”

Weidman expects McGregor to bring back a more karate-based stance to better defend against the calf kicks that were a major factor in January. The New York native also believes “Notorious” must combat those kicks with kicks of his own, and force “Diamond” to respect more than just his fists on July 10 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“I think he’s going to be lighter on his feet. He’s going to be more movement-based. He’s not going to be plodding forward, looking to pressure fight. He’s going to be bouncing up on his toes and creating a hard target for Poirier to calf kick him. When he’s in and out, up on his toes, it’s hard to crush those calf kicks like it is in a boxing stance,” said Weidman.

“If you’re trying to box a kicker, they have longer legs than you have arms so they’re always going to connect first. Over, and over, and over again. So if you want to get inside and box, you have to kick first. Work your way in, and you’ve got to get them to respect your kicking.”

The former middleweight champion’s prediction for the UFC 264 headliner

All that said, Weidman is still picking the American to come out on top in this third and final fight between two of the best lightweight fighters on the planet. To him, the Louisiana native offers a more diverse attack, and he doesn’t believe McGregor still has the same “fire” that made him a mixed martial arts superstar.

“After watching their second fight, I’ve gotta go with Poirier. He just mixes it up so much better than Conor, and you could see in January that Conor just didn’t have that same energy we are used to seeing him have. That excitement. That fire. He’s always had that, where he just walks in the cage and is like, ‘This is my cag,’” said Weidman. “You didn’t see that in him last time. So, until Conor can prove me wrong, I’ve gotta go with Poirier.”