Joe Rogan thinks Conor McGregor lost to Dustin Poirier at UFC 257 for two reasons.

The longtime UFC commentator broke down what went wrong for McGregor when discussing the Jan. 27 fight on a recent episode of the Joe Rogan MMA Show.

First off, Rogan thinks McGregor’s inactivity led to his demise. Entering UFC 257, McGregor (22-5 MMA, 10-3 UFC) had only competed in mixed martial arts once since October 2018 – a quick TKO victory over Donald Cerrone. Secondly and perhaps foremost, Rogan credited Poirier (27-6 MMA, 20-6 UFC) with making vast improvements and advancements in recent years.

“I don’t think it’s necessarily a rich thing,” Rogan told guests Kevin Holland and Travis Lutter. “I don’t know if that affects him that much. I do think it’s inactivity and I do think Dustin has gotten a lot better. At 145, Dustin was depleted and diminished. At 155, he’s f*cking huge. He doesn’t even look like a 155er. He looks like a 170. His back is f*cking gigantic. … Dustin is f*cking good, man. He is f*cking good.”

From a technical standpoint, Rogan thinks Poirier’s calf kick is a nightmare weapon for McGregor’s style, as was evidenced by the way the fight played out at UFC 257.

“When that leg is available for that low calf kick, that changes everything,” Rogan said. “It changes your whole approach. Conor is also a guy who has never been known to switch back and forth. He doesn’t like to have his left leg forward. Once his leg is getting chewed up, it’s not that he has that option that he can fight just as good from orthodox.”

With all signs pointing toward a trilogy fight between Poirier and McGregor being next, Rogan won’t count out the Irish fighter. Rogan emphasized how McGregor found some success at UFC 257 despite the final outcome.

“I would never say ‘hands down,’ (Poirier will win again),” Rogan said. “You never know, because Conor did have moments in that fight. He had moments in the first round. Dustin said there was a moment in the first round where he got his bell rung and he was in trouble. Imagine if Conor connects again. That’s how fights are. Weird things happen.”