Conor McGregor's plans for 2021 will be looking a lot different following his UFC 257 humiliation at the hands of Dustin Poirier.

McGregor was blown away by the American, who executed his cunning fight plan to absolute perfection.

Starting low, Poirier was able to minimise McGregor's capacity for movement before going all in with a flurry of venomous punches.

McGregor, who had no answer for the onslaught, was knocked out for the first time in his UFC career in only the second round of the fight.

Having gone into the fight as the firm favourite, McGregor's loss sent shockwaves through the combat sports world.

Suddenly, all those who had been clamouring to hop aboard the McGregor hype train fled at the next stop.

Any hope of a rematch with the legendary Khabib Nurmagomedov evaporated on the spot along with any realistic hopes of fighting for the lightweight title anytime soon.

However, one of the other major casualties of McGregor's loss has been his supposed fight with boxing great, Manny Pacquiao.

Speaking in the run up to his Fight Island disaster, McGregor explicitly claimed that talks with Pacquiao's camp were at an advanced stage.

However, since the loss, various members of the Pacquiao team have been quoted as saying the demand for the fight has completely dried up.

Now, Pacquiao himself has waded into the conversation to offer his take on why McGregor came unstuck in Abu Dhabi

The Filipino maestro seems to believe that the result had very little to do with Poirier's game plan in the end and much more to do with McGregor's mindset going into it.

"Losing is part of the game," Pacquiao said while speaking to ABS-CBN News, via Marca.

"In sport there are winners and losers, that's all. It is not about defeat, but about how you accept defeat in your life: how you get over that difficult time in your life.

"McGregor had already beaten his rival before and I think that made him underestimate him."

Pacquiao makes a very good point.

There is no doubt that the media tornado building up to the fight focused squarely on McGregor.

Poirier was given very little hope by anyone outside his team and perhaps McGregor bought into that narrative.

While he was said to be in the best shape of his life, you do get the feeling that he had assumed victory over Poirier was given. 

He spoke often of his plans beyond Poirier, which, with hindsight, was a foolish thing to do.

You can be sure there was many a wise old sage muttering that old 'counting your chickens' fable as McGregor lay prone on the canvas.

Sometimes, lessons have to be learnt the hard way.