UFC legend Michael Bisping slammed Conor McGregor's coaches in the aftermath of the defeat to Dustin Poirier in Las Vegas, urging him to ditch trainer John Kavanagh after 'getting dominated' by The Diamond.
McGregor (22-6) started brightly against Poirier but was carried out of the Octagon on a stretcher after suffering a horrific leg injury at the end of the first round.
However, Kavanagh insisted he was happy with his fighter's performance up until that point, claiming he 'wasn't concerned at all' despite the fact that Poirier ended up landing 36 significant strikes at a 54% success rate to McGregor's 27.
He told Wimp2Warrior: “It was going fantastic. I thought he looked really, really good in there.
"I wasn’t concerned at all. I was actually really, really happy. At the 4:30 mark or even the 4:45 mark, everything is gravy. I thought energy looked good, technique looked good.
"A few adjustments in between rounds, and I thought round two we were well on track to getting a finish there, or keep the rhythm going for the rest of the fight.”
But Bisping couldn't believe what he was hearing as he felt that McGregor was being comfortably outclassed by his American rival and described the defeat as 'very concerning'.
Speaking on BT Sport's UFC 264 post-fight show, he said: "Just like his coach John Kavanagh said, he said ‘oh, I saw nothing that concerned me.
"'I knew that in the second round we were getting the knockout. Nothing else in there concerned me at all.’ If that’s true, John Kavanagh, Conor should fire you immediately.
"That was very concerning, you were on your back and you were getting dominated. It was a 10-8 round, that’s concerning."
Bisping, who was the UFC middleweight champion from June 2016 to November 2017, added: "You don’t want to get your ass kicked, simple as that, and that was what was happening.
"The leg break was unfortunate. But, as I say it gives McGregor an excuse or a reason as to why the fight ended.
"If that didn’t happen, come on; the odds of him turning it around and finishing Dustin in the second round when round one is supposed to be Conor’s best round, it wasn’t good. It wasn’t a good performance.”
Mike Brown, Poirier's head coach at American Top Team which is also home to Amanda Nunes and Jorge Masvidal, was also equally damning.
“I don’t think [a fourth fight is necessary]," said Brown.
"But who knows where they’ll be when Conor gets healthy and is back in there. We’ll see where he goes. He’s got a journey ahead of him.
"Maybe he needs to fight somebody else and get a win or two to get back up there but he’s also the biggest star in the sport.
“He’s changed the game, done so much for the sport. He’s the biggest star the sport has ever seen. He brings a lot of eyeballs.
"He’s done a lot of great things but I think skill wise, we’ve got the superior fighter with Dustin.”
Meanwhile Khabib Nurmagomedov, McGregor's most hated rival, suggested in an interview with ESPN's Brett Okamoto that the former UFC lightweight champion is coming towards the end of his career.
“Judges give for Dustin Poirier 10-8, he maul him on this round," Nurmagomedov told ESPN. “I think if they fight 100 times, Dustin gonna beat him 100 times.
"If [McGregor] wanna come back, OK, make him fight one more time with Dustin Poirier and finish this guy. That’s it.
"I think this is what the UFC is gonna do with him, or maybe he fight Nate [Diaz]. But both of them I think he’s gonna lose.”
Read more: Conor McGregor's one-word response to Floyd Mayweather's bet on Dustin Poirier fight