Dustin Poirier is not here for Conor McGregor’s talk and shenanigans.
The Diamond sat down with “The Count” Michael Bisping to discuss his rubber match with McGregor at UFC 264 on Saturday, July 10, 2021, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Poirier made it clear that McGregor’s attempts to get under his skin don’t work during their conversation.
“Honestly, the stuff he’s doing, it might be more for him than it is for me. Maybe he needs that. He needs to feel that he’s that guy, you know?”
In the past, McGregor has been masterful in getting inside the mind and under the skin of his opponents. He’s been so good at it that it helped him earned his first undisputed UFC title against Jose Aldo at UFC 194 back in 2015. And whether Poirier wants to admit it or not, it also helped McGregor defeat Poirier in their first fight at UFC 178 in 2015. McGregor earned performance bonuses in both instances.
Still, Poirier believes that this new McGregor doesn’t engage in the antics to gain a competitive edge. Instead, Poirier believes he does it out of the insecurity McGregor has about his ability to defeat Poirier a second time.
“Like I said it talking to Brett [Okamoto], I feel [Conor’s] insecurity. You know, he’s worried the pressure’s on him. This is just another fight for me. Of course, it’s a big one. But [for] him, everything he’s built himself up to? You know, you go out there and get beat up twice by me, get stopped again, I mean, it’s not good. It’s not good for business. “
McGregor upped the stakes this week, tweeting a message request allegedly sent to him from Poirier’s wife, Jolie. And while Poirier sounds confident, one still has to wonder if the low blows involving his wife may have rattled him just a bit.
“If it was real and my wife was messaging him or something like that, then it’s a good one. But if it’s fabricated, you know, me and my wife were laughing about it yesterday when I was at the grocery store. It’s just, there’s no holds barred in the sh*t talking, you know, so that’s the way it goes.”
Regardless of the trash-talking, one thing is for sure. Dustin Poirier believes that he will finish Conor McGregor on Saturday night.
“I’m not sure if I’m gonna knock him out. It could be a stoppage by strikes, we’ll see. For some reason, I really have a feeling I’m going to submit him.”
Both men plan on ending the main event of UFC 264 in spectacular fashion.
