Dustin Poirier does not think Conor McGregor‘s strange start against Max Holloway at UFC 329 looked like a normal game plan.
Poirier joined THE FIGHT with Teddy Atlas after Holloway’s first-round injury TKO win over McGregor. Asked what happened in the rematch, Poirier pointed first to the opening kick and the long layoff.
“I think, uh, adrenaline, excitement for finally coming back after five years. I don’t know what he was thinking to open the fight. I don’t know whose game plan this was to open the fight with a flying sidekick or a roundhouse kick, whatever he threw. Uh, when you’re dry, you know, it’s just crazy to me the way the fight started and ended.”
When the conversation turned to theories about whether McGregor was already compromised, Poirier did not claim to know. He said the shoe-removal footage was hard to read, but he also questioned why an injured fighter would choose that kind of opening attack.
“It’s tough to say, man, because he did kind of hop on that one foot when he was taking his shoe off. Uh, but it’s tough to say.”
“If you knew you were injured, I doubt you would throw a jumping sidekick and land sideways on.”
Poirier also pushed back when Teddy Atlas floated the idea that McGregor could have been looking for a built-in way out. Poirier said he has spent too much time around McGregor to see him as that kind of fighter.
“I just don’t, you know, I’ve had a lot of time with Conor over the past 12 years, and I just don’t think he’s a quitter like that. That’s tough for me. I don’t know if that’s possible with him.”
“If he wanted a built-in excuse, a storyline that’s already wrote itself, and he can blame it on his leg, do something dumb, I don’t know if he’s that type of guy, you know? I say a lot of bad stuff about him, but a quitter, I’m not sure. You know, he’s a real competitor and wants to win.”
When the panel kept working through the theory, Poirier repeated that he did not see quitting in McGregor. His read was closer to urgency, panic, and ring rust than a planned exit.
“I don’t think there’s any quitting Conor McGregor. I guess what I’m saying is that if he got into a desperate situation, you know, an urgent situation, a drastic situation where, you know, maybe he tweaked it, you know, taking the shoe off, who knows?”
Later in the same section, Poirier came back to the same point. He said the five-year break, McGregor’s age, and the emotion of the moment made more sense to him than a deliberate plan to start with a flying kick.
“You don’t open a fight with a flying kick as part of a game plan. I think that was just heat of the moment, adrenaline, nerves. He’s been away five years.”
“He’s not the same Conor who might have been able to pull this off in previous fights five years ago, six years ago, where you could jump sideways and land at a weird angle and your knees can take that kind of blow.”
“He’s almost 40 years old. He’s been out for 5 years. I think it was nerves, adrenaline. It was all that. And I think that got the best of him, and he just made a bad decision to throw this kick in the heat of the moment going off of instinct rather than game plan.”
“If his idea was kamikaze, he should have got behind the jab and tried to land that big shot. But doing the worst thing for your legs if you knew you were injured, it’s just a crazy scenario. I don’t know if we’re ever going to know the truth to this, but something’s weird about it.”
The same discussion also moved to how McGregor looked before the injury happened. Poirier said McGregor appeared bloated, while the panel questioned whether the look pointed to a larger physical issue rather than proof of a hidden pre-fight injury.
“Definitely he looked bloated. I thought his face looked a little shiny. Under his eyes looked a little full. His cheeks looked full. Um, you know, that’s could be because he’s been living an unhealthy lifestyle.”
“Also, he is fighting up at welterweight. You know, that’s 15 pounds heavier than his normal weight class at 155. But I don’t feel like 15 pounds would make your face that bloated. I don’t know what’s going on.”
“He looked, his body looked fit. His face looked unhealthy.”
“The thing that’s got me the most concerned right now is his face, the way it looks bloated. I tell you one thing, I can’t tell you exactly what it is, but I can tell you it’s not good.”
“The shiny, swollen face could have been telling us the whole time this guy’s coming into this not at 100%.”
Poirier’s full discussion is below:
Poirier Says Torn ACL Would Likely End Real Comeback
The second key part came when Poirier was asked what should be next. Dana White said doctors suspected a blown ACL after UFC 329, and McGregor later said surgery was next while still talking about one final UFC fight. Poirier framed his answer around the same condition: if the injury is an ACL tear, he thinks the road back is too long.
“It’s tough. Of course, the world would watch him fight Diaz for the trilogy. Uh, the world would watch anything he does, especially in combat sports. So, a boxing match, it’s going to be tough. The thing is if he did, I’m not sure the extent of his injuries. If it’s a torn ACL after 5 years away, that’s another year on the sideline. At his age, I think he’s done.”
“If he tore his ACL, he’s done. He’ll never come back the same, you know. And, uh, that was the big question coming into this one. Can he pull it all together after this horrific injury and come back?”
Poirier also questioned how long fans will keep treating McGregor’s returns as guaranteed mega-events if the appearances keep ending quickly.
“But how many times can you cry wolf before the fans are like, ‘We’re not breaking ticket gate records anymore. We’re not coming. We’re not flying across the world to watch you fight. We know what we get with you. A flash, you know, a flash in the pan. How many times can you do this before people start moving on?'”
He did not say McGregor has no drawing power left. Poirier said McGregor will always have an audience, but made it clear he does not want to see the former two-division champion reduced to novelty bookings.
“Sure. He’s a, you know, once in a-lifetime type of individual. And while he’s still competing, people are going to want to see him compete in person.”
“He’s going to always have a bit of that, but it’s just he has to ask himself, what is he doing? He’s almost 40 years old. He’s been out five years. If his knee’s blown out another year, it’s, you know, with the record-breaking career he’s had, and I would just hate to see him be a freak show fighter like that.”
“I would just hate to see him be a freak show fighter like that and only come out for these exhibitions. I don’t want to see that. That’s not real fighting to me.”
That is close to the same uneasy lane Daniel Cormier took after UFC 329: McGregor still matters, Holloway still won, and the ending did not give anyone a clean answer. Poirier’s version is more direct. If the injury is as bad as feared, he sees the Holloway rematch less as a setup for another run and more as the moment the real comeback may have ended.
