Dustin Poirier lost his first fight against Conor McGregor, all the way back in 2014. Despite this, he is not taking things personally heading into the rematch, and he plans to keep a level head.
When Poirier and McGregor faced off the first time, both were fairly young in their careers. While the Irishman would be the better man that night, they would both continue along parallel paths through the UFC, moving to lightweight and facing some of the best in the world. Now, more than six years after their initial meeting, these two men are set to face off in a highly anticipated rematch, on January 23rd
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It’s Only Business For Dustin Poirier
One of the major things that Dustin Poirier points to that cost him the first fight with Conor McGregor, is the fact that he let Conor get in his head and get him emotional. Despite the fact that this is a rematch against someone who already beat him, Dustin is making sure that he is not making the same mistakes twice. Speaking recently in an interview, he explained that this rematch is not about getting revenge, it is just about competing.
“He was obviously a great fighter in finishing a bunch of guys before me in his UFC career, but at this point we’re both so much more established and have so much more experience, just more mature fighters, and I think you get a completely different fight here,” Poirier said. “I was emotional in the first one. I wanted to hurt the guy. This time I just want to outsmart him, just want to beat him. This is business. This isn’t any ill will towards the guy.
“When I was younger, I used to fight with a lot of emotion. This isn’t the same thing for me. This isn’t about getting even for me. This isn’t like a revenge type of thing for me. This is about moving my career forward, about putting my family in a better spot. It’s not trying to get back a guy who got me. This is just business.”
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Gameplan For Beating McGregor
That being said, it was not just the mindset that ruined Dustin Poirier when he faced McGregor. There was also enough of a skills gap at the time, that Conor was able to finish him in the first round. While he is aware that Conor has gotten better, Dustin has also improved a lot, and he plans on showing that when they face off next year.
“We have to get in there and find out how it aligns,” Poirier said. “Watching footage and stuff like that, I can tell you the guy has one of the best counter-twos in the game. No doubt about it. His timing, his balance, his understanding of distance when guys are being too heavy on their front foot and throwing power shots. He’s a great counter puncher. He really is. I give him credit for that.
“I’m sure he’s always evolving and working to get better. I think people, because he’s been submitted, he’s such a big puncher, people underestimate his ground game. I think his jiu-jitsu and his grappling is better than people give him credit for. I really do. I’m not underestimating this guy in any aspect of mixed martial arts. I’m expecting him to come out as a mixed martial artist, not a boxer, not a one-puncher. He’s coming to fight, and so am I.”
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It will be interesting to see how this fight goes, compared to the first one. The result may end up being the same, but all signs point to a much closer fight between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier this time around.
