Poirier v McGregor 3: Conor McGregor says UFC 264 trilogy fight will be 'end of the road' for Dustin Poirier
- Published
UFC 264: Conor McGregor kicks out at Dustin Poirier during press conference face-off
UFC 264: Poirier v McGregor |
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Venue: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas Date: Saturday, 10 July Time: Main card 03:00 BST Sunday, 11 July |
Coverage: Follow live text commentary and listen to live radio commentary of McGregor's fight on BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Sounds, BBC Sport website and app from 03:00 BST. |
Conor McGregor said his trilogy fight with Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 will be "the end of the road" for the American.
After reverting to trash talking at the press conference for Saturday's lightweight bout in Las Vegas, the Irishman aimed a kick at Poirier, 32.
Poirier said McGregor's "aura's not there anymore" after beating the former two-weight world champion in January to avenge his 2014 loss.
"He's done here, this is it for him," said McGregor, also 32.
The pair showed mutual respect before and after their rematch at UFC 257, but back was the bravado and name-calling from 'the Notorious'.
It took two members of UFC security to help president Dana White keep the fighters apart at the T-Mobile Arena, while McGregor also threw bottles of Poirier's Louisiana hot sauce off the stage.
McGregor briefly held the lightweight title after beating Eddie Alvarez in November 2016 to become the UFC's first simultaneous two-weight world champion.
After that win, he infamously said "I'd like to take this chance to apologise... to absolutely nobody".
"I'm an evolution of that guy," he added on Thursday. "I'm better than that man. I feel like I've come full circle and I look forward to showing it.
"That night was widely regarded as the single greatest performance in UFC history. This performance on Saturday night, I'm going to top it."
'He's Buster Douglas, he'll be known for that'
Conor McGregor now has an MMA record of 22-5 after losing three of his last six UFC fights
Poirier has admitted McGregor "got into my head" in a heated build-up to their first fight in 2014 at featherweight, which McGregor won in under two minutes.
When they met again before UFC 257, McGregor seemed a changed man after rising to superstar status and returning to the octagon following his boxing match with Floyd Mayweather and a brief retirement.
McGregor pledged to donate $500,000 (£367,000) to the Good Fight Foundation, a charity Poirier runs with his wife Jolie.
Poirier also has his own brand of Louisiana hot sauce and McGregor said he was "delighted" to receive a bottle from Poirier at the weigh-in.
This time round, McGregor said he "didn't touch" that bottle yet called the sauce "garbage". He said "your wife is your husband" and chanted "Jolie's wife, Jolie's wife".
He also said Poirier was James 'Buster' Douglas, the 42-1 underdog who pulled off one of sport's greatest upsets by beating Mike Tyson in 1990.
"He's going to be known for that," said McGregor. "It was a fluke win and I'm going to correct it on Saturday night."
Poirier, the favourite for this fight, responded by saying "I don't hate anybody up here. I'm in a different place mentally. Respect to him and everything that he's done."
And when one reporter pointed out to McGregor that he had won one fight since Barack Obama was US president (January 2017), he said "shut your mouth, I'll smash your nose in, you little rat".
Asked why fans should expect anything different after being knocked out in the second round in January, McGregor ignored the question.
Winner hopes to face lightweight champion Oliveira
Poirier put two bottles of his hot sauce back on the top table after McGregor threw three of them off the stage
Although McGregor's win over Alvarez made him a UFC legend, he's stepped into the octagon just three times since, losing to Poirier and Khabib Nurmagomedov to take his MMA record to 22-5.
Poirier's win in January cemented his status as the number one ranked lightweight contender. He now has a 27-6 record after losing just one of his last nine, a unification bout with Nurmagomedov.
But with the unbeaten Russian now retired, Poirier turned down the opportunity to fight for the vacant lightweight belt in favour of a lucrative 'rubber match' with McGregor.
He could then have a chance to become a UFC world champion for the first time, while McGregor hopes to regain the title he was stripped off due to inactivity.
The winner of Saturday's fight is expected to face new lightweight champion Charles Oliveira before the end of 2021, after he beat Michael Chandler in May to succeed Nurmagomedov.
The Brazilian will be at the T-Mobile Arena on Saturday, which is the first UFC event in Vegas to accept fans since the pandemic and is a 20,800 sell-out.
Who else is on the main card?
The co-main event features two top-five ranked welterweights as Gilbert Burns takes on Stephen Thompson.
Burns, 34, is ranked number two after winning eight of his last 10 fights. The Brazilian lost to welterweight champion Kamaru Usman in February, leaving him with a 19-4 record.
'Wonderboy' Thompson, a former kickboxing world champion, is 16-4 and the 38-year-old American hopes a victory over Burns will put him in contention for a title shot.
Former NFL player Greg Hardy, 32, has his 12th professional bout against Australian heavyweight Tai Tuivasa while two top-five ranked fighters from the women's bantamweight division go head to head, Irene Aldana facing Yana Kunitskaya.
And Sean O'Malley hopes to continue rebuilding with a second straight win after suffering his first loss to Marlon Vera last August. The American, 26, faces Kris Moutinho.
Listen to live radio commentary of UFC 264 on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds from 03:00 BST on Sunday with John Gooden, Nick Peet and Jack Shore.