On July 10th at UFC 264, we will likely see the fight that will generate the most PPV buys for the promotion in 2021. That fight is the trilogy fight between “The Notorious” Conor McGregor (22-5) and “The Diamond” Dustin Poirier (27-6, 1 NC).
McGregor and Poirier fought for the second time back in January at UFC 257. The fight started out well for McGregor who won the first round on all three judges scorecards. Poirier admitted after the fight that McGregor stunned him pretty good in the first round.
However, McGregor failed to follow up and the fight continued into the second round. While McGregor got the better of the first round, Poirier started doing damage to McGregor’s leg. McGregor took more of a boxing approach and was extremely heavy on his front leg.
Poirier started working his calf kicks later in the round and they really paid off in the second round. One massive calf kick followed with a big hook had McGregor a little wobbled against the fence.
Poirier is a dog when it comes to finishing fights and he was seeing red at UFC 257. Once McGregor was hurt against the fence, Poirier swarmed and ended up stopping McGregor and handing him his first knockout loss of his career.
Same result at UFC 264?
The lead up to this fight at UFC 264 seems to have a different feel than the one in January. Back in January, both men were extremely respectful and even posed for pictures together at the weigh-ins after Poirier gave McGregor a bottle of his hot sauce.
However, this fight has a completely different feel. After Poirier stated publicly that McGregor skipped out on a donation to his charity, McGregor completely flipped the switch and reverted to the old Conor McGregor.
McGregor threatened to fight someone else at UFC 264 and called Poirier an ‘inbred hillbilly.’ Following this spat, McGregor donated $500,000 to a charity in Lafayette, Louisiana. However, the donation didn’t go to Poirier’s charity.
Poirier told ESPN’s Ariel Helwani that he didn’t take it personally because it’s not his money. Poirier said, “At the end of the day, charity wins and that’s what matters. It wasn’t a slap in the face, it was a high five.”
Later in the interview Helwani asked Poirier about UFC 264. Poirier is expecting the best Conor McGregor, but he doesn’t see the result changing at all.
“I’m going to stop Conor again. July 10th, I’m going to get my hand raised and finish Conor McGregor again.”
Dustin Poirier on UFC 264 trilogy with Conor McGregor