Dustin Poirier believes he beats Conor McGregor ‘10 out of 10 times’ if their fight goes past the first round.
Dustin Poirier has told Conor McGregor that he must catch him early if the Irishman wants any chance of winning their upcoming trilogy fight at UFC 264.
Poirier beat McGregor via second-round KO in their rematch at UFC 257 and ‘The Diamond’ believes he beats the former two-division champion ‘10 out of 10 times’ if the latter can’t put him away in the first round.
Poirier spoke to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto about his strategy for the trilogy bout, whether he will throw calf kicks again and what he expects from McGregor on fight night.
“I mean, obviously, he’s gonna try to check calf kicks if I throw them, right?” Poirier said (h/t MMA News).
“Yeah, the martial artist he is and the understanding of fighting he has, I’m sure he can. But I might not even throw calf kicks. I’m expecting him to throw calf kicks, honestly. I’m working on countering calf kicks over here. I’m not even working on landing them.”
“But I think he’s gonna be more aggressive. He’s not gonna let the fight unfold. I think as it unfolded and as I got more comfortable, he realized, ‘Oh, shit, this guy can really fight.’ If I was him, I would try to touch me early and keep me out of rhythm. Because if this thing starts to blossom into a fight: second, third, fourth, we start hurting in there, we start having to grind it out, we start getting a rhythm, I win that fight 10 out of 10 times.”
UFC 264: Poirier vs. McGregor 3 takes place Saturday, July 10 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.