Former UFC featherweight and lightweight gold holder, Conor McGregor has claimed that former interim lightweight titleholder, Dustin Poirier will “pay” for being vocal in the media lately, off the back of his rematch success against the Dubliner on ‘Fight Island’ in January.
Returning at UFC 264 this weekend in Las Vegas, Nevada — Crumlin-born striker, McGregor makes his first Octagon walk since his January knockout loss to Poirier, where he suffered his second defeat in his last three Octagon appearances.
Off the back of the defeat, McGregor immediately voiced his interest in a trilogy bout rubber match against Poirier, who followed suit, before the pair were embroiled in a media frenzy after Poirier explained that McGregor and his team failed to follow through with a pre-fight offer to donate $500,000 to his charity, The Good Fight Foundation.
With the pair expected to be less than cordial this time around as tension rises for the rubber match as the pair bid to score bragging rights over one another, McGregor has claimed that Poirier will “pay” for his words recently, explaining how the Lafayette native has been vocal in the media ever since his January knockout victory.
“He’s (Dustin Poirier) talked some amount lately,” McGregor replied to a user who asked him to knockout Poirier with a “proper high kick” on an Instagram live session over the weekend. “He’s gonna pay for that, that’s for sure.“
McGregor has predicted a fourth round front kick knockout win over Poirier earlier this year, which led to the fallout regarding McGregor’s philanthropic efforts.
Poirier also explained recently that while his second round knockout over McGregor last time out was impressive, a high-kick finish of his own over the Dubliner, or a submission win would be an even more impressive method of triumph.
“Kick him (Conor McGregor) in the head instead of the calf,” Poirier replied when asked by Okamoto how he could lodge an even more impressive finish over McGregor. “Submit him, I mean, there’s lot of ways to get him out of there — drag him into deep waters and show him that I’m willing to bleed more than he is. That hurts.”
“Anybody can get caught,” Poirier explained. “We both have been on the wrong side of that — me and him, against each other. That’s what makes this third fight everything it is. We both knocked each other out. Mine (knockout loss) was a long time ago, his was — the karate stance or whatever he says, or he was boxing more, or his calf was kicked. Who gives a sh*t? We have a great story. And somebody’s most likely getting finished again, let’s see who it’s gonna be.“