Mike Brown thinks Dustin Poirier turning down a UFC title shot to fight Conor McGregor at UFC 264 on July 10 is absolutely the right choice.
The American Top Team head coach fully supports his student who will undoubtedly secure the biggest pay day of his career when fighting McGregor for a third time at an event Brown feels could break the pay-per-view record.
“Yeah, this is the right choice,” Brown told MMA Junkie. “Conor is the biggest draw in this sport, and I think this well sell more pay-per-views than any other fight. This potentially will be the biggest pay-per-view of all time. It really has that capability, and it probably will. I believe that, and the title fight will always be there after.
“He’s still getting better all the time, and another guy who has paid his dues more than anyone,” Brown added. “These are the guys that took the long road, the guys that deserve it more than anybody.”
At UFC 257, Poirier was able to avenge the most devastating loss of his career against McGregor. ‘The Diamond’ wrestled early before finding success of the feet with calf kicks. Poirier then used his elite-level boxing skills to stop the Irishman inside two rounds.
Brown believes McGregor and his team are focusing too much on defending calf kicks ahead of UFC 264.
The ATT coach insists the kicks it wasn’t the low leg kicks that got Poirier the win earlier this year.
“I think Conor believes that the calf kicks is what really was the major problem, but it wasn’t the calf kicks that knocked him out,” Brown said. “So I like where we’re sitting in this fight, and I’m very confident going into it.
“The fight game is very complex. This is one weapon of potentially thousands or more. We’re talking about one weapon there. Dustin has got a lot of them.”
How many pay-per-view buys do you think Dustin Poirier vs. Conor McGregor III will do?