Las Vegas, NV — Rest assured, the rivalry between Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor is far from over.
“You never want to get a win that way, but what happened was the result of checking a kick. I’m more than sure of it,” Poirier exclaimed back stage at the T-Mobile Arena, not long after McGregor had snapped a leg at the end of round one. McGregor, who had predicted Poirier would leave the arena on a stretcher following their third fight, was instead the one carted out due to injury.
“He got what he had coming to him. Karma’s a mirror,” opined Poirier. “I busted my ass for so long to put myself in this position. I doubled down on myself after beating him in January when they offered me a title shot. I doubled down on myself, and it paid off.”
Poirier did decline the title fight that instead went to Michael Chandler, choosing a more profitable rubber match with McGregor instead. Few would have predicted the way it ended, and while Poirier will move on to fight for gold, a fourth fight with Conor was all but confirmed Saturday by UFC President Dana White.
There’s a clear reason why Poirier is in agreement. Though he held back from wishing the Irish star any serious harm. “Listen, Conor said some nasty stuff that didn’t make it on embedded. Maybe when this behind the scenes for this fight airs, you’ll see him on the ground still saying some real bad stuff,” said Poirier. “But even that stuff being said, I don’t wish serious harm like that on nobody. The guy’s got kids, I want him to go safe to his family. I pray before these fights, every time before I walk through the octagon door, I’m praying not for me to win. I’m praying we both get out of this safe.”
All that said, “we are going to fight again, whether it’s in the octagon or on the sidewalk. You don’t say the stuff he said,” Poirier added. “He’s saying he was going to kill me. You don’t say stuff like that. He was saying he was going to murder me, you don’t say stuff like that.”
Asked whether there were any surprises in the fight, as long as it lasted — one full round — “Diamond” pointed out the obvious. “When he jumped for a guillotine, that surprised me. He hit me with a good left hand.” McGregor’s guillotine attempt surprised many, as it wound up putting him in a rather dangerous position for a good part of the round.
Watch the full UFC 264 post-fight press conference with Dustin Poirier above.
