Dustin Poirier has brushed off what he called 'excuses' from Conor McGregor in the wake of the Irishman's defeat at UFC 264 a fortnight ago.
In what was slated to be the third and final matchup in a trilogy of bouts between the rivals, McGregor suffered a broken leg at the end of the first round and the fight had to be stopped, thus handing Poirier the victory.
McGregor doubted the validity of Poirier's win, describing it as 'illegitimate' due to the part his own injury played in the outcome.
The Dubliner also threw jibes at Poirier and his wife who was ringside as the bout concluded, and that drone of verbal attack coupled with his disputing of the outcome made for a feeble riposte in Poirier's eyes:
“Right off the bat, mentally, I just feel like it’s weak,” Poirier said.
“It’s weak. It’s excuses, but I’m trying not to read too far into it or go down these days of reading what videos are out and what people are saying because I’m back home with my family.
"It’s a win on my record. I know I did what I needed to do in my fight, pre-fight, my training camp. I crossed and checked all the boxes I needed to check, gave it my all, and went out there. Like you’re saying, it’s noise.
“Whatever people are gonna say or he’s gonna say, it just it is what it is. I’m healthy, I’m safe, I’m back home, I have another win on my record, and I’m still the No. 1 contender, so those are facts.”
It seems as though Poirier is well adjusted to hearing the excuses from the Irishman.
After beating McGregor via strikes in the preceding fight at UFC 257 in January, Poirier said he had to deal with hearing a lot about how McGregor was distracted by a potential boxing match with Manny Pacquiao which drew his focus away from his UFC bout:
“There were a lot of excuses in the last one too,” Poirier said.
"He was getting ready to box.
"He wasn’t focused on mixed martial arts, he was getting ready to fight Manny Pacquiao.
"You know, a lot of reasons, a lot of excuses.”
The third fight between McGregor and Poirier drew a reported 1.8m pay-per-view buys. It would seem there is significant interest in the rivalry among fans.
Despite Poirier's retaliation, he did point out that McGregor is an incessantly good promoter who is always thinking about the next fight:
"He’s an incredible entertainer that gets people interested in pay-per-views, that gets people interested in whatever product he’s coming out with next," Poirier said.
"He's one of the best promoters that’s ever done it. I’ve never seen a promoter promoting something, lining up the next fight, sitting there holding a broken leg.
"It’s crazy.”
With McGregor smarting and believing he had little opportunity to fight in the latest matchup, he will be eager for another crack at Poirier once his ankle has healed.
