Dustin Poirier has explained he was engaging in some gamesmanship when he pointed at Conor McGregor during their rematch earlier this year.
The American was an underdog going into the bout due to their previous fight ending in less than two minutes with him knocked out, but he pulled off the upset in the second round when he KO'd McGregor for the first time in his career.
And one famous moment on that night in Abu Dhabi was when he pointed to the Irishman after landing a big shot, which led to an iconic image.
"It was just a little bit of gamesmanship," Poirier told TSN. "Letting him know that I had his timing and I'm seeing the openings.
"I'm letting him know I'm in the moment and I'm aware, I'm not in awe of fighting Conor or the first fight and everything is coming together right now."
The American and McGregor dropped the trash talk heading into their rematch than the first fight, when Poirier claimed he had "never disliked an opponent more" than the Irishman.
They exchanged gifts at weigh-ins and were incredibly respectful before and after the bout, but that has turned sour since, with McGregor opting to return to his brash approach that took him to two world titles.
Poirier, however, appears to be maintaining the respect route, even after McGregor pulled a $500,000 donation to his 'The Good Fight Foundation', giving the money instead to a different charity after a Twitter spat between the pair.
"I think he has a big advantage in some areas like his punching power," Poirier said when asked if McGregor was a limited fighter.
"That's been worked on for years, and I'm sure some of it's God gifted, his timing is very good, but I truly believe he is a well-rounded martial artist.
"But he's so successful in those areas that he doesn't have to go in there and shoot for a takedown because he believes he's going to finish the fight on the feet.
"He doesn't have to play jiu-jitsu because he's so confident in what's been working for him, he's knocked out a bunch of greats.
"Don't fix it if it's not broken, he hurts guys when he lands shots and he's so good at that, his timing is so good, I truly believe he is a well-rounded fighter.
"He's at a good gym with good people around him so I would assume he's good everywhere."
Poirier's win set him up for a shot at the vacant UFC lightweight title, but he turned down the fight in favour of a big money trilogy with McGregor.
In the meantime, Charles Oliveira picked up the belt by beating Michael Chandler at UFC 262, and he is now expected to face the winner of Saturday night's fight.
