The Dustin Poirier vs. Conor McGregor feud continues.
At UFC 303, McGregor was supposed to make his long-awaited return to the cage in a five-round main event against Michael Chandler. However, two weeks before the event, McGregor withdrew from the card, citing a broken pinky toe. McGregor's reasons for pulling out of the bout have been heavily criticized, with former rival Dustin Poirier agreeing with his critics while not wanting to give “The Notorious” the benefit of the doubt.
“Hey, pinky?” Poirier asked. MMA Hour“I've battled a lot of injuries. Like Conor said he's battled a lot of injuries, I've battled a lot of injuries over the years, but I don't think a pinky injury is a reason to pull out of a fight. But with all due respect to him, I don't know how serious the injury is. Did I damage a ligament or did I damage a muscle in my foot? There's a lot of injuries in my foot, a lot of little bones, so I don't know. If it's just my pinky, I don't think it's a reason to pull out of a fight.”
Poirier and McGregor have a long history, first meeting in 2014 when McGregor knocked out Poirier at featherweight at UFC 178. Seven years later, the two rematched in a higher weight class in the main event of UFC 257, this time with Poirier knocking out McGregor. This set up the 264 trilogy, where Poirier was victorious again, this time after McGregor suffered a devastating leg injury.
Poirier and McGregor had a generally good relationship leading up to their rematch, but things soured before their third bout over Poirier's promises to donate to charity. After the fight, things took a turn for the worse when McGregor lashed out at Poirier and his family, threatening to kill Poirier and his wife. McGregor continued to intensify his feud with Poirier after the bout, and given the animosity, “The Diamond” is open to a rematch with McGregor if the opportunity arises.
“He crossed a line that can't be undone,” Poirier said.
“I want to smack him. … I saw him say something the other day. He's trying to bring it out on me. He's trying to get me to fight back. I'm just going to go about my day…” [But] Of course, I would immediately say something back and try to fight with him, but that's the way it is.”
McGregor is yet to fight since facing Poirier in 2021, while Poirier is fresh off a fifth-round submission loss to Islam Makhachev at UFC 302 in a lightweight title fight.
