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Conor McGregor Says He's 'Most Dangerous' He's Ever Been Ahead of Poirier UFC Fight
July 8, 2021
Despite losing to Dustin Poirier in his most recent fight, Conor McGregor is confident he will get revenge Saturday at UFC 264.
In an interview with Mike Bohn of Rolling Stone, McGregor said: "I'm going to knock him out. Without question. I'm the most dangerous I've ever been; I'm the most focused I've ever been. And I'm going to take him out. He won't have any way to deal with what I'm bringing on Saturday, and that's it."
McGregor and Poirier last met at UFC 257 in January, and it was Poirier who pulled off the upset with a second-round technical knockout, avenging a loss to McGregor at UFC 178 in 2014.
The 32-year-old McGregor is one of the most accomplished fighters in UFC history, as he has a 22-5 record to his credit and has won the UFC featherweight and lightweight championships.
While he remains a top draw as well, success hasn't been as easy to come by for the Irishman in recent years.
Over his past six fights, McGregor is just 3-3, with losses to Nate Diaz, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Poirier. Prior to the loss to Diaz at UFC 196 in 2016, McGregor was on a 15-fight winning streak in MMA.
Unlike McGregor, the 32-year-old Poirier is in the midst of the best run of his career over the past few years. With the exception of a loss to Khabib at UFC 242 in 2019, Poirier has not lost a fight since falling to Michael Johnson in September 2016.
The Diamond is 7-1 with one no-contest in his past nine outings, beating notable names like McGregor, Max Holloway, Justin Gaethje and Anthony Pettis along the way.
McGregor's comments in the Rolling Stone interview were in stark contrast to what top-ranked UFC welterweight Colby Covington said about him this week.
Appearing on What the Heck with MMA Fighting's Mike Heck, Covington picked Poirier to beat McGregor before adding:
"You're beating a guy that has no motivation left in the sport. And I love Conor. He's had a great career, done great things in the sport, but your time's up, too. It's obvious that you're not training every day, it's obvious you're not working on your craft, it's obvious you're working on other business deals to line your pockets and pad your bank account.
"It's just not the same hungry Conor from a couple of years ago. It's a different Conor towards the end of his journey and it's not saying much to beat him anymore."
Despite McGregor's recent struggles, UFC President Dana White is bullish about his chances of putting on a good performance Saturday.
Speaking to The Mac Life (h/t Damon Martin of MMA Fighting), White said he believed McGregor is "taking this fight a lot more serious than he did the last fight."
If that is true, McGregor has a chance to get back on track and in the UFC lightweight title hunt, but another loss would force him to make a long climb back up the ladder, and it is unclear if he would be interested in attempting that climb.