Conor McGregor vs Dustin Poirier fight live: UFC 264
UFC 264 gets underway in Las Vegas this Saturday, 10 July, where Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirer will square off for the third time, almost seven years on since their first meeting in the octagon in September 2014 .
Poirer and McGregor enter Saturday's bout with respective records of 27-6-0 and 22-5-0. The Diamond is seeking his third consecutive victory after his most recent wins over Dan Hooker (June, 2020) and McGregor (January, 2021), while the Notorious, who has had only one fight over the past two and half years, is looking to avoid back-to-back defeats for the first time in his UFC career.
McGregor vs Poirier 1
McGregor and Poirer first locked horns on 27 September, 2014 in Las Vegas. The Dubliner was a relative UFC newcomer going into the fight with just three matches -- all of which he had won -- under his belt since his first in April 2013; while for the more experienced Louisiana native, it was his 13th UFC bout since his debut in 2010.
But that experience counted for nothing for Poirer, as McGregor, who looked more fluid and alert from the very beginning of the three-round featherweight contest, won the fight via a technical knockout in less than two minutes.
McGregor knocked Poirier off balance with a series of spinning kicks very early on, before finishing him off with a barrage of punches to the head as the US fighter found himself kneeling on the floor, prompting the ref to stop the fight with 1.46 on the clock.
"I don't just knock them out, I pick the round," said McGregor, who had predicted he would win the fight within the first round, after the fight. "What the other featherweights don't understand, is that it's a whole ‘nother game when they get hit by me.”
McGregor vs Poirer 2
The pair’s second meeting came at UFC 257 in Abu Dhabi in January, of this year, where Poirier would get his revenge over six years on since that first fight in Las Vegas.
Having particularly targeted the Irishman’s legs with several kicks to the calf area, the Diamond released a series of punches in the third minute of the second before the ref jumped in to stop the fight, as a stunned McGregor huddled up on the floor against the cage.
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Poirier knocks out McGregor in the pair's second meeting.“Yeah I’m happy man, but I’m not surprised, I put in the work,” said Poirier after his victory, which came as a surprise to almost everyone else in the arena. “We’re one and one; maybe we’ll have to do it again,” he added.
And, indeed, the pair will do it all over again in Las Vegas this Saturday, where they sit at the top of the fight card for UFC 264.
McGregor -- who was admittedly taken by surprise by Poirer’s legwork in that second fight, which left him with a badly swollen shin -- will undoubtedly be prepared for any similar tricks should his opponent opt for another leg-focused strategy on Saturday. No doubt Poirer will be aware of this, meaning he is likely to have some other tricks up his sleeve, while versatile McGregor will surely have a few of his own.
UFC 264 Fight card: McGregor v Poirier 3
Main Card
Main Event: Dustin Poirier vs. Conor McGregor, Lightweight
Gilbert Burns vs. Stephen Thompson, Welterweight
Tai Tuivasa vs. Greg Hardy, Heavyweight
Irene Aldana vs. Yana Kunitskaya, Women’s Bantamweight
Sean O’Malley vs. Louis Smolka, Bantamweight
Preliminary card
Carlos Condit vs. Max Griffin, Welterweight
Michel Pereira vs. Niko Price, Welterweight
Dricus du Plessis vs. Trevin Giles, Middleweight
Kevin Lee vs. Sean Brady, Welterweight
Jessica Eye vs. Jennifer Maia, Women’s Flyweight
Ryan Hall vs. Ilia Topuria, Featherweight
Omari Akhmedov vs. Brad Tavares, Middleweight
Jerome Rivera vs. Zhalgas Zhumagulov, Flyweight
Alen Amedovski vs. Hu Yaozong, Middleweight