Getty UFC star Conor McGregor will face Dustin Poirier on July 10.
UFC superstar Conor McGregor might have a big plan in his mind about using Dustin Poirier’s own calf-kick trick against him in their upcoming third fight at UFC 264 on July 10, but “The Diamond” claims he’ll be ready for it.
Sure, Poirier broke down his training efforts to Teddy Atlas this week on the latest episode of “The Fight with Teddy Atlas”, and the 32-year-old American told the Hall of Fame boxing trainer that he knows what McGregor is likely going to be working on in camp: giving Poirier the same leg-kick medicine the Irishman got in their last fight at UFC 257.
“I believe that’s what Conor is going to do here,” Poirier said.
Poirier believes that because he remembers the first time he experienced the devastating pain of getting kicked in the calf against Jim Miller in 2017.
Poirier ended up winning that fight, but he limped away from the showdown with a newfound appreciation for calf-kicks.
“After that fight, my leg was so damaged that I had a whole new respect for the calf-kick. I’m expecting Conor to do the same now. He felt how crippling those kicks, and how painful those kicks are…that I think he’s going to try to use them against me now,” Poirier said.
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Poirier Has Way More Tools Than Just Calf-Kicks
“The Diamond” told Atlas he would be ready for whatever McGregor and his training team come up with for the third fight.
Moreover, Poirier said you shouldn’t think for one second that he believes he’ll be able to do the same thing against McGregor at UFC 264. If the calf-kicks are there for him, Poirier will take them. But if not, he said he has plenty of other plans in store for “Notorious”.
“I just used them because they were there. It was damaging him and he wasn’t making the right decisions to start defending them. And I knew how much they hurt,” Poirier said.
Poirier said his only focus for his last training camp was being the best fighter he could be. It wasn’t about revenge for the second fight against McGregor, and he plans on taking that same spirit into UFC 264.
“Of course we’re going to look back at the fight to see some things I did well, see some things I didn’t, and try to improve, but it’s a whole new fight. Every fight I go into I try to treat it like a brand new fight,” Poirier said.
He even suggested he could beat McGregor via guillotine submission, a move Poirier has often tried to win fights with but has yet to succeed.
“I might guillotine him this time. This one might be the one,” Poirier laughed.
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Poirier Reveals Evolution As Theme for Training Camp
McGregor defeated Poirier in less than a minute in a 2014 featherweight contest, but by the time the two stars met again in 2021, Poirier had evolved into a completely different animal.
To hear Poirier tell it, he’ll be something even better for the next fight.
“My goal is to just keep evolving. If I go into this fight the same fighter I was in the last one, I’ve done myself a disservice,” Poirier said.
So the only thing that’s motivating Poirier for his third fight against the world’s biggest MMA superstar is finding out how high he can climb the ladder in the sport.
“I want to find out my ceiling. I want to see what my limits are,” Poirier said.
Poirier Expects Best McGregor
Poirier knows McGregor will be ready to put on the best performance of his life after getting beat up in the last fight, and Poirier suggested he would be prepared for it.
“This is a hell of a challenge. He’s a great fighter, an incredible athlete and now he’s going to be pushing himself even harder trying to get this one back,” Poirier.
Poirier is preparing for the best version of McGregor ever seen in the cage. As one of only four UFC “champ champ” fighters in history and one of only seven that won championships in more than one weight class, that would seem to be a tall order.
But Poirier believes he’ll still be able to beat McGregor again at UFC 264.
“I’m aware that we might see the most hungry Conor McGregor preparing for this trilogy. This is a big fight, and it means a lot for his legacy. As it does mine. So I do believe you’ll get the best of both of us,” Poirier said.
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