Changes in McGregor's behavior

On the night of July 11, Las Vegas will host one of the most anticipated mixed martial arts events of the year. The T-Mobile arena will host the UFC 264 tournament, the closing of the program of which will be the third fight between lightweight stars - Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier. If he wins, the Irishman will take revenge for the crushing defeat in January 2021 and win the title of the first contender for the lightweight title. At the same time, defeat can not only completely deprive him of self-confidence, but also call into question his future in MMA.

Less than six months have passed between McGregor's second and third fights with Poirier, but the atmosphere around the duel is fundamentally different.

In January, the Irishman was often too kind and unusually respectful towards his opponent, which was strikingly different from his usual behavior.

Perhaps he himself considered that it was excessive good nature that prevented him from performing in full force, therefore, on the eve of the revenge, he again forgot about manners and began to actively use the proprietary trash-talk.

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Posted by Conor McGregor Official (@thenotoriousmma)

At the beginning of the training camp, McGregor promised to no longer act like a good guy, quoting the song of the famous rock musician Alice Cooper, and especially intensified in the last week before the show.

So, first, he posted on Instagram several photos from their previous duel with Porier, laughing at the shape of his counterpart's ears.

And then he published an audio message on Twitter, in which he called Dustin a "dummy" and said that he was "following him."

The Irishman also did not do without dirty tricks, once again affecting the opponent's family.

At one time, he spoke extremely rudely about the wife of Khabib Nurmagomedov, and this time the focus was on the wife of Dustin.

So, on social networks, McGregor posted a screenshot allegedly confirming Jolie Poirier's desire to enter into personal correspondence with him. 

pic.twitter.com/kdI3GStMeL

- Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) July 6, 2021

Scandalous sparring Poirier

As for the American, although he did not allow himself to make rude and provocative statements about his opponent, he still became a figurant of a small scandal.

The reason for this was the publication of a video recording of his training in preparation for the battle with McGregor, during which Poirier knocked down his sparring partner, after which he shouted the phrase "And new".

Usually, the announcement of a new champion in martial arts begins with these words.

It is noteworthy that a fragment of the sparring was published by another famous UFC fighter Colby Covington, who for a long time has not been on the best terms with Poirier.

And it was not so much the heavy blow of the former interim lightweight champion or his victorious cry that attracted him, but the equipment of the athletes.

So, during a training match, Dustin used a helmet, while his opponent did not.

In this regard, the network began to unreasonably assume that in training, Poirier beats ordinary amateurs, with which he hastened to disagree.

According to the American, his sparring partner was former Titan FC contender Felipe Douglas, whose track record includes 18 wins and five defeats.

“I didn't want people to think that (on the video -

RT

) was an amateur or something.

He was a professional fighter.

I want to say that this happens in the gym during tough sparring, real sparring.

There are times when you train, train and all that, but there are times when you participate in a tough training match, and it was just like that, "- admitted Poirier to UFC Arabia.

Subsequently, Douglas himself commented on the incident.

He agreed with Poirier that some sparring runs in a rather tense manner, but also expressed the opinion that he had no reason to wear protection.

Felipe stated that Dustin is not an evil fighter who will intentionally harm another athlete.

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Publication from colbycovington (@colbycovmma)

White's Opinion and Fury's Forecast

Ahead of UFC 264, many wondered why McGregor is still competing in mixed martial arts. In recent years, he has been the highest paid MMA fighter in the world, and has two UFC championship belts on his track record. According to the head of the promotion Dana White, the Irishman still has enough reasons to enter the cage.

“Look, Conor McGregor loves to compete.

You just have to watch him.

He has a lot of money.

There is no more need to fight.

But he wants to fight.

He is a fighter to the core.

What is at stake is what he wants - a return to the top.

Wanting to fight and beat the number one fighter, he'll probably be the next title contender.

More than competing, Conor McGregor probably only loves money.

Fights make him a hell of a lot of money.

These are the things that are very important to him at the moment, ”said White MMA Junkie.

At the same time, the UFC president did not rule out that in the event of another defeat, McGregor could hang his gloves on a nail.

In this case, his passive will be three defeats in the last four fights, and the return to the top risks being delayed.

“I know what Conor McGregor is like as a fighter.

Many are chatting in public.

Often their words are not true.

But Conor McGregor is always ready to step forward and fight anyone, anywhere, anytime.

He is very rich.

The question is how hungry he is.

We'll find out on Saturday night.

It can be a victory, a defeat or a draw, but a couple of weeks will pass, and we will probably find out what he wants to do next, ”the functionary concluded.

In turn, the head of the AKA (American Kickboxing Academy) hall Javier Mendes also admitted that another failure would make McGregor think about retirement.

However, the ex-coach Khabib Nurmagomedov expressed the opinion that such a development of events is unlikely, because the Irishman will certainly want to leave the sport on a high note.

The American was favored by former UFC middleweight title holder Michael Bisping, while reigning world boxing champion Tyson Fury sided with the Irishman.

He believes that this time McGregor took training more responsibly and has sufficient motivation.

The confrontation between McGregor and Poirier is also expected in Russia.

Former Bellator middleweight champion Alexander Shlemenko shared his forecast for the future duel.

According to him, the American is the favorite.

“This is definitely a serious fight, but it will most likely end in the same way as the second one.

Now, to defeat Conor, you need to do little.

You just need to hurt him.

Well, he will not endure, resist, alter something.

It seems to me that everything will work out as well.

Who is more hungry in this situation?

By all accounts, this is Poirier.

And the one who is more hungry wins, ”Shlemenko said on the YouTube channel“ Let me interrupt you ”.

The driver of Formula 1 Daniil Kvyat, on the contrary, sided with the former UFC champion in two weight categories.

Alpine's reserve pilot believes McGregor learned his lesson from his defeat in January and will not allow such miscalculations in the next battle.

“I'm on Conor's team and I think Conor will win somewhere in the third round.

I think he and his team will correct the mistakes of the last match, "Kvyat said to UFC Russia.

The newly minted Bellator welterweight champion Yaroslav Amosov was not so categorical.

The Ukrainian athlete admitted that he was not sure about the degree of McGregor's readiness for the third fight with Poirier, in connection with which he doubted his success.

“It seems to me that in this fight everything depends on McGregor's condition.

It is not clear where and with whom Conor trained and prepared for this fight.

I have not seen his sparring partners on any social media.

I am confident that Poirier will be 100% ready.

Therefore, the result of the fight depends on how McGregor is ready, ”Amosov said in a video posted on the Big Kush YouTube channel.