All signs still seem to be pointing toward a trilogy bout between
Dustin
Poirier and Conor
McGregor later this year.
Porier is coming off a second-round technical knockout victory
against the Irish superstar at UFC 257 on Jan. 23, while McGregor
stopped “The Diamond” via first-round TKO in their first meeting at
UFC 178 in September 2014. During a recent appearance on “The Joe Rogan
Experience” podcast, Poirier discussed why a third matchup
remains appealing.
“Conor wants the trilogy and I do too,” Poirier said. “We’re just
trying to get the right deal structured. This is going to be a big
fight. He knocked me out, I knocked him out. The trilogy. For sure
one of the biggest fights this year, but maybe of all time… So I
think the trilogy makes a lot of sense and a lot of money. So we’re
just trying to get the right deal structured and see what the time
frame is. Because for a guy like Conor, you want the fans in there,
even if it’s limited.”
While Poirier would accept a lightweight championship bout against
McGregor, he doesn’t think the SBG Ireland representative’s recent
track record warrants a title shot.
“Conor’s been away so long, his last two fights at 155, he’s lost,
so you can’t put him in there for a title fight. How could you
justify doing that when you have guys like [Charles] Oliveira?”
Poirier said.
Despite the impressive nature of his latest triumph, Poirier
expects to see a different version of McGregor should they square
off for a third time.
“It’s fighting. I don’t think you ever really [have someone’s
number]. He’ll make adjustments. It will be a completely different
fight. Like the first and the second were different, the third
one’s gonna be different as well because I’m gonna make adjustments
as well. I’ve got to switch it up and keep things fresh and keep
him guessing.”
If everything comes together as he hopes — which is never a given
when McGregor is involved — Poirier would like to see the trilogy
take place sometime this summer.
“June, July,” Poirier said. “I will, if I get the call and it’s
time to go to work, I will lock myself in training camp, but I’m
still not right now ready to go back to Florida a month removed
from the last fight and then lock down for another 10 weeks or
whatever it is. So we’ll see. If they call, I will do it but I’d
rather it be a bit further. Let me enjoy my life back home in
Louisiana before I go right back out to Florida.”