‘We put you on airplane mode’: Dustin Poirier-Conor McGregor heat intensifies before UFC 264

It’s not quite UFC 264 fight week just yet, but things are heating up between Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor ahead of their highly anticipated rubber match.

Poirier (27-6 MMA, 19-5 UFC) meets McGregor (22-5 MMA, 10-3 UFC) in the main event of UFC 264 next Saturday, July 10 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Poirier will attempt to close out his rivalry with McGregor on top after knocking out the Irish superstar in their rematch this past January at UFC 257.

Things are not as amicable this time around as they were in the buildup to UFC 257. The lead-up to this fight has resembled their first outing in 2014, when McGregor made quick work of Poirier. Prior to that fight, there was plenty of heat between the young fighters. A major difference since then is that Poirier has grown up a lot both inside and outside of the octagon.

“The good thing about this one is if it’s crazy Conor again, I just don’t give a f*ck,” Poirier told ESPN. “I really don’t care and in the last one, too, if he’d have been crazy, I’d have been all right. Mentally, I’m not a kid anymore. I’m a grown man, and I know what matters, and I know what I can control. I just don’t beat myself up mentally like I used to with the critics. I think it’s gonna be crazy Conor again. I’m pretty sure.”

He continued, “I wouldn’t say funny, but it’s – how crazy can you be? You got knocked out last time. We put you on airplane mode in front of the world in Abu Dhabi. What can you say?”

While everything was good between Poirier and McGregor coming out of the rematch initially, things took a downward turn after Poirier publicly put McGregor on blast for not following through with his promise to donate $500,000 to his Good Fight Foundation. McGregor wasn’t happy with his integrity and ended up making a donation – but not to Poirier’s foundation since he didn’t receive a detailed plan on what the money would be used for. From that point on, both fighters have traded barbs on social media, with McGregor recently claiming that “The Diamond” won’t want to stand with him.

“First one to shoots a dusty b*tch,” McGregor tweeted on June 18.

In response, Poirier offered an alternative proposition.

“Isn’t he the one whose always preaching about the flow, the full martial arts, no holds barred, no rules, the ultimate fighting, when he’s talking about boxing and stuff, right?” Poirier said. “How about the first one to get taken down is a dusty b*tch? This is mixed martial arts. Put it all together. It reeks of insecurity to me.”

McGregor was quick to respond on Twitter, reminding Poirier of their exchanges in the clinch when he was able to stay off the mat after Poirier took him down.

“Quick take for you and your team pal – You’s got pucked around in the clinch!” McGregor wrote. “Elbows, knees, shoulders, fists. Looking outside the cage for advice. #strikerturnedwreslter #dustybitch”

Despite the increased trash talk, Poirier remains unfazed. The battle-tested veteran has engaged in some of the most memorable wars in UFC history and is ready to test his limits against McGregor.

“I want a blood-and-guts war,” Poirier said. “I want to question my will to fight. I want it to be uncomfortable from the first second of the first round. I want to find out all this stuff. That’s the thing about fighting, too: The only thing that’s real is when that bell rings or whenever you show up and you’re training. That’s the only real part about fighting that I love anymore.

“Everything else is who can say some cool sh*t, get a lot of likes on Instagram, who can get more followers, who can do some kind of funny video. It’s just disgusting, it’s a fashion show, it’s all fake, but the real part about it is, when that bell rings, it’s 100 percent real, and I want to show him that and find that out about him. Talk it up, say this, say that, let’s find out who really wants to fight, because I know I can count on me. Not a question in my mind.”

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