It seems the good will that was shared between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier seems to be gone as the buildup to their upcoming trilogy bout at UFC 264 has turned ugly. Read what happened and how it could be a benefit for Conor McGregor.
A breakdown of the $500k donation dispute
On Sunday, Poirier revealed on Twitter that the $500,000 donation promised to his charity organisation, “The Good Fight Foundation” by Team McGregor was never received.
Back in January, after Poirier’s TKO victory over the Irishman at UFC 257, Conor McGregor intended to pay the $500,000 as Audie Attar, McGregor’s manager, even confirmed that the payment had been made. Poirier, however recently claimed that the donation was not made and that McGregor’s team “stopped responding after the fight in January”.
That's a fun prediction! @TheNotoriousMMA you also predicted a donation to my foundation and you and your team stopped responding after the fight in January.
See you soon.
July 10th Paid In Full!— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) April 11, 2021
McGregor responded by claiming the payment was not made because their team had been “awaiting the plans for the money that never came”. It seems that McGregor wanted a detailed breakdown of how the money would be spent otherwise “it goes walking”. In turn, Poirier replied McGregor’s team “never responded to our emails regarding the process of where funds would be put to work” and promptly said that McGregor would “taste defeat yet again”.
100% never a debt. You offered, we accepted, and like I said your Team never responded to our emails regarding the process of where funds would be put to work! July 10th you will taste defeat yet Again https://t.co/k3Cu9DG1Me
— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) April 12, 2021
On Monday, Conor McGregor expressed his displeasure with the whole situation in a scathing Twitter post calling Poirier an “inbred hillbilly” claiming their rubber match at UFC 264 to be off and that he was going to fight someone else on the 10th.
https://twitter.com/TheNotoriousMMA/status/1381624066105344000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1381624066105344000%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bjpenn.com%2Fmma-news%2Fufc%2Fconor-mcgregor-says-the-fight-is-off-with-dustin-poirier-at-ufc-264-im-going-to-fight-someone-else%2F
“You’re ripped you inbred hillbilly. Why do you wink with your ears? You f**king brain dead hillbilly. 500k with no plan in place. Ye hang tight. Fool. You must be new to money. The fight is off btw. I’m going to fight someone else on the 10th. Good luck on your old contract kid.”
McGregor later went back on his word claiming that the fight was off but rather said that Poirier would pay with his “brain” for the “attempt at smearing my name”.
My team does their due diligence to make sure every donation meets the mark. My generosity is known. You will pay with your brain for this attempt at smearing my name. Shooting ass shelling ass bitch. Little bitch kicks from a shell. Good luck when you’re caught. You’re fucked.
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) April 12, 2021
“My team does their due diligence to make sure every donation meets the mark. My generosity is known. You will pay with your brain for this attempt at smearing my name. Shooting ass shelling ass bitch. Little b*tch kicks from a shell. Good luck when you’re caught. You’re f*ked.”
Clearly, McGregor was unhappy how all the charity money discussions was taken public on social media and it doesn’t look good on McGregor’s image when you haven’t given donation money that you promised to give. And in general, a feud over a charity donation just doesn’t sit well with many people especially when the donation is linked to helping underprivileged children. It’s ugly and unpleasant however for fans it’s definitely more exciting. The animosity created has made even the most passionate fans more invested in the fight.
McGregor and Poirier have one win a piece. In their first bout back in 2014, McGregor scored a first-round TKO over Poirier when both were rising featherweight contenders. In the rematch earlier in January, Poirier avenged his loss by returning the favour and knocked out McGregor in the second round at UFC 257. Their trilogy bout will be showcased at UFC 264 on July 10th.
No more Mr. Nice Guy?
A good section of fans can be excited that the bout has caught a bit of animosity which could see the return of the “old” Conor McGregor after being the friendly, respectful and complimentary Irishman towards his opponents in recent years. However, with all that has gone on with this recent Twitter beef we could be seeing the “No more Mr. Nice Guy” McGregor, as he proclaimed in an Instagram post earlier back in February. The one that would trash talk his opponents before the bout and gain a load of buzz before the bout. Granted, McGregor does not need to hype up his bouts because he is such a big name in the sports world however it is exciting to see all the passion, thrill, heat and drama McGregor can bring into his blockbuster fights.
The return of the old Conor McGregor would only do good for him in the fight. We all know for a fact that Conor McGregor trash-talking pre-fight antics plays a factor when it comes fight time. Back in the day before he was all amicable with his opponents, he would rile them up so badly that when the cage doors shut in the octagon, opponents would want to rip his head off. He would make them lose their composure, calmness and in effect, the opponent would deviate from the gameplan.
A good example is McGregor’s fight with Jose Aldo. Aldo was the longtime UFC featherweight champion, a living legend and undefeated in 10 years. McGregor mocked and insulted Aldo so much before the fight that when the time came for the fisticuffs, Aldo who is usually a very conservative fighter rushed out and tried to knock McGregor’s head off. McGregor simply took a step back and countered with a hard left-hand punch that sent Aldo crashing to the canvas, unaware of what had just transpired. All of this took just 13 seconds.
Poirier in his first fight against McGregor also fell victim to the mind games that McGregor played as the Irishman made quick work of the Lafayette man with a swift first-round TKO. The trash talk didn’t just make opponents less composed, it was mentally draining. In the fight game, where mental state is of such importance, it is imperative to have your mental state at 100% as much as possible and even have a mental edge over your opponent.
McGregor drained opponents mentally by making them think about him 24/7 before a fight. The animosity would build up and so would their resentment for McGregor. Whereas the Irishman would stay calm as a cucumber. He understood that it was all business. Hyping up fights with animosity would equal more dollars, making opponents mad would give him a mental edge over them and that’s the way it was. More money and an easy victory. Get in, get out, get paid and on to the next one.
Coming back to UFC 264 with this whole situation playing out, it’s understood McGregor will have the mental edge over Poirier in this upcoming fight. Whether it will play a factor remains to be seen. One thing is for sure, fans are going to be a lot giddier for this fight now that McGregor has gone back to his trash-talking roots. We won’t be seeing anymore buddy-buddy, amicable interactions that we saw for UFC 257 during fight week. Oh no, we will get the return of Mystic Mac, no more Mr Nice Guy, the Notorious Conor McGregor.
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