Dana White ‘believes Conor McGregor vs Dustin Poirier will be a war’ at UFC 257 and insists ‘Diamond’ has chance of upset in Fight Island showdown despite walkover in first meeting
- Conor McGregor knocked out Dustin Poirier inside two minutes of their first fight
- He is the heavy favourite to beat American again in main event at UFC 257
- But UFC president Dana White has talked up Poirier’s chances of an upset
- He said he believes every word when Poirier says he has improved significantly
Dana White believes Dustin Poirier has a real chance of an upset against Conor McGregor at UFC 257.
McGregor dispatched Poirier inside two minutes of their first encounter back in 2014 and is favourite to get the job done again on Fight Island.
But White is not predicting the walkover that many fans believe could happen again.
Dustin Poirier has claims he is a much improved fighter now and Dana White believes him
He told MMA Junkie: ‘I just saw a thing with Poirier yesterday where Poirier is like, ‘Let me tell you what. If you think that I’m the same guy that fought Conor last time, you’re out of your mind. You’re going to see a war.’ I believe every word of it.
‘This is the right fight at the right time for both of these guys and I think it’s going to be fun.’
Given the fact that the fight never developed into later rounds last time, and both men claim to have improved significantly, Poirier is expecting a competitive battle in the octagon.
He recently said: ‘I didn’t even get to fight [the first time].
The UFC president thinks that McGregor vs Poirier II will last longer than their first encounter
McGregor took out Poirier within two min4tes of their fight back at UFC 178 in 2014
‘The fight hadn’t even blossomed — but that’s fighting. Anything can happen under those lights. If you’re talking about game planning, what I want for us to both be dripping blood and hurting and suffering early in the fight.
‘Then we can find out who’s a real fighter. That’s what I want. I want to be bleeding with a minute off the first round clock.
He continued: ‘I want both of us to be bleeding and really have to dig down and see who’s the better fighter. See who really wants to be in there.
‘Because I don’t have a safety net. I want to be in there, and I know that, and I’d like to find out if he does. And that’s uncomfortable.
McGregor comes in as the favourite but Poirier has warned him to expect a different man
‘I’m not looking forward to getting busted open but if we can get to that point where both of us are tired and bleeding, then we can see who has more grit and more want, and I think I win that fight ten out of ten times.’
The lightweight showdown is not for the title despite Khabib Nurmagomedov having retired after his emotional win over Justin Gaethje last October.
Instead, if the Russian remains in retirement, the winner of the January 23 fight will face the top ranked contender in their next clash to determine the new champion.