Before Bruce Buffer could announce the result of Conor McGregor's KO loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 257 in January this year, the Irishman was already calling for a rematch. With the benefit of hindsight, it should have worried him when Poirier accepted without hesitation.
Unless a bout ends in a draw or a controversial stoppage, no result in combat sports is as easy to predict as that of an immediate rematch – especially when it takes place six months after the fact like McGregor vs. Poirier III did.
It was seven years later and a weight class upward – featherweight to lightweight – for their second clash; plenty of time for both men to learn from the occasion. With only six months to rest, recuperate, get back to training and improve enough to prevent another decisive, one-sided loss, McGregor had perhaps bitten off more than he could chew and Poirier knew it.
To the untrained eye, the UFC 264 pre-fight press conference which took place 72 hours before the event could have easily been mistaken for the post-fight press conference. Poirier showed up in a blue Hawaiian shirt looking like he'd just arrived from holiday while McGregor, suited and booted as always, wore big sunglasses that hid his eyes and spent the whole thing effing and jeffing to total nonchalance from his opponent.
McGregor said he saw fear in Poirier's eyes at the exact moment Poirier was smiling, waving to a fan in the crowd, paying zero attention to him. He then went on to be insulting to Poirier's wife, Jolie, and claimed he was going to kill Poirier in the Octagon and make him leave on a stretcher. He was only silenced when Poirier calmly cut in to remind a journalist that McGregor is only acting out like this because he got knocked out last time.
Dustin Poirer hits Conor McGregor with a right straight punch in the lightweight main event of UFC 264 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., on July 11, 2021. /Zuffa
This attitude carried over into the fight itself. When the main event of UFC 264 got underway, McGregor came out going hell for leather. Criticized for getting blasted with calf kicks from Poirier in January, he started with his own and laid them in with a wild gusto.
They stung Poirier and McGregor felt his plan was working. He started teeing up The Big Left – Conor's trademark punch when he was a featherweight – but Dustin weathered it with ease and, once again, controlled the stand up.
McGregor wanted a brawl, Poirier didn't give it to him and when Conor has to actually kickbox to a competitive standard, he can't do it. Poirier caught a kick, making McGregor go into a clinch. He then forced it against the cage and took it to the ground.
Besides for a guillotine choke on Poirier that lasted for only a few seconds, Poirier dominated the next few minutes on the ground in the exact style Khabib Nurmagomedov did to both men. He wrapped up McGregor's legs and then smashed him with punches and elbows from the top, leaving McGregor bleeding from the ear.
With only 15 seconds remaining, Poirier strangely decided to get back to his feet and egged McGregor on to join him. Conor and Dustin swung at each other, missed, then Conor backed up and fell against the cage. Poirier chased him down but didn't have time to get a finish.
Poirier returned to his corner – McGregor couldn't get up. When swinging at Dustin, Conor stepped backward and twisted his ankle. He ended up putting all the pressure on the top of the foot instead of the base, snapping his tibia.
Conor McGregor sits on the mat after breaking his tibia in the lightweight main event of UFC 264 against Dustin Poirier at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. on July 11, 2021. /Zuffa
The fight was called then and Dustin Poirier officially beat Conor McGregor with a TKO by way of doctor's stoppage at the end of Round 1. It wasn't as conclusive as the stoppage of the last bout but it was heading that way; on the judge's scorecards, two of the three had Poirier winning 10-8.
Having lost the fight in January, embarrassed himself in the pre-fight conference, spent three of the five minute round getting tuned up by Dustin and then breaking his leg, it didn't seem like Conor could have lost any worse but he managed to find a way.
First he could be heard screaming to referee Herb Dean to make the fight listed as a doctor's stoppage rather than TKO loss. Then when Poirier was being interviewed by Joe Rogan, McGregor could be heard in the background shouting insults across the cage. Poirier didn't care, he said Conor was a "dirtbag," gave a shoutout to a cancer patient his Good Fight Group charity was helping and also revealed he stood up at the end because McGregor kept cheating, trying to grab his glove, and Herb Dean did nothing about it.
Rogan then lay on the floor next to McGregor to interview him. Conor lived up to Poirier's dirtbag claim by angrily claiming he was winning, that he would fight Dustin outside in the parking lot and then went back to insulting Jolie Poirier before getting carried out on a stretcher himself.
Across this series, Dustin has proven himself to be the better fighter but, more importantly, a better man than Conor McGregor will ever be.
[Header: Dustin Poirier takes top position on Conor McGregor against the cage in the main event of UFC 264 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., July 11, 2021 /Zuffa]