Conor McGregor: I Smell The Fear In Dustin Poirier, He Doesn’t Want To Fight Me

UFC featherweight Conor McGregor has talked a lot in recent times about coming for the title at 145 pounds, and he made a statement at UFC Fight Night 46; firstly, the kid can sell tickets and secondly, he has tons of potential. Now booked in to face Dustin Poirier at UFC 178, the Irish bad boy could find himself deep in title talk with a win against ‘Diamond”.

A little known fact about the UFC 178 media day is that Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier squared off, although with a lot less fireworks than their light-heavyweight counterparts. Shortly after the staredown, ‘The Notorious’ stopped by with MMAFighting.com to discuss Dublin, and his upcoming UFC 178 date:

“I’m going to get that gold. This is the fight business, if you want that gold you have to eat it all up. It’s hard not to enjoy moments like that, (Dublin) was probably the best UFC event of all time. This turn around at UFC 178 is perfect for me; you can hear all the featherweights crying like ‘why is he on the biggest card of the year?’. (Cole) talked like he wanted to fight until I was in front of him”

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McGregor rolled in to the UFC on a hype train of epic proportions, and his three straight wins so far have been very impressive. Even more astounding though, was the free card in Dublin that will go down as one of the greatest nights in the promotion’s history. Now facing a very tough test in ‘Diamond’, McGregor feels he is yet another fighter who is scared to face him:

“Fear has a strong stench and, funnily enough, it turns me on. I speak the truth, and some people can’t handle the truth. Let’s say Dustin pulls out, which is quite probable, but the buzz won’t die down. They come to see me. I’ll put him away in the first round, he’s never been knocked out I don’t think, but I’ll put him away in the first round. I can see through him, he doesn’t want it. These guys crumble, he is already crumbling. ”

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We’ll see if McGregor truly is title material after he squares off against top 10 material guys like Poirier, Mendes, Swanson or even ‘The Korean Zombie’, but we know the Irish phenom is more than confident in his own abilities. All that aside, there are still questions to be answered on ‘The Notorious’.

How will he deal with adversity during a fight, for example if he gets rocked, is it possible still to outwork McGregor on the mat, and does he have the abilities to defeat the elite at featherweight? One thing is for sure, ‘Diamond’ is in dangerous territory here too; although he is higher ranked and has fought more top guys, he is essentially a litmus test for a red-hot prospect with nothing to lose.