Dustin Poirier Calls Out Conor McGregor, Aims To Fight ‘Notorious’ At UFC 178 In Las Vegas
Right as the dust settled on today’s (Sat., July 19, 2014) UFC Fight Night 46 main event between Irish star Conor McGregor and Diego Brandao, a top-ranked featherweight with a growing disdain for “Notorious” took to Twitter to voice his desire to face off with the polarizing bad boy.
No. 6-ranked Dustin Poirier watched McGregor beat Brandao with a first round stoppage. When No. 2-ranked UFC light heavyweight Daniel Cormier asked if “Diamond” was up next for McGregor, Poirier replied that he wasn’t impressed:
“@dc_mma: Nice job @TheNotoriousMMA , DP you got next? @DustinPoirier” I’m not impressed.
— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) July 19, 2014
Poirier lobbied his bosses at the UFC to get him booked in the pivotal match-up:
. @danawhite @seanshelby @lorenzofertitta I’m ready when you are.
— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) July 19, 2014
He even has a date in mind noting that the stacked UFC 178 card on September 27 makes sense for him:
UFC 178 sounds good to me.
— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) July 19, 2014
That timeline just might work, because McGregor got out of Dublin relatively unscathed. What’s more, UFC President Dana White announced at the UFC Fight Night 46 post-fight press conference that McGregor would most likely fight in Las Vegas next, precisely wehre UFC 178 will go down:
“It doesn’t matter where he’s from, he could fight anywhere in the world. Conor’s next fight is definitely not going to be in Ireland and probably not in Europe. He’s probably going to fight in Vegas.”
McGregor was then asked about Poirier’s tweeted challenge. Not surprisingly, “Notorious” had a quick reply:
“That would be perfect for me, because I already know that guy doesn’t want to fight me,” McGregor said. “His teammate Cole Miller, they’re from the same camp, pulled out of the same fight. He was supposed to be here, he was scheduled to compete tonight. He pulled out.
You’re trying to tell me Dustin Poirier, top 10 guy, and Nik Lentz, top 10 guy, both of whom had no fights scheduled, didn’t know about Cole’s injury? He would have known before the UFC would have known. They would have heard about it before the UFC would have heard. And yet nothing.
This is a main-event slot. One of the fastest-selling. It was a big, big event. And yet not a peep out of either of them. I know he doesn’t want to fight, he can pretend that he wants to fight, and send out little tweets about this and that. Let’s do it. One by one I want to take everyone else. If that’s Dustin, no problem.”
Strong words from a strong-willed fighter, who will be due for a top-level challenge as one of the UFC’s best draws. Can he get past the hard-nosed ”Diamond?”
Photo: Jayne Kamin-Oncea for USA TODAY Sports
