Dustin Poirier: Conor McGregor needs to get his a-- whipped and mouth shut
Sometimes even Dustin Poirier has to laugh at some of the madness that spouts from Conor McGregor's mouth before a fight. The brash, outspoken Irishman has been like a sounding board for the last few months telling anyone who will listen that he's the future of the featherweight division and destined to be a champion.
Poirier chuckles at McGregor in a lot of ways, but inside he's quietly simmering as the recently top 10 ranked fighter attacks his style, his chin and his heart going into their bout at UFC 178. While Poirier would love to lash out and go after McGregor in the press, he'd rather let his opponent do all the hard work outside of the Octagon so he can do his best work inside on Saturday night.
McGregor has set the expectations so high for himself that anything less than a dominant finish would be a let down. Poirier recognizes that fact and he's relishing his role as the top five guy who gets to ruin McGregor's hype at UFC 178.
"Even if it's not putting pressure on him, he's selling the fight, he's working for me, he's doing the footwork," Poirier said. "I just sit back and train and prepare and he gets everybody hyped up about it.
"He's kind of like a Chael Sonnen -- people are either watch to see him do what he says he's going to do or they're going to tune in to watch him get his ass whipped. Either way, they're going to be watching me fight and that's important."
Whether Poirier finds McGregor amusing or not, at some points the Irish native does find a way to step over the line and get under his skin. He seems to get under the skin of a lot of people actually, and Poirier couldn't be more excited that he's the one that gets to face him and squash his meteoric rise before he goes any further.
"This guy needs to get his ass whipped and his mouth shut," Poirier said. "I'm the guy to serve the humble pie."
To hear the rest of the interview with Poirier as well as an interview with former UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz as well as debate about Roy Nelson's future and a full breakdown of UFC 178 listen to the podcast below via Soundcloud or download and subscribe to the show via iTunes.
