Dustin Poirier questions Conor McGregor’s UFC 303 withdrawal: “Doesn’t seem like a reason to pull out”

Dustin Poirier thinks there may be more to the story when it comes to Conor McGregor’s scratched comeback at UFC 303.

McGregor was supposed to face Michael Chandler in the UFC 303 main event before withdrawing due to a toe injury. He hasn’t fought in the Octagon since shattering his leg against Poirier at UFC 264.

Since McGregor’s first career withdrawal from a UFC fight, many theories have been presented regarding the bout cancelation. Theories such as substance abuse, lack of motivation, and a more severe injury have been tossed around by pundits and media.

Poirier, who has a checkered past with McGregor, wouldn’t’ve pulled out of the fight if the injury was related to a pinky toe.

Dustin Poirier questions Conor McGregor for UFC 303 pullout

In a recent interview on The MMA Hour, Poirier weighed in on McGregor’s canceled UFC comeback.

“A pinky toe, I fought with a lot of injuries over the years. A pinky toe doesn’t seem like a reason to pull out of a fight,” Poirier said.

Poirier was then asked about a potential fourth fight with McGregor and the animosity that persists between them.

“He crossed lines you can’t come back from,” Poirier said. “I want to whip his a** [when he tweets about me]. He’s trying to bring that out of me, he wants me to fire back. We have a lot of back-and-forth over the years, since 2014, no clue [if a fourth fight is possible].”

McGregor has expressed interest in running it back with Poirier after the anti-climatic end to their last fight. He’s lost three of his last four fights overall with his last win coming against Donald Cerrone in 2020.

Poirier lost to UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev at UFC 302 last month. He’s teased retirement in recent weeks but has pivoted towards one final fight in the cage.

As of this writing, McGregor hasn’t responded to Poirier’s latest remarks, but it could be a matter of time until he does.