Conor McGregor snaps back after Dustin Poirier prioritizes Khabib rematch

Conor McGregor has issued a fiery response to a recent comment from his fellow lightweight contender Dustin Poirier.

Poirier, who has lost to both McGregor and UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov previously, recently told MMA Junkie that he’d prefer a rematch with the latter over the former—even if there was no belt on the line. He explained that he finds a rematch with Nurmagomedov more alluring than a do-over McGregor because, so far, nobody has been able to beat the lightweight champ.

“If the belts weren’t on the line, just for my legacy, I would love to beat Khabib,” Poirier said, weighing potential rematches with Nurmagomedov and McGregor. “Nobody’s ever beat him. Nobody’s ever climbed that mountain. I would love to be the first one. That’s historic. That’s legendary. That’s the stuff I’m out to do. I’m not out for rematches and grudge matches and revenge. I’m a grown man, I don’t hold that stuff in my heart. I have a family and this is a business to me.

“When I was younger, I might have wanted to fight Conor or fight anybody who beat me. But I’m just comfortable with everything,” Poirier added. “I’m comfortable with my record, with the stuff that I’ve done, the fights I’ve done. The fights that I’ve lost, I learned my lessons and tried to keep moving forward. So I’d really like to be the first one to beat Khabib.”

It did not take long for McGregor to catch wind of this comment from Poirier, and he pulled no punches in his response. Speaking on Twitter, the Irishman implied that Poirier would prefer a rematch with Nurmagomedov because he’s less likely to be concussed in that fight.

Ministry of the bleedin obvious.
Getting concussed, slept, and fed to the canvas, is infinite times worse than being held and caught in a submission hold.

— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) July 6, 2020

“Ministry of the bleedin obvious,” McGregor wrote on Twitter. “Getting concussed, slept, and fed to the canvas is infinite times worse than being held and caught in a submission hold.”

Conor McGregor defeated Dustin Poirier in a 2014 featherweight fight, winning by first-round knockout. Khabib Nurmagomedov, meanwhile, defeated Poirier by submission in late 2019, successfully defending the lightweight belt in the process. Despite these losses, Poirier remains one of the game’s premier lightweights, particularly after his recent decision win over Dan Hooker.