Dustin Poirier responds after Conor McGregor suggests the first one to shoot for takedown is a “dusty bitch”

Dustin Poirier responded after his rival Conor McGregor suggested that the first one to shoot for a takedown is a “dusty bitch.”

Poirier clapped back at McGregor after he had choice words about whoever shoots the first takedown in their trilogy fight at UFC 264, which takes place on July 10 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Poirier responded with a comment to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto in return, saying that McGregor having those words about takedowns “reeks of insecurity.”

https://twitter.com/espnmma/status/1410638429835116552

The first two fights between McGregor and Poirier have taken place almost entirely on the feet. In their first encounter at UFC 178 in September 2014, McGregor was able to stop Poirier in the first round with punches in a featherweight fight. They met nearly seven years later at UFC 257 in January 2021, with Poirier returning the favor with a knockout win in a lightweight contest. With the all-time series between these two bitter rivals tied at 1-1, the two will now face off next weekend in one of the biggest fights of 2021 so far.

It will be interesting to see what strategy both McGregor and Dustin Poirier use in the rematch. For McGregor, he has primarily been a striker in the UFC, though he did utilize grappling to defeat Max Holloway in 2013. The odds are that McGregor will want to keep this fight standing and hope to land the KO blow sometime in the early rounds. But if McGregor mixes it up and tried to make it a grappling match, perhaps it will give him a better chance to win the trilogy. As for Poirier, he showed off an excellent strategical evolution in the rematch by utilizing low kicks before landing the knockout. Perhaps in the trilogy, he will try to grapple more. But then again, maybe we see another standup battle.

Who do you think shoots for a takedown first at UFC 264 between Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor?