IN THE EARLY hours of Sunday morning, Ireland’s Conor McGregor steps into the Octagon for his fourth UFC fight when he meets Dust Poirier at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
The Dubliner may have branded his opponent a “quiet little hillbilly” with a “pea-head” from “the back arse of nowhere” but the 25-year-old has a lot more going for him than those insults suggest.
So, who is this guy?
Originally from Lafayette, Louisiana, Poirier was an extremely competitive child who got into his fair share of brawls growing up. “My father was a fighter,” he says. “My grandfather was a fighter. It’s just in my blood.”
Initially, he wanted to be a boxer but training for that saw him introduced to wrestling, Judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
Poirier’s early steps in MMA featured in the critically-acclaimed documentary Fightville (you can find it on Netflix) as the ambitious young featherweight climbed the ranks in regional promotions — earning a 7-0 unbeaten record in his first seven professional fights.
Back in January 2011, current champion Jose Aldo was due to meet Josh Grispi in his first title defence but when he pulled out with a compacted vertebrae, Poirier stepped in to make his UFC debut.
Few were backing against number one contender Grispi that night but it was the new kid on the block Poirier who came away with the win by unanimous decision.
Is he any good?
Yes. Having clocked up ten fights in under four years, the man nicknamed ‘The Diamond’ holds a record of eight wins and two losses inside the Octagon. The victories have come against the likes of Max Holloway, Diego Brandao (two fighters who those following McGregor’s career will know well) and most recently Akira Corassani, while Cub Swanson and Chan Sung Jung have handed Poirier his two defeats to date.
He is seen as the underdog by the bookies (9/4 to win, while McGregor is 1/3) but the man ranked fifth in the division is sure to give the Dubliner a greater contest than his previous three opponents.
What’s his fighting style?
Standing at 5’9”, Poirier is an accomplished boxer with a powerful punch. His last two wins, against Corassani and Brandao, came thanks to knockouts through a series of blows. In addition, he also possesses a black belt in BJJ and has no problem going to ground and winning by submission (see fights v Holloway, Brookins and Jung).
What has he been saying?
In the run-up to Saturday’s showdown, Poirier has explained how he is tired of McGregor’s trash-talking.
“Conor McGregor seems like a good athlete, he seems like a good counter-puncher,” Poirier said. “But he also seems like a scumbag.”
“He’s full of himself and I’m sure he has a lot of people around him telling him how good he is. For me looking at him, I see an immature guy who doesn’t understand the whole game yet.
“He is riding a really big wave and has a lot of momentum but he is about to get knocked off of it. I walk the walk, Conor talks the talk. We’ll see if he’s really about it 27 September.”
Watch highlights of Poirier’s fights below:
This fight is a lot closer than many might think. Conors exciting fighting style have gained him many fans in his short UFC career. Lots of fans and people that have not followed UFC before have be drawn in to his brash talk and as a result have the notion that this fight will be a walk in the park.
If both men stay on their feet then Conors better striking should see him through however if Poirier continually looks for takedowns and succeeds in keeping McGregor on the floor then his greater jiu jitsu and wrestling techniques may be too much for Conor.
He seems to give an accurate description of McGregor.
Conor is fairly solid on the floor to!!
His takedown defence and ground game has improved ten fold since he was submitted by Darce Choke (Poirier has won via this) back in his Cage Warriors days. Max Holloway was his only UFC fight where he was on the floor, albeit enforced however Holloway would be no great shakes on the floor either. The hope is that by training with Gunnar his ground game will be adequate to deal with Poirier but I think his take down defence will be what makes or breaks this fight for him. If he has the better of the stand up and can repel the energy sapping takedown advances from Poirier then he should win.
This is definitely McGregor’s first real UFC test. I can see this going down to a decision with hopefully a Conor win.
Any fight in the ufc is a test, this is just the next one
That’s not true. Plenty of guys in the UFC have turned up, got paid and were happy to get finished or stand for 3/5 rounds without pushing their limit. Granted, it’s nowhere near as bad as boxing in terms of not trying but it would be naive of you to think that every fight is a test.
Dave, there is a big difference between a test and a real test. Marcus Brimage and Diego Brandao were warm ups, Max Hollaway was a good workout but DP will be a real test.
Diego Brandao was a real test. It’s a testament to Conors ability that it didn’t look like it but Brandao was a huge test for him. You don’t get into the top 10 without facing a “real test”.
On the subject of people just showing up to get paid and not caring about the result the only one I can think of is James Toney. There are easier ways to make more money.
Conor is in for a real fight this time. This guy’s no joke. I think McGregor is slightly better than this guy, but he will have to work for it. Can’t wait!
Who cares
Haha that was awesome!! Insightful, intelligent and thoroughly well thought out!!
Where can I watch this, any irish channels showing it or is it on setanta?