LAS VEGAS — As promised, the “old” Conor McGregor was back Thursday. At least the one outside the cage.
The UFC superstar had to be held back from opponent Dustin Poirier by security right at the start of the UFC 264 prefight news conference and then kicked Poirier in the leg during the staredown.
During the course of the stage show at T-Mobile Arena, McGregor threw around bottles of Poirier’s hot sauce, including some thrown directly at Poirier from across the dais. The thousands of fans on hand ate it all up, creating a raucous atmosphere befitting previous McGregor fight weeks.
Poirier and McGregor will meet Saturday night in the main event of UFC 264 in the final leg of a trilogy bout. McGregor knocked Poirier out in 2014 and Poirier returned the favor back in January at UFC 257. There was no bad blood between the two men earlier this year, but McGregor — as he said he would — has turned up the heat with regards to trash talk and prefight shenanigans.
“I’m gonna go through his head, put holes in it and take it off his shoulders,” McGregor said of Poirier. “That’s the goal here. He’s done here. This is it for him. This is the end of the road. … Saturday night, he’s getting walked around that Octagon like a dog and put to sleep.”
Early in the news conference, McGregor said Poirier was the “wife” in his marriage and got the crowd to chant “Jolie’s wife.” Poirier replied that McGregor used to have better trash talk than that, calling it “f—ing weak.”
The stakes are very high for both men. The winner, per UFC president Dana White, will receive a shot at the UFC lightweight title against champion Charles Oliveira. On top of that, McGregor, the most bankable star in MMA history, has won just once in nearly five years.
Poirier is facing the biggest fight of his career, the chance to knock off a global icon again en route to a title shot he arguably should have already had.
“Another feather to the cap,” McGregor said of what a win would mean. “It’s what I love to do. I love to come in here, defy the odds, do the unthinkable and put on a show.”
White said that the UFC 264 pay-per-view has already gotten the most pre-buys out of any other event in UFC history and the promotion expects “big numbers to come in that night.”
McGregor’s antics certainly don’t hurt those potential revenues. But Poirier, for his part, said he was completely undeterred by the chicanery.
“For me, the aura is not there anymore,” Poirier said. “Very dangerous fighter sitting right here, for sure. No doubt. But I see a man. You guys in the crowd, cheer it up — have fun. But I see a man sitting here in front of me that I have defeated and I know I can defeat again.”