Outside Source
Poirier got the last laugh against McGregor. | Getty/UFC
Conor McGregor may have gotten the better of Dustin Poirier early in their UFC tenures, but Jorge Masvidal says “The Diamond” has made the more significant impression over time.
“It’s not the rabbit that wins the race, especially in MMA. It’s the guy that just puts one foot in front of the other and stays that path,” Masvidal recently told CasinoHawks.
“The first time Conor McGregor went and did his thing [beat Dustin Poirier]. Then he came back, fought Dustin, and got humbled. Ain’t nothing but a big piece of humble pie, and then the third time just f—-ing took him out of existence.”
The two rivals first squared off at UFC 178 in September 2014, when McGregor vanquished Poirier via first-round technical knockout. At that point, the Irishman was in the midst of his ascent to becoming the biggest star in the promotion, while Poirier was years away from reaching his peak.
By the time they rematched in 2021, McGregor was already far removed from his reign as two-division champion, and a matured Poirier knocked him out in the second round of the UFC 257 headliner. The trilogy occurred six months later, and Poirier appeared to be well on his way to another victory even before McGregor suffered a badly broken leg at the end of the first round.
The Dublin native has not returned to the Octagon since that July 2021 bout, while Poirier has cemented his place as one of the sport’s most beloved figures — even without an undisupted title to his name. Poirier’s career culminated in a memorable sendoff fight against Max Holloway at UFC 318 in his home state on July 18.
Masvidal, who trained with Poirier at American Top Team, was able to witness the evolution of the Louisianan over the years.
Masvidal: Poirier Will Be Remembered as ‘People’s Champ’
“When they both started out, Conor was a better athlete, but it just shows MMA is a sport of attrition every day, and I can testify to the attrition that Dustin put in from the moment that he lost to Conor because I was in a lot of his camps,” Masvidal said.
“He helped me out for a lot of my camps, so I saw the amount of work that this man put in day night to become the guy that beat Conor. He will always be remembered as an all-time fan favorite, the people’s champ.”
Poirier ended his career with losses in four of his last six bouts, but they were all against some of the top talents in the sport. In addition to being one of the UFC’s most entertaining athletes in the cage, Poirier was almost universally recognized as one of the sport’s good guys. McGregor, meanwhile, has teased a return on multiple occasions but hasn’t fought in four years. In the meantime, he’s made headlines outside the cage on numerous occasions, including for this incident referenced by Masvidal.
“[Poirier] might have lost to some high level grapplers and things like that on the biggest nights, when he fought for the title. But it does not matter. He went down like the dog that he is,” Masvidal said.
“But Conor, we will remember him for what, punching an old man in the face.”
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
Help support MMACrazies.com when you shop Amazon by starting your online Amazon shopping at MMACrazies.com/recommends/amazon. You are not charged extra, but we receive a small and very helpful commission on everything you purchase. Thanks for thinking of us every time you shop at Amazon.
