Dustin Poirier might be bitter rivals with Conor McGregor but ‘The Diamond’ admits that ‘The Notorious’ is a ‘special individual’ in the world of combat sports.
Poirier, who beat McGregor via first-round TKO (doctor’s stoppage) at UFC 264 to close out their trilogy 2-1, claims the Irishman is without a doubt the hardest puncher he’s ever faced.
“Conor McGregor, no doubt about it. As the biggest puncher I fought? Yeah, he’s a special individual for sure,” Poirier told Valuetainment’s Patrick Bet-David during a recent interview (h/t Sports Keeda). “Fought him in 2014, lost and that was when his trajectory was just… sky was the limit. He was on his way up and he tore through everybody and became a two-weight world champion. But yeah I fought him twice this year… It’s still the same, very dangerous.”
McGregor, 33, is renowned for his vaunted left hand shot that Tristar head coach Firas Zahabi refers to as the ‘touch of death.’ The former Cage Warriors and UFC two-division champion slept Poirier with his left hand in their 2014 featherweight matchup at UFC 178 but lost the subsequent two bouts via TKO.
McGregor suffered a broken leg in the trilogy and is expected to be sidelined until next year. Meanwhile, Poirier will take on Brazilian Charles Oliveira for the lightweight title at UFC 269 on Dec. 11 at a TBA venue.
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