It normally doesn’t take long to change the news cycle in the MMA world.
Soon after the latest water cooler topic, the next one comes up and before long, it’s all part of the white noise. But there might be a much longer shelf life for the aftermath of the Dustin Poirier vs. Conor McGregor trilogy.
Poirier (28-6 MMA, 20-5 UFC) beat McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) with a first-round TKO this past Saturday in the UFC 264 main event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. McGregor broke his left tibia and fibula in gruesome fashion late in the first round, which led to a doctor’s stoppage.
In the buildup to the fight, McGregor’s trash talk ramped up from its normal levels and included words about taking Poirier’s life – and it appeared to be a little more harsh than the fairly standard hyperbole of “trying to kill each other” in the cage.
It also included suggestions that Poirier’s wife, Jolie, tried to reach out to McGregor through a direct message online.
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Poirier said after the fight that McGregor’s death threat-type words continued even while medical personnel were attending to his broken leg, and a new angle released online might just back that up.
While some of what McGregor is saying is hard to make out over the crowd noise and the start of Poirier’s interview with Joe Rogan in the cage, it sounds like McGregor is yelling to Poirier that “In your sleep, you’re getting it … in your sleep, you’re getting it … in your sleep, you’re getting it … it ain’t over.”
A Twitter post with the video claims McGregor also said “You’re dead … You and your Mrs.,” a reference to Jolie Poirier, though the noise in the arena makes that hard to tell with certainty.
One thing that is certain is Poirier talked about McGregor’s words in his post-fight news conference and suggested footage is out there that might not paint McGregor in a great light.
“Listen, Conor said some nasty stuff that didn’t make it on ‘(UFC) Embedded,’” Poirier told MMA Junkie after the fight. “Maybe when this behind-the-scenes for this fight airs, you’ll see him on the ground still saying some real bad stuff. But even that stuff being said, I don’t wish serious harm like that on nobody.
“The guy’s got kids. I want him to go home safe to his family. I pray before these fights. Every time before I walk through the octagon door, I’m praying that – not for me to win – I’m praying that we both get out of this safe, because I know what I’m going to try to do to him and I know what he’s going to try to do to me.”
Poirier also told UFC sideline reporter Megan Olivi on ESPN’s post-fight show that McGregor continued to make death threats in the cage.
“Earlier this week, he was saying he was going to murder me and I was going to not make it home and stuff like that,” Poirier said. “That’s what really upset me this week. Even when he was sitting there on the ground, with his busted leg, he was looking at me (making gun signs to the head) like, ‘I’m going to kill you.’ Like, what is wrong with you bro? This is a sport. This is a fight. We can dislike each other, but you don’t say sh*t like that. … I don’t play those kind of games.”
McGregor had surgery Sunday on his broken leg and said the prognosis includes six weeks on crutches, after which time he plans to return to training for a comeback. Poirier likely punched his ticket to a title shot against lightweight champion Charles Oliveira.
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Twitter reacts to Dustin Poirier’s TKO of Conor McGregor after leg injury in UFC 264 trilogy bout
