Dustin Poirier wants to be "dripping blood" in the opening round of his fight with Conor McGregor at UFC 257.
The two have already met inside the Octagon before in a featherweight fight at UFC 178 in 2014, with McGregor knocking 'The Diamond' out inside two minutes.
Their rematch on 'Fight Island' on 23 January in Abu Dhabi sees the pair go at it in the lightweight division as Poirier looks to avenge his defeat all those years ago.
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But above, he's absolutely desperate to be involved in a serious slugfest with McGregor. Poirier hopes for blood to be spilled in the opening exchanges and is gunning for a true battle that sees the better fighter come out on top.
"I didn't even get to fight you know, the fight didn't even get to blossom," he told the Daily Mail.
"But that's fighting anything can happen under those lights...What I want is for us to both be dripping blood and hurting and suffering early in the fight. Then we can find out who's a real fighter. You know, that's what I want.
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"I want to be bleeding. Within a minute of the first round clock. I want us both to be bleeding and really have to dig down and see who's the better fighter, see who really wants to be in there.
"You know, because I don't have a safety net...I want to be in there. I know that, and I'd like to find out if he does."
Poirier sounds like a man very much relishing a violent encounter but in another interview, he was taken aback when asked if he wanted to "kill " McGregor.
Comedian Theo Von, asked, "Would you kill him?"
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"I mean, I don't wanna kill anybody," Poirier replied, clearly a little uncomfortable with the question.
"That's not a goal. I don't really wish that on anybody."
McGregor, meanwhile looks to be in the best shape of his career going into the bout and has promised to deliver "a masterpiece" in the main event.
Topics: Conor Mcgregor, Dustin Poirier, UFC News, MMA News, UFC, MMA
