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Dustin Poirier Lets Conor McGregor Know The Secret Behind Beating Him At UFC 264, He's That Confident

Dustin Poirier Lets Conor McGregor Know The Secret Behind Beating Him At UFC 264, He's That Confident

Dustin is playing some serious mind-games here.

Jack Kenmare

Jack Kenmare

It's just a matter of days until Dustin Poirier steps into the octagon to face Conor McGregor in their highly-anticipated trilogy fight at UFC 264 - and the American has already predicted exactly what will happen.

'The Diamond' sat down with ESPN to talk about his preparation and expectations for his bout against the Irishman on Sunday.

In a fascinating chat with Brett Okamoto, a relaxed Poirier also speculated about how his opponent will approach the fight - even giving McGregor a heads up on the best chance of beating him at the T-Mobile Arena in Vegas.

"Obviously he's going to try to check calf kicks if I throw them," he said.

"I might not even throw calf kicks. I'm expecting him to throw calf kicks, honestly. I'm working on countering calf kicks over here. I'm not even working on landing them.

"I think he's going to be more aggressive and he's not going to let the fight unfold. As it unfolded [last time] and as I got more comfortable, he realised, 'Oh shit, this guy can really fight!'

"If I was him, I would try to touch me early and keep me out of rhythm because if this thing starts to blossom into a fight in the second, third and fourth [rounds] and we start hurting in there, start having to grind it out, start getting a rhythm then I win that fight 10 out of 10 times."

Poirier went on to claim that the pressure is on McGregor to perform after his loss at UFC 257 in January.

"It's all on the line for him," he continued.

"He's not doing this for money. He's doing this for pride, for respect, to prove that he's still an important piece of this 155lbs division. That's a dangerous man.

"He's not coming out here to damper his name anymore, to get knocked out again or to get submitted again. He's coming to build McGregor Enterprises back to where it was."

McGregor, meanwhile, is ready to do some damage this weekend.

"(I'm going to) give him a proper head kick," McGregor said during an Instagram Live Q&A session.

"There will be a lot of weapons produced on the night, that's for sure. He wants mixed martial arts? He's going to get it.

"I've been busy putting in the work. Full focus, fully immersed in mixed martial arts. It's been nothing but mixed martial arts, so I'm ready to put on a show."

In fact, back in April, he predicted the outcome of his bout against Poirier in an Instagram post.

"I'm going to win the trilogy fight via A Front Kick to the nose," he wrote. "Round number four. His nose needs straightening and I'm Rhinoplasty."

Who do you think comes out on top?

Let us know in the comments.

Featured Image Credit: Dustin Poirier/Twitter - PA

Topics: Conor Mcgregor, Dustin Poirier, UFC, MMA