Conor “The Notorious” McGregor will complete his trilogy against Dustin Poirier in Las Vegas on Saturday night, hoping to avenge the defeat he suffered at the start of 2021
The Irishman has labelled Dustin Poirier’s rematch victory over him earlier this year as a Douglas Buster-esque “fluke”.
Conor McGregor won the first bout between the pair, before Poirier roared back to beat him in dramatic fashion in January.
Utilising a combination of leg kicks, wrestling and boxing, the Diamond earned a knockout victory at UFC 257.
But McGregor has labelled that victory a lucky one, comparing it to Buster Douglas’ infamous win over Mike Tyson in February 1990.
Douglas shocked the world when he beat the then undefeated Tyson, but subsequently relinquished his straps, while Iron Mike would return to the pinnacle of sport.
McGregor believes a similar fate could find Poirier, despite the American being ranked as the number one middleweight in the world.
“I don’t give a f* about him, to be honest. I don’t give a rat’s a about him,” McGregor said at the UFC 264 pre-fight press conference. “He’s Buster Douglas. He’s Buster Douglas is what he is.
“And that’s the way he’s gonna go down. He’s gonna be known for that. It was a fluke win, and I’m gonna correct it on Saturday night.”
Coincidentally, it is the second time this week that McGregor has been compared to Tyson, with Dana White claiming he has a draw similar to the former heavyweight champion of the world.
“There’s this buzz and energy around a McGregor fight that reminds me of the [Mike] Tyson days,” the UFC president told The Mac Life.
“He is at a level with Tyson, [Evander] Holyfield, and [Oscar] De La Hoya when they were on top and the list goes on and on. He’s one of the all-time money makers in Vegas.
This fight this weekend has more celebrities coming than any other fight in UFC history. It has more pre-buys than any fight in UFC history and I’ve been saying to fans, if you know you’re buying this fight on Saturday night, do it now.
“Do it this week, don’t do it on Saturday! Two or three million people trying to buy it at the same time is going to cause problems so I think people are being smart.”
McGregor is desperate for a victory having lost three of his last six fights and has promised an uncompromising dismantling of his old foe.
“I’m going to go through his head, put holes in him and take it off his shoulders, that’s the goal here,” he explained.
“He’s done here, this is it for him, this is the end of the road.
“It’s on, Saturday night he’s getting walked around that octagon like a dog and put to sleep.”
