Conor McGregor compares Dustin Poirier's "fluke" win at UFC 257 to Buster Douglas' knockout of Mike Tyson
Conor McGregor has compared Dustin Poirier’s “fluke” win at UFC 257 to Buster Douglas’ knockout of Mike Tyson.
Widely regarded as one of the most dangerous strikers in MMA history, Conor McGregor entered his rematch against Dustin Poirier at UFC 257, having already beaten Poirier in the past. Their first fight witnessed McGregor defeat Poirier via first-round TKO at UFC 178 in September 2014.
The rematch took place at UFC 257 in January 2021 and saw McGregor lose to Poirier via second-round TKO. Moreover, how he lost has been a hot-button topic in the ensuing months, as McGregor was out-struck and suffered the first KO/TKO loss of his MMA career.
Similarly, another legendary KO artist, Mike Tyson, had suffered an upset loss to James ‘Buster’ Douglas in their heavyweight title fight in February 1990.
The then-undefeated Tyson was beaten via 10th-round KO by Douglas in their professional boxing bout. The matchup saw Tyson lose his WBA, WBC, and IBF heavyweight titles. The fight is considered to be one of the biggest upsets in combat sports history.
Conor McGregor was asked during the UFC 264 pre-fight press conference whether he’d respect Dustin Poirier irrespective of the outcome of their UFC 264 fight. McGregor responded to this by comparing Poirier to Buster Douglas:
“I don’t give a fu** about him, to be honest. I don’t give a rat’s a** about him. 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.”
Following this, Dustin Poirier was asked whether he respects Conor McGregor as a fighter despite his antics. Poirier replied by saying:
“I do. You know, I don’t hate anybody up here. I’m at a different place mentally, man. Respect to him and everything he’s done.” (*Video courtesy: UFC; H/T Sportskeeda for the transcription)
In his very first fight since beating Tyson, Douglas ended up losing his titles via third-round KO to Evander Holyfield in October 1990.
The vast majority of boxing fans and experts subsequently criticized Douglas as his performances significantly deteriorated after the Tyson fight. Douglas was unable to ever regain the heavyweight titles and is, to this date, best-known for his upset win over Tyson.
Conor McGregor aims to beat Dustin Poirier and recapture the UFC lightweight title
Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier are 1-1 in their series of fights thus far. They’re set to collide in their trilogy fight at UFC 264 on July 10th, 2021.
The winner of this matchup is likely to receive the next shot at UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira. In the buildup to UFC 264, Conor McGregor has consistently maintained that he’d like to fight for the title around December.