Daniel Cormier explains the change in Dustin Poirier during the final staredown against Conor McGregor ahead of UFC 257
MMA legend Daniel Cormier opened up about the change he observed in Dustin Poirier during his final staredown with Conor McGregor ahead of their UFC 257 fight. DC asserted that during the faceoff, Poirier looked ‘the most comfortable’ he’s seemed all week.
The first fight between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier was a Featherweight bout that transpired at UFC 178 in September 2014. The Notorious One won the highly entertaining matchup via a first-round TKO.
Needless to say, the MMA world has been looking forward to the rematch between McGregor and Poirier that’s set to headline UFC 257 on January 23rd. Speaking to The Schmo, the former UFC double champion Daniel Cormier addressed the final staredown that took place at the UFC 257 ceremonial weigh-ins. DC had the following to say regarding the faceoff.
“I think what I took from the staredown was – or the ceremonial weigh-in, which we actually had for the first time in forever, right? People are in the arena watching the guys weigh-in. That was the most comfortable Dustin Poirier has seemed all week, right? Because in the press conference, he seemed fidgety; maybe it could’ve been the weight cut. I spoke about talking to him last week, and he seemed fidgety, had a lot of questions he needed to sift through before we got to fight night. But at the weigh-ins, he seemed confident, big, strong.” said Cormier.
“And Conor looks like Conor looks, right? Looks so calm and collected. And like, he just belongs in this spotlight. He belongs in this moment where he’s on the verge of doing something that we’ve all come to appreciate him doing. Putting on great performances and fighting a guy in Dustin who seems primed and ready to make this a great competitive fight. I can’t wait.” said Cormier. (*H/T Sportskeeda for the transcription)
The COVID-19 global pandemic resulted in UFC having to restrict fan-access at the ceremonial weigh-ins for most of the fight events over the past several months. Daniel Cormier shed light upon this and noted that it was great to have the fans attend the UFC 257 ceremonial weigh-ins.
Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor’s body language in the lead-up to UFC 257 has been a notable topic of discussion
Following the UFC 257 pre-fight press conference, certain sections of the MMA community claimed that Dustin Poirier appeared to be a tad anxious. Alternatively, others said that The Diamond simply wanted to get the media obligations over with.
Similarly, a lot has been made of Conor McGregor’s body language, particularly given his humble approach and lack of trash talk at the press conference. Some believe that The Notorious One lacked the aggressiveness he’s always displayed. However, certain fans noted that the Conor McGregor was supremely focused and didn’t bother to engage in trash talk.