"It was smooth sailing" - Dustin Poirier on fighting 'respectful' Conor McGregor
Dustin Poirier was relieved to see the respectful version of Conor McGregor ahead of his UFC 257 rematch with the Irishman. The Louisiana-native appreciates the absence of frenzied verbal altercations with his opponent in the hectic fight week.
The Diamond had a candid conversation with Podcaster and UFC color commentator Joe Rogan on his podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience on February 26.
Rogan asked Poirier how it felt to fight a Conor McGregor that was not an 'A**hole', referring to McGregor's transformation from a brash smack-talker to a respectful and humble fighter during the entire process of UFC 257.
A visibly relieved Dustin Poirier spelled out different aspects of fight week that competitors have to go through, especially when facing a megastar like Conor McGregor.
The Diamond told Joe Rogan that not having to deal with McGregor's antics made the whole process smooth sailing all the way.
"You know fighting is hectic already. You're about to go in there for 25 minutes and you've been training. You know what's on the line and there's lots of pressure. So it being a little bit calm for me was smooth sailing man, coz it's already hectic enough," Dustin Poirier said.
Dustin Poirier fought Conor McGregor in the main event of UFC 257 PPV card and defeated The Notorious One via second-round TKO after wrecking the Irishman's leg with devastating calf kicks.
The pair had their first outing in 2014 when McGregor defeated Poirier via first-round knockout, after completely breaking The Diamond in the lead-up to the fight with personal attacks.
Conor McGregor is one of the few MMA fighters who have utilized the full potential of mental warfare to break their opponents before the actual fight begins. His stinging verbal attacks and pre-fight antics have caused even the greatest fighters to fall off their game and lose to the Notorious One.
To the surprise of the MMA community, Conor McGregor has come out as a humble and respectful person towards his opponents in his last couple of fights, more so in his last outing against Dustin Poirier.
McGregor's transformation is worth appreciating but it was a questionable move against a fighter like Dustin Poirier. Although he has grown overall as a fighter, Poirier does not perform well under emotional stress.
The Diamond has suffered two quick knockout losses in his career against Michael Johnson and Conor McGregor. Both fights had an emotional angle to them and not playing mind games with Poirier only hurt the Irishman's chances against him.
Why did Conor McGregor change his approach in the Dustin Poirier fight?
The majority of the exports in the MMA community have attributed Conor McGregor's transformation to him becoming more mature with age. While talking to Dustin Poirier, Joe Rogan hypothesized that McGregor may have changed his approach after seeing the repercussions of his actions in the aftermath of his fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229.
"I think also, that the sh*t that he caused in the Khabib fight, realizing at the end of it what had happened... It was chaos, it is so nuts. Even what had happened before that... It's like he had done so much and f***ed up so much," Joe Rogan said.
Although Rogan's theory cannot be substantiated with proofs or admission from Conor McGregor, it does hold water because McGregor has not resorted to his old methods in any of his fights after UFC 229.