Controversy erupts over leaked Dustin Poirier sparring footage

A war of words has erupted after leaked footage showed Dustin Poirier dropping a sparring partner ahead of his fight with Conor McGregor.

The build-up for Conor McGregor’s much anticipated trilogy fight with Dustin Poirier is rapidly heating up, after footage was leaked to social media showing Poirier dropping his sparring partner in training.

The video of the incident was shared by MMA fighter Colby Covington, who competes in the welterweight division of the UFC.

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It shows Poirier, in full protective gear, punching and dropping his sparring partner.

After his partner falls to the ground, Poirier is clearly pumped up, yelling out “And new!”.

“The guy wearing full nerf gear head to toe to protect his face and his feelings is Poirier,” Covington wrote on Twitter.

“The guy with no headgear, wrestling credentials or brain cells left is “khabib.”

“@DustinPoirier Good guy? Bad guy? You be the judge #AndNew #UFC264.”

Covington was clearly trying to stir the pot just days out from Poirier’s fight with McGregor at UFC 264.

Referencing “Khabib”, Covington argued the footage was from Poirier’s training camp to face former lightweight Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 242 back in 2019.

Covington teased the release of the footage in a video with MMA Junkie in May but it’s now clear Covington was just stringing everyone along, with that rumour quickly proved untrue.

Poirier took to social media to explain that he hadn’t just dropped an amateur fighter, revealing his sparring partner was Titan FC veteran Felipe Douglas.

Poirier shared the video to his Twitter account, writing: “This is a pro fighter with 20 wins”.

But Douglas himself said the video isn’t what it seems and the backlash Poirier was copping for dropping an unprotected partner was unfair.

“It was an intense sparring session, and things like that can happen in sparring,” Douglas told MMA Fighting.

“There are some people saying I wasn’t wearing gear, but there was no reason to wear training gear, because Dustin trains well.

Dustin Poirier (right) has been at the centre of a social media storm for dropping his sparring partner. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

“He’s not mean. He hits hard like a fight and caught me and knocked me down. The cornerman took me off the cage and didn’t let me go back.

“As far as his celebration, people saying he was making fun — that’s the mindset of a guy that is fighting for a belt.

“I didn’t consider it disrespectful. I don’t do it, but that’s his mindset, envisioning the fight. “He was about to fight for the belt. That’s his life.”

Glad people can now see for themselves the way Colby Covington described the Dustin Poirier sparring video in our interview was misleading. Nothing out of the norm.

Also worth noting that was not an amateur fighter he was sparring with, nor was it in the Khabib camp. Carry on.

— Mike Bohn (@MikeBohnMMA) July 6, 2021

Poirier has responded to the video, dismissing Covington’s post as “just noise”.

“He posted a clip of a sparring session when I was preparing for Max Holloway (in 2019) and he said it was an amateur fighter,” he told ESPN.

“It’s just noise. He can say whatever he wants.”

The 32-year-old has been at the centre of several social media storms this week.

His opponent McGregor shared on Twitter what appeared to be a screenshot of Poirier’s wife Jolie’s direct message request on Instagram, with the post generating more than 39,000 likes and 7000 retweets.

Earlier this year, McGregor vowed to donate $500,000 to Poirier’s Good Fight Foundation, but he instead donated the six-figure sum to the Boys & Girls Club in Louisiana.

“We thanked him because his team reached out fight week to initiate the process but ghosted us the past two months after the fight,” Poirier said of McGregor’s revoking of the donation.

“My foundation has reached out three times since with no reply. We’ve moved past it! We will be announcing our next goal soon! It’s a big one.”

Poirier said he isn’t letting the controversies get to his head.

“I haven’t been on social media. I’ve kind of taken a step back from Twitter and Instagram,” he said.

“It’s so negative on the Internet world. Just focus on what matters. I know what matters and what’s real. Everything else is noise.”