‘The fight is off’: Conor McGregor pulls pin on Dustin Poirier
Conor McGregor says he’s pulling out of his trilogy bout against Dustin Poirier after their previously good-natured relationship blew up.
Conor McGregor has declared his fight against Dustin Poirier is off after reacting angrily to accusations from his rival he is withholding a promised $655,000 (AUD) donation to his charity.
Poirier claims McGregor has broken a promise by not following through with a pledge he made ahead of their fight earlier this year.
Poirier evened their rivalry at 1-1 with a second round TKO in January, but the build-up and post-fight exchanges were incredibly respectful and included McGregor’s promise to contribute to the Good Fight Foundation run by Poirier and his wife Jole that helps underserved communities in Louisiana.
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But three months on Poirier still hasn’t received the cheque and called out McGregor publicly on Twitter on Monday after the former lightweight champion had made a prediction about how he would finish the American in their third bout.
“That’s a fun prediction! @TheNotoriousMMA you also predicted a donation to my foundation and you and your team stopped responding after the fight in January. See you soon. July 10th Paid In Full!”
A social media user replied to Poirier saying it was just a way to promote the fight, but the American alleged McGregor’s team had stopped replying to his messages.
“We thanked him because his team reached out fight week to initiate the process but ghosted us the past 2 months after the fight. My foundation has reached out 3 times since with no reply. We’ve moved past it! We will be announcing our next goal soon! It's a big one,” he tweeted.
McGregor hits back: ‘The fight is off’
It didn’t take long for McGregor to hit back to rebuff the claims, saying he was still waiting on Poirier to share where the money would be spent.
“A donation, not a debt,” he wrote. “We’ve been awaiting the plans for the money that never came. I do with all my donations. Know where it’s going dot for dot. Otherwise it goes walking. As is the case with a lot of these foundations, sadly. You took the McG over the belt shows I was right.”
Poirier then said: “100% never a debt. You offered, we accepted, and like I said your Team never responded to our emails regarding the process of where funds would be put to work! July 10th you will taste defeat yet Again.”
This appeared to tip McGregor over the edge. “You’re ripped you inbred hillbilly,” he tweeted. “Why do you wink with your ears? You f***ing brain dead hillbilly. 500k with no plan in place. Ye hang tight. Fool. You must be new to money. The fight is off btw. I’m going to fight someone else on the 10th. Good luck on your old contract kid.”
McGregor’s agent also took to Twitter to suggest the donation will still be made.
“Dustin! Why you frontin? Did you forget the face to face meeting we just had in Utah with our families? Where we stood by you as you tried to get more $ from the UFC? Conor is as generous as it gets. Don’t dismiss his business savvy. He always gets it done. This is a low move man,” he wrote.
Poirier though was quick to hit back, replying: “His team hasn’t responded to our emails about anything involving my foundation after they reached out to us originally. All good, Dinner and talk was great but don’t get on Twitter and be a tough guy lol.”
It’s unlikely that we’ve heard the end of this one.