Ultimate Fighting Championship star Conor
McGregor has chimed in on the struggles former opponent
Dustin
Poirier is facing, but not like most may have expected.
During a Thursday appearance on Smash Cast with
hosts Chael Sonnen
and Ian Parker, McGregor appeared to discuss a litany of subject.
In the show, he discusses topics like how he feels competing back
at welterweight, whether he will ever meet Floyd
Mayweather in the boxing ring again and his former opponents.
Notably, the subject of Poirier came up, a man McGregor faced three
times and ended up losing the trilogy match to in 2021.
Poirier, now retired, has been open with his struggles keeping
himself focused and on task now that he is no longer training to
prepare for mutual unarmed combat. In an
oft-discussed video, Poirier was filmed heavily intoxicated at
the Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta in late June and arrested
for the misdemeanor of public drunkenness.
I hope he comes out right
Sonnen asked McGregor directly about Poirier’s incident during the
show. Before responding, the Irishman sharply inhaled and collected
his thoughts.
“Karma is a mirror,” McGregor expressed. “It’s not good to see. If
I was to say something to him, I would say: take this with absolute
seriousness. Do not engage with people. ‘Oh,’ there’s people [that
would say], ‘it was funny, I like him more,’ and you see [them]
start laughing about it and maybe you wonder, ‘maybe it wasn’t so
bad. Maybe I’ll keep going.’ And then the next one’s worse, and
then you slip deeper and deeper.”
It would not be McGregor if he did not slip in a barb or two, as he
jabbed Poirier for his post-retirement appearance and
admission that he can now recover properly by taking
performance-enhancing drugs.
“So, I would say, take this with the absolute seriousness,” he
remarked. “Funny enough, I spoke with [UFC broadcaster] Megan
Olivi, they asked me—not on this, it hadn’t happened yet. But they
were asking me about Dustin and I’d say, ‘For him to retire and go
on steroids for no reason, I found that stupid. And then also, his
body didn’t look any different…alarm belts went off in my [head],
and I thought [he should] take [his transgressions] with absolute
seriousness. Because, you don’t want to slip further and further.
He obviously has to take accountability; I’ve seen something that
came out [where he] blames his father. You have to [take]
accountability [as] a man, that’s it.”
“Notorious” finished, saying, “It’s not my business. And for the
sake of his family and children, and his new child born, I hope he
comes right.”
