Former two-division UFC champion Conor McGregor has picked his side in the upcoming UFC 302 title fight between Islam Makhachev vs. Dustin Poirier.
McGregor has a history with both men having a brutal rivalry with Makhachev's coach Khabib Nurmagomedov and he also fought Poirier three times, and he's picking his former opponent to win on June 1.
“I think Dustin does him, knocks him out,” McGregor said on a live stream with Duelbits.
“I think the things that Makhachev does wrong, the things he’s not good at, he fumbles over his feet usually early on and falls into shots. He’s been knocked out by a back check hook from a southpaw before inside the UFC, and that’s one of Dustin’s best shots. If Dustin’s ever going to do it, it’ll be this time."
“Obviously, Dustin does his things bad also that feed into Makhachev’s strengths. So, it’s going to be a good fight to see which one shows up, but it’s all to play for. There is no clear favorite in it.
"If you look at Dustin’s last fight, he was getting manhandled by Benoit Saint-Denis and he stayed with it, and then got back to his feet, stayed with it and landed a shot. That’s great experience to be going into this bout. If there’s ever a chance for him to get it done, this will be it.”
McGregor fought and lost to Poirier in his last UFC appearance nearly three years ago. He suffered a leg break which sidelined him for months. He'll be making his UFC return on June 29 when he steps in to face Michael Chandler at UFC 303 in Las Vegas.
Live on DAZN: Taylor vs. Catterall 2 on May 25 (excluding U.S. and Canada). Click here for details.