Poirier calls McGregor a 'dirtbag' after leg injury ends UFC 329 return in 69 seconds

Dustin Poirier wasted little time responding to Conor McGregor’s disastrous return to the octagon, calling his longtime rival a “dirtbag” after a leg injury ended McGregor’s fight against Max Holloway at UFC 329 just 69 seconds into the opening round — McGregor’s first bout in five years.

Speaking on the Deep Waters podcast, Poirier was blunt in his assessment. “It couldn’t have happened to a better guy,” he said. “That injury couldn’t happen to a better guy. I saw earlier this week, he said, ‘Karma’s a mirror’ and it definitely is. This guy’s a dirtbag.”

Poirier’s “karma” reference points to McGregor’s recent appearance on the Smash Cast podcast, where the Irishman commented on Poirier’s arrest for public drunkenness. The pair have fought three times in total, with Poirier winning the last two meetings. Their most recent encounter, the trilogy bout at UFC 264 in July 2021, also ended with McGregor suffering a leg injury — after which he was heard directing death threats at Poirier and making derogatory comments about Poirier’s wife, Jolie.

Poirier also questioned the tactical decision that may have contributed to Saturday’s injury. McGregor opened the Holloway fight with a jump kick, a move that footage suggests was a deliberate part of his game plan. “I don’t understand why you would do that,” Poirier said. “That’s like a Hail Mary. You’re starting a Hail Mary to start a 25-minute fight. I don’t understand what was going on with that.”

However, on a separate appearance on The Fight with Teddy Atlas, Poirier struck a notably different tone. When asked whether McGregor might have entered the fight already injured and simply gambled on an early finish, Poirier pushed back on the suggestion that McGregor would deliberately tank the contest. “If he wanted a built-in excuse, a storyline that’s already wrote itself and he can blame it on his leg, do something dumb, I don’t know if he’s that type of guy,” Poirier said. “I’ll say a lot of bad stuff about him, but a quitter, I’m not sure. He’s a real competitor and wants to win.”

Poirier also questioned the logic of leading with a compromised limb if McGregor did have a pre-existing condition. “If that was the scenario and he knew he was injured and he just said, ‘It’s either me or him the first minute,’ wouldn’t you do it with punches? Why would you do it with an injured weapon?”

McGregor, 36, had not competed since that July 2021 defeat to Poirier. His return at UFC 329 against former featherweight champion Holloway ended before it could meaningfully begin, leaving questions about whether the former two-division champion will fight again.