Fight Flashback: Remembering Dustin Poirier vs. Conor McGregor 1 at UFC 178

Ahead of their eagerly anticipated rematch at UFC 257, we look back at the first clash between Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor at UFC 178.

On Jan. 23, [autotag]Dustin Poirier[/autotag] and [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] will face off in an eagerly anticipated rematch at UFC 257. The bout represents a rematch more than six years in the making, with the two UFC lightweights looking to renew their rivalry inside the cage after their featherweight clash in September 2014.

Back then, McGregor was a brash upstart looking to catapult himself into title contention at 145 pounds, while Poirier was a rising young star of the featherweight division. The pair were booked to face off at UFC 178 in Las Vegas.

Ahead of their rematch, we delve into the MMA Junkie archives to recall the story of that fight.

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‘You ain’t sh*t, boy’: Before UFC 257, watch Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier’s first faceoff in 2014

Tempers flared when they faced off for the first time at UFC 178 media day.

This time around, the build-up to [autotag]Dustin Poirier[/autotag] and [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag]’s fight could be drastically different.

The pair are set to rematch more than six years later in the UFC 257 headliner on Jan. 23. In their first meeting at UFC 178, McGregor knocked out Poirier in the first round of their featherweight bout.

There was plenty of animosity between Poirier and McGregor back then, with the two constantly exchanging words and getting heated with each other. In an interview with MMA Junkie’s Mike Bohn on Monday, Poirier even admitted that he got too emotional and wanted to “hurt” McGregor, which ultimately cost him.

McGregor is notorious for getting into his opponents’ heads and was able to get a rise out of Poirier in their first faceoff at UFC 178 media day, which you can see below (via Instagram):

https://www.instagram.com/p/CH8bn4lleU9/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

It seems Poirier and McGregor will enter their rematch with much cooler heads. McGregor even promised to donate half-a-million dollars to Poirier’s Good Fight Foundation as the two appear to have developed a greater level of respect for each other.

The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly serious, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.

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