Conor McGregor has asked Dustin Poirier to compete against him in an “MMA charity fight” in Ireland. McGregor states that the fight will have “zero to do with the UFC.”
The full tweet, posted yesterday, read: “Hey bro! You want to do an MMA charity fight? Zero to do with the ufc. I will donate half a mill towards your charity for it. Sell it on ppv or work a tv deal and we work out other charities that are close to my heart also. I am engaged in many. Strictly a charity “exhibition.”
“December 12th in the Point depot, Ireland. No weigh ins. Open weight, unified rules. I will arrange all travel fare for you and family. McGregor Sports and Entertainment MMA, in association with The Good Fight Foundation. Charity Mixed Martial Arts!”
Poirier responded: “I’m in! Lets do it! A lot of people will benefit from this”
Are McGregor and Poirier serious? And if they are, is this something that can actually happen?
In this video, Patrick Auger, Matthew Wells, and Drake Riggs discuss the story as it developed on Twitter and answered those questions and more.
Wells says that it feels more like McGregor and Poirier are trying to force the UFC’s hand and set up an actual fight for them in the UFC. Remember that Poirier wanted to get paid appropriately for his fight against Tony Ferguson and a McGregor fighter could result in an improved payday for Poirier.
But Wells believes that as amazing as it would be for the two fighters to support needing charities, he doesn’t see it happening.
Auger comments that there is no way that the UFC would let McGregor fight without taking a cut — and that goes for the teased Manny Pacquiao bout, as well. If it was to happen in the UFC or as a charity exhibition, who would win?
Riggs says that it would be “a completely different story” to the first fight and that it would be a tough one to predict. He’d take the fighter who has been more active recently against top-tier competition: Dustin Poirier.
Wells says that McGregor is a special athlete and people forget that because he’s been inactive for so long. But in this case, he views it as a great, competitive fight and one that he’d back the underdog in.
Auger leans toward McGregor because Poirier has been in wars recently. McGregor is fresh and this may be an advantage if the fight was to happen.
Will this fight happen? And if it does, who will win? Let us know!