Conor McGregor has been told that Dustin Poirier has a ‘big-time edge’ over him ahead of their trilogy fight at UFC 264 Live.
McGregor (22-5) will face Poirier for the third time on July 10 in front of a sold-out T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
‘The Notorious’ will attempt to resurrect his career after being knocked out in the second round of their rematch at UFC 257 in January of this year.
In an interview with TMZ, Sylvester Stallone questioned if McGregor still had the same drive and ambition to return to the top.
Instead, Stallone feels Poirier (27-6, 1 NC) will have the upper hand against the former UFC lightweight champion when they meet in Las Vegas, where the bulk of the fans will be pulling for the 32-year-old to return to the top of the 155-pound class.
However, the actor also said that the conclusion of their battle is still too close to predict.
He said, ” “That’s a difficult one. That’s a difficult one.
“I swear you flipped a coin on that one. It’s a game of who gets to bat first.
“You’ve got a young, hungry man [Poirier] and a man who’s earned a lot of money but is equally hungry [McGregor].
“You have two men who are a bit cautious mentally, but Poirier has the big-time edge.”
Poirier is eager to repeat the job when they meet again this summer, and he hasn’t been bashful about expressing his intentions.
However, Artem Lobov has cautioned him that he would be fighting a totally different McGregor than the one he encountered before.
He said, ” “Conor [McGregor] is a really intelligent boxer.
“I just think he took the previous fight a little too casually, thinking, ‘I’ll just come up and do what I do and crush him.’
“Not only that, but he was already psychologically and physically preparing for a boxing match, so he wasn’t thinking leg kicks – no MMA.
“He simply assumed it would be the same as the previous battle.”
“Dustin deserves recognition. He’s done his homework.
“He’s come a long way since the first bout, and he performed well.
“But, now that Conor is awake, I believe he understands what’s going on. His whole emphasis is on this battle.
“He’s studied him, he’s looked at what the flaws were in the second bout, and honestly, when Conor walks up like that? He’s unstoppable.
“So I anticipate him stopping Dustin in the first or second round. First and foremost, I’d want to make a statement. My prediction is for the first round, but it might go to the second.”