A failed donation is what got the war of words between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier started up again.
McGregor and Poirier had been quite cordial in the buildup to their rematch back in January. Even after the fight, which was won by Poirier via second-round KO, the two had been chummy in the early going. Ahead of the rematch, McGregor promised to donate $500,000 to Poirier’s Good Fight Foundation.
Things went awry when Poirier went public, claiming McGregor reneged on the donation. The two ended up exchanging heated words and ultimately, the former UFC “Champ-Champ” donated the $500k to the Boys & Girls Club in Louisiana.
McGregor spoke to Ariel Helwani for BT Sport and he explained what went wrong with the donation.
“He jumped the gun is what he done at the end of the day. And I went with a reputable charity in the area. I had said I was gonna donate. Like I said, it originally started as like a charity event. It was gonna be a charity event, and the profits off of the event were gonna go to charity. So when the fight actually got announced when we made it under the UFC banner, I kept it up. I said, ‘I’ll still help you out. I’ll still give you the (donation).
“And then, it is what it is. I’m happy where it’s gone. It’s gone to the Boys & Girls Club of Acadiana and not just some random MMA gym for profit, which is essentially what the attempt was. So I’m happy the way it’s gone, and it’s got me into that other mode that suits me down to the ground, so I’m happy with it.”
The trilogy fight between Poirier and McGregor will go down this Saturday night (July 10). It’ll headline UFC 264 inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
