Michael Bisping explains why Conor McGregor will be a 'less of the nice guy' in the lead up to his UFC 264 fight with Dustin Poirier

Michael Bisping has explained why Conor McGregor will be ‘less of the nice guy’ in the lead up to his UFC 264 fight with Dustin Poirier.

The first fight between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier was contested at featherweight and took place at UFC 178 in September 2014. The buildup to this fight witnessed McGregor utilize a considerable amount of mental warfare in trash talk and aggressive posturing against Poirier.

The fight ended with Conor McGregor beating Dustin Poirier via first-round TKO. Poirier later admitted that McGregor’s mind games did adversely affect him and played a significant role in their fight.

The rematch was contested at lightweight and transpired at UFC 257 in January 2021. The buildup to this fight saw Conor McGregor adopt a drastically different approach compared to the first fight. The Irishman was incredibly respectful and friendly towards Dustin Poirier leading up to UFC 257.

The rematch ended with Poirier defeating McGregor via second-round TKO. Many in the MMA community opined that if Conor McGregor had utilized his mental warfare tactics leading up to the fight, he would’ve easily won the rematch.

UFC Hall of Famer Michael Bisping addressed this discussion on a recent episode of the Believe You Me Podcast. 'The Count' suggested that the trash-talking McGregor will likely return in the trilogy fight. Bisping stated:

“I think because of the fans in attendance, there’s going to be tons of people around. There’s going to be massive crowds in Las Vegas. There’s going to be thousands of people in the press conference. And Conor lives up to that, you know what I mean? He’s going to play up to that a little bit, I think. So, I think we’re going to see a little bit more; less of the nice guy, shall we say? And of course, there was the back and forth over the charitable donation. So, I think a lot of the goodwill they had between the two has kind of gone out the window. So, I think we’re gonna see a lot of; we’re going to see a fired-up Conor. We’re going to see a fired-up Dustin, you know?”

“But ultimately, I don’t think that’s gonna affect things. And it would’ve done in the past, had Dustin not just knocked him out, you know what I mean? If Conor was talking all that crazy sh**, right, and that second fight hadn’t happened yet, that might work on Dustin now. But Dustin’s gonna be sitting there and if Conor starts popping off all this sh**, he’s just gonna be able to laugh and say, ‘What are you talking about, man? I put you to sleep last time we fought’. You know, so, it’s a much more difficult scenario for Conor this time around. That doesn’t mean he’s gonna lose. That doesn’t mean he can’t win this fight.” (*Video courtesy: Michael Bisping Podcast; H/T Sportskeeda for the transcription)

Watch the podcast episode below:

A shot at UFC gold awaits the winner of the Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier UFC 264 matchup

Dustin Poirier (left); Conor McGregor (right)

Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier are 1-1 in their series of fights thus far. Both fighters are heralded amongst the top lightweights in the sport of MMA today.

They’re now set to clash in their highly awaited trilogy matchup, which will headline UFC 264 on July 10th, 2021. The winner of this fight will likely receive a UFC lightweight title shot against current champion Charles Oliveira.

Who do you see winning the trilogy fight between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier? Sound off in the comments.