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Dustin Poirier's teammate Thiago Alves praised 'Diamond' for working tirelessly to better himself over the past few years. Alves claims Poirier's work ethic has led to his recent success inside the octagon. According to Alves, Dustin Poirier kept improving himself after his knockout loss to Conor McGregor at UFC 178.
In an interview with MMA on Sirius XM, Alves explained how Dustin Poirier managed to solve the mystery of Conor McGregor across his three fights with the Irishman.
"In the third fight, there was no more mystery. [Dustin Poirier] knew exactly who he was facing...the whole aura that Conor McGregor used to have was gone."
Following his first fight with McGregor, Poirier moved up a weight class and began training with elite fighters for his new journey in the lightweight division.
'The Diamond' became one of the most active and feared fighters in the 155lbs division. On the other hand, Conor McGregor took a hiatus from the sport following his win over Eddie Alvarez back in 2016. He boxed Floyd Mayweather in a fight that earned him a $100 million payday. The Irishman then got involved in the whisky business and abandoned MMA in a way.
Since 2016, 'Notorious' has fought just four times inside the octagon. When Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier finally fought again at UFC 257, Alves admits that the Louisiana native was hesitant in the initial striking exchanges. However, as the fight progressed, Poirier became more confident and finished the job in the second round.
By the time McGregor and Poirier faced each other for the third time at UFC 264, Alves said the aura of mystique surrounding Conor McGregor was gone entirely, and it was easy pickings for Dustin.
Dustin Poirier is set to fight for the title next
Having put the rivalry with Conor McGregor to bed with back-to-back wins against the Irishman, Dustin Poirier has now set his sights on the UFC lightweight title. Poirier's life-long dream is to become a UFC champ, and standing in his way is Charles Oliveira, who's currently on a nine-fight winning streak.
It goes without saying that Oliveira vs. Poirier is a fight to make and one that fans have been craving to see. Hopefully, we'll get to see the pair lock horns towards the end of this year.
