'Silly hillbilly': Conor McGregor goes berserk in UFC 264 face-off
MMA superstar Conor McGregor has dropped all pretence of a respectful relationship between himself and rival Dustin Poirier with an antagonistic appearance at the pair's UFC 264 face-off.
McGregor declared he was 'gonna kill this man' during a wild and expletive-laden press conference ahead of Sunday's trilogy bout against Poirier.
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After striking a distinctly respectful tone prior to the pair's last fight at UFC 257 in Abu Dhabi back in January, a dispute over a pledge to Poirier's charity has seen a return to McGregor's trademark animosity.
UFC president Dana White held the pair back as the faced off for a photo opportunity prior to taking questions.
McGregor made his intentions clear from the outset, launching a kick at Poirier as White eased his grip slightly - however the grinning Poirier didn't react.
The real fireworks began when the questions started however, with McGregor hitting his opponent with what essentially amounted to a flood of verbal abuse - starting with Poirier's wife, Jolie.
“Your wife is your husband, you’re only a little b**** of a thing, a silly little hillbilly,” McGregor said, before he began to chant “Jolie’s wife. Jolie’s wife."
“You used to be better than that, your trash talking used to be better than that. F***ing weak," a furious Poirier shot back, but McGregor was far from finished.
“I’m gonna dance on your head,” he said.
“I’m gonna go through his head, put holes in him and take it off his shoulders, that’s the goal. He’s done here. This is it for him. This is the end of the road for him.
“Saturday night he’s getting walked around that octagon like a dog and put to sleep.”
Detail in Conor McGregor photo sends fans wild
McGregor caused a stir after posting a photo from a wedding late last month, which fans noticed a 'worrying' detail.
McGregor took to social media to wish fans a 'Happy Father's Day', while also taking a dig at his detractors.
"Happy Father’s Day to all the real men out there that hold it down for their blood line," he wrote.
"You other little b*****s make me sick. Happy Father’s Day to the Ma."
Despite his provocative message, it was the black eye in his three most recent posts that garnered plenty of attention.
Fans couldn't help but comment on the glaring shiner staring back at them.
"Is anybody gonna talk about his black eye?" one fan wrote.
"Some shiner," another fan pointed out.
"Left eye ?? 👀 Intense training..." one fan observed.
It appears McGregor has ramped up his training weeks out from bout, which many in the MMA community have labelled a legacy fight for the former two-division champ.
The Irishman won the first bout against Poirier in the featherweight division during his rise to superstardom.
In the rematch, Poirier picked apart the Irishman with a barrage of leg kicks in the second before he knocked McGregor out to level the series 1-1.
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