McGregor and Poirier ready for UFC 257 0:19
(CNN) -
Conor McGregor is back, again.
The UFC's 'Notorious' returns to the Octagon this Saturday after a third retirement where he will face Dustin Poirier at UFC 257. It will be a 2014 rematch where McGregor took less than two minutes to knock out the American.
Having spent more than a year out of the UFC since his last fight, McGregor said his time was a "wild ride."
"It's been a ride, I've done it and I'm here," McGregor said during his pre-fight press conference.
I've been through everything.
It has been a wild ride for me.
It has not been easy at times.
What a life and I tell you, I do not want it to be otherwise.
I am very excited to be back.
I am very excited to have fans here.
I feel revitalized.
I'm going to paint a beautiful picture inside this octagon on Saturday night and I'm very excited to do it.
LOOK: UFC 257: McGregor and his son star in a tender moment at the autograph signing
However, Poirier says he learned a lot from that loss and six years later, he is a very different fighter.
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"I'm more mentally prepared now," Poirier told CNN Sport's Don Riddell.
“Back when I was younger, I didn't put a lot on the mental side of fights.
I listened to the critics.
I listened to people's opinions.
I heard Conor.
I was frustrated and caught up in the entire war of words that led to the fight.
And he's one of the best at it, getting under your skin, teasing you.
Now that's just noise to me. "
Conor McGregor returns to the Octagon this Saturday to face Dustin Poirier at UFC 257.
A chaotic fight in silence
There will be very little noise at Fight Island in Abu Dhabi this Saturday with only 2,000 fans allowed to attend due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Having beaten Dan Hooker in front of no fans in Las Vegas last June, Poirier says he prefers the sound of silence.
«I liked to fight without a crowd.
Yeah, as if he knew that some fighters feed off of crowd energy and want to cheer up and stuff like that.
For the first time in my career, I fought with no one present in 2020, last year.
And I thought it was quiet.
It was calmer.
The fight is chaotic.
Your brain is moving at a million miles an hour and on a regular fight night you have people hovering over things trying to grab you when you walk into the octagon and people screaming and things like that.
It just makes it more chaotic. "
“It also makes the fight more intimate.
When you are standing in front of that guy, you are not hearing thousands of screams, you are listening to your own thoughts, you are listening to the announcers speak.
It's really weird, man.
It was a great experience to go to that.
Dustin Poirier defeated Dan Hooker on June 27, 2020 in an empty arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Champion in his own right
A former interim lightweight champion, Poirier has won 26 of 33 mixed martial arts bouts.
He is the only man who has faced McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov, losing to both.
McGregor also lost to undefeated Russian in 2018. The former two-division champion returned to the cage a year ago to beat Donald Cerrone before announcing a third retirement in June.
There was a change of mind after the Irishman and Poirier exchanged tweets about a charity exhibition, before the UFC jumped on board.
Whatever happens on Saturday, Poirier knows there will be winners because of him.
He has auctioned off his used combat gear to help fund his non-profit organization, The Good Fight Foundation.
It has changed the lives of people locally in Louisiana and far beyond as well.
“When I fought Khabib last year here in Abu Dhabi,” Poirier explains, “we raised a lot of money and we were able to build water wells in Africa for the Pygmies [in Uganda] and also buy more than 16 hectares of land from them.
And I think it's amazing, man.
Transcend fighting.
And I don't take it lightly.
I am very grateful for the position I am in and the platform on which I have to raise awareness, be a voice for those who do not have it.
Poirier is especially proud to build an accessible playground for disabled children in his hometown, which the UFC fighter says was a dying boy's wish for a space where he and his friends could play.
"That is very important to me," adds Poirier.
Dustin Poirier became interim lightweight champion at UFC 236 on April 13, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia.
McGregor has already pledged to donate $ 500,000 from Saturday's lightweight contest to the foundation.
While Poirier will sell fighting clothes.
“Everything I am wearing in the Octagon will be auctioned the following week.
I keep memories.
And I keep a part of that goal where the money goes to my heart every time.
That is more valuable to me than a pair of gloves.
Conor McGregor Dustin Poirier
