Al Iaquinta is not a fan of the way Dustin Poirier has handled his fight negotiations with Conor McGregor.
Poirier and McGregor are targeted to rematch Jan. 23 at UFC 257, but before McGregor verbally accepted the offered date, he suggested that he and Poirier do an MMA charity fight without the UFC’s involvement.
Poirier, who’s the founder of “The Good Fight Foundation,” was quick to accept McGregor’s donation of half a million dollars, as well as the offer to be flown in for an exhibition fight in Ireland.
Iaquinta is not one to shy away from giving his opinion and thinks Poirier showed a sign of weakness with his amicable approach toward McGregor’s suggestions.
“What is that guy doing?” Iaquinta told ESPN. “What is he, Conor’s fan? He’s like a fan fighting Conor. It’s so cringey. Conor’s like, ‘I’ll fly you over, and I’ll donate my money to your charity.’ I’d be like, ‘Bro, I’ll fly my (expletive) self over and when I beat the (expletive) out of you, I’ll donate my own money. What is this? Kumbaya? Like what the hell. Are you kidding? He’s lost the fight already.
“If the fight happens, there’s not a doubt in my mind Dustin’s losing that fight. He’s already (conceded) in everything. He’s like, ‘Thank you for the fight. We’ll fight in Ireland or wherever, and thank you, we’ll fight for charity, it’ll be great.’ It’s like, dude, get out of here. This is a fight. What? Are you freakin’ kidding me? You’re gonna thank the guy? You think Conor is really gonna – this is for him, this is not for you, Dustin. Relax, bro.”
Iaquinta hasn’t competed since last October when he suffered a unanimous decision loss to Dan Hooker at UFC 243.