UFC 246 is upon us and the highly-anticipated Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier trilogy bout goes down on Saturday night. This much-hyped fight is set to be a showdown, as McGregor is looking for revenge after his loss to Poirier in January. He’s talking a lot of smack and being the showman he is ahead of this fight, but should you put money on his betting odds for this one?
(Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook)
McGregor is the underdog going into this matchup. His odds to win are +110, while Poirier’s are -130 to defeat McGregor. I’m a McGregor fan. I, too, have Irish ancestry so I appreciate that he’s from Ireland and I think he’s entertaining. And he's stylish. The guy has pizzazz.
And I was going to bet on him. Until this happened.
McGregor brought Poirier’s wife into this fight when he shared what appears to be an Instagram message request from Jolie Poirier.
It's the #ProperIrishAnimal hashtag for me.
Conor, what are you doing?
It seems McGregor’s plan here was to intimidate Poirier by implying Poirier’s wife is interested in striking up a conversation of sorts with him and it backfired for McGregor.
One question leading into this fight is whether or not McGregor has prepared enough for this rematch after he lost to Poirier in January. And this makes him look like he’s unprepared and is compensating for it with this low blow. As if this is all he’s got.
McGregor even followed up with this tweet that gets more graphic.
Seriously, what ARE YOU DOING?
And in response, Poirier said, "I don't give a f--- what he says, I pity that man and I will pity him more after Saturday night."
That sounds like a guy who’s confident and prepared.
If that wasn’t enough, McGregor then tried to kick Poirier at the press conference ahead of the fight.
I get that McGregor’s a showman, and that’s what I like about him, but Poirier is overflowing with confidence going into this. So I’d put my money on Poirier and his -130 odds to win this one.
McGregor did win his first meeting with Poirier in 2014. But the way McGregor’s pre-fight intimidation tactics have been going, 2014 might seem like a long time ago when this fight starts on Saturday night in Las Vegas.
Lucy is a sports betting content producer with Audacy and BetQL. She has worked with WEEI and Audacy as a writer, radio producer and podcaster. Lucy lives in Boston and loves Tom Brady and prop bets. Follow Lucy on Twitter at @LucilleBurdge.