Everyone will find out if Conor McGregor is as hungry as he once was in the Dustin Poirier bout, UFC boss says
- Conor McGregor fights Dustin Poirier for a third and likely final time Saturday in Las Vegas.
- The UFC boss Dana White said the fight will show just how hungry McGregor is.
- Should the Irishman win, he could be thrust into a lightweight title shot, White said.
Everyone will find out whether Conor McGregor is as hungry as he once was when he fights Dustin Poirier in a high-stakes trilogy bout Saturday at UFC 264 inside the T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas.
A former two-weight UFC champion, McGregor's success as a title-winner peaked when he scored a second-round knockout win over Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 in 2016.
Since then, he lost in a boxing rules bout against Floyd Mayweather that scooped him $100 million, lost to Khabib Nurmagomedov in his MMA comeback, rebounded by defeating Donald Cerrone, but came unstuck to Poirier in a rematch earlier this year.
It begs a question as to whether McGregor, with all his riches, is still as hungry for success at the highest echelons of combat sport as he was five years ago.
"Conor McGregor is a competitor," the UFC boss Dana White told MMA Junkie. "The guy has a ton of money. He doesn't need to fight anymore. He wants to fight. He's a fighter to the core.
"What's at stake is, yes, he wants to be back on top. He goes in there and beats the No. 1 guy in the world, he's probably going to get the next title shot.
"The other thing Conor McGregor likes probably more than competition is money. When he fights, he makes a s--- load of money. These are all still very important things to him at this point in his life."
Despite title opportunities against Charles Oliveira, or other high-profile trilogies with Nate Diaz, White is not looking at what the future may hold for McGregor, he said.
"You never know where this kid's head is and what he's thinking," White said.
He later added: "I know who Conor McGregor is on the fight side. You have a lot of guys who talk a lot of s--- publicly. Most of it's not true.
"The thing is with Conor McGregor is this guy has always stepped up and been willing to fight anybody, anywhere, anytime.
"He's extremely wealthy. The question is: How much more of this does he want? How hungry is he? We'll find out on Saturday night. Win, lose, or draw, we'll find out probably a couple weeks after that what he wants to do next."