Al Iaquinta rips Dustin Poirier: “He’s like a fan fighting Conor. It’s so cringey”

UFC lightweight contender Al Iaquinta has taken a shot at Dustin Poirier over his rematch negotiations with Conor McGregor.

The mixed martial arts world has been hooked on the back and forth between Poirier and McGregor as the two attempt to finalize an agreement for a January 2021 rematch. While many have enjoyed how respectful they’ve been with one another, others have questioned why Poirier has been so cordial.

Iaquinta, who has lost three of his last four fights, spoke with ESPN recently and discussed the ongoing negotiations.

“What is that guy doing?” Iaquinta told ESPN (via MMA Junkie). “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 isn’t the only man in the 155-pound division to call out Poirier for this reason, with champion Khabib Nurmagomedov believing that “The Diamond” is showing his “weakness”.

“I don’t understand why Dustin show his weakness,” Nurmagomedov said of Poirier (via MMA Mania). “This is just my opinion. You have to say something, and this is my opinion. He have to do something, too. They ask him to fight and Conor said I am going to donate you money and he say ‘yes, yes, yes.’

“But Dustin is a Lightweight fighter, he’s not a Welterweight fighter. Why are you going to fight at 170? If you want to fight for the title then you have to make 155,” continued Nurmagomedov.

“So we will see. This Saturday the two best Lightweights in the world are going to compete, and they are not Dustin and Conor.”

What do you think of this discourse between Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor?