Georges St-Pierre explains why he believes Conor McGregor will KO Dustin Poirier at UFC 264

Georges St-Pierre believes it will be Conor McGregor getting his hand raised at UFC 264.

McGregor is set for his trilogy match against Dustin Poirier in the main event of UFC 264 on July 10. They had their rematch back in January where “The Diamond” scored a second-round TKO. In the lead-up to the trilogy, Poirier has said he will finish McGregor again, but St-Pierre believes it will be the Irishman winning early by KO.

“I think McGregor is very good in rematches, and I think he’s going to have the victory,” St-Pierre said on the Tristar Gym YouTube channel (h/t MMAJunkie). “I think he’s probably going to win in the second round. A knockout.”

There is certainly a chance that happens as we have seen McGregor win some key fights early. He knocked out Jose Aldo in just 13 seconds and to win the lightweight belt he TKO’d Eddie Alvarez in the second. Yet, for St-Pierre’s coach in Firas Zahabi, he believes it’s a 50-50 fight but thinks Poirier can have success with the leg kicks once again.

“My official pick was 50-50 odds,” Zahabi said after St-Pierre gave his prediction. “I think it could go either way, but because GSP picked McGregor, I’ve got to pick Poirier. I’m gonna make a case for Poirier right now. At 155, McGregor’s power is maybe not exactly what it used to be, and he’s got to do five rounds. I think Poirier showed in fight No. 2 (that) he’s smart enough to take McGregor in the later rounds. In Round 1, he took a big left, and he took it well.

Image Credit: @ufc on Twitter

“I think psychologically Poirier’s a bit more ready to take that left hand. He’s more aware about it. I think this is an incredibly difficult fight,” Zahabi continued, and said he made the case for Poirier because St-Pierre went with McGregor. “Fifty-fifty, but if Georges picked McGregor, I gotta pick Poirier. I think Poirier’s going to take him into Round 3, and he’s going to do the same thing he did before. He’s gonna kick the leg, he’s gonna injure McGregor a little bit in the leg, and then he’s gonna put the hands on him. It’s going to be a trench war, and Poirier’s gonna put him away.”

Currently, the oddsmakers have the fight as a pure pick’em. There are paths to victories for both McGregor and Poirier which St-Pierre and Zahabi laid out. We will all soon find out who gets their hand raised in the trilogy.

What do you make of Georges St-Pierre’s prediction for Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier 3?