Conor McGregor has responded to a comment from top lightweight contender Dustin Poirier, who he defeated by knockout in a 2014 featherweight fight.<\/p>\n
Speaking to ESPN<\/a>\u00a0this week, Poirier explained<\/a> that his loss to McGregor helped him grow and mature as a fighter.<\/p>\n \u201cIt definitely started happening after the Conor McGregor loss,\u201d Poirier said. \u201cThat was the start of it. It\u2019s been a long process, being a father, losing again, winning some and losing again, and winning another one. It\u2019s just a long evolution of stop caring so much. You just stop caring about the noise and stuff that doesn\u2019t matter…<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of times in my younger career, I felt like it was life or death,\u201d Poirier added. \u201cEvery comment on Instagram and Twitter, every journalist who said something, I felt like everybody was against me. I felt like if I lost I would be written off, it\u2019s the end of my career. I\u2019m a bum if I lose this fight. And then you lose a few times and you\u2019re like, \u2018Oh sh*t, I can still put this back together. Oh man, I\u2019m still providing for my family. I\u2019m still loving what I do.\u2019 It\u2019s like you\u2019ve been bent but not broken a lot of times and I feel like it made me stronger and it made me the man I am today. I\u2019m happy. I\u2019m genuinely happy.\u201d<\/p>\n It did not take long for McGregor to respond from this comment from Poirier. The Irishman didn’t have a ton to say, but his message was clear.<\/p>\n Respect. https:\/\/t.co\/SDNbCPRNec<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) July 2, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n