Conor McGregor criticizes former rival Dustin Poirier for ‘blaming his father’ for recent public intoxication arrest

By Curtis Calhoun - July 9, 2026 at 2:38 PM PDT // 0 Comments

UFC superstar Conor McGregor made his first public remarks on three-time rival Dustin Poirier’s recent arrest.

As Conor McGregor prepares to return to the Octagon at UFC 329 this Saturday, his three-time rival, Dustin Poirier, is struggling with life outside of the cage.

Poirier was arrested for public intoxication after he was kicked off a flight at an Atlanta, Georgia airport last month. In viral footage of his arrest, a drunken Poirier was seen threatening a police officer and airline staff before he was taken into custody.

Poirier was released on bail and faces up to a year in jail and/or a fine if convicted of the misdemeanor charge. He has since apologized for his actions and admitted to dealing with mental health struggles since hanging up the gloves at UFC 318 last year.

McGregor has kept relatively quiet on his heated rival’s legal issues as he prepares to fight Holloway at UFC 329. But that changed during fight week, as he shared an interesting perspective on Poirier’s mental health admission and recent arrest.

Conor McGregor advises ‘little man’ Dustin Poirier, scolds rival for steroid use

In a recent interview with Smash Cast, McGregor was asked for his reaction to Poirier’s recent struggles with alcohol since retiring from Mixed Martial Arts.

“Karma is a mirror, it’s not good to see. If I were to say something to him, I would say take this with absolute seriousness,” McGregor said of Poirier.

“Don’t engage with people who say it was funny and they like him more, and that it wasn’t so bad. Because then the next [incident] is worse, and you slip deeper and deeper…for him to retire and go on steroids, for no reason, I found that to be stupid. And his body didn’t even look different, so the alarm bells were going off in my thoughts…take is seriously, because you don’t want to slip.

“He has to take accountability. I saw something where he blamed his father, but you have to take accountability, little man, that’s it. It’s not my business, and for the sake of his children and his newborn child, I hope he comes out right.”

McGregor’s last fight came against Poirier at UFC 264, a bout that ended abruptly after McGregor suffered a serious leg injury. Poirier went on to achieve UFC superstardom before retiring last year following a loss to Holloway in New Orleans.

Do you agree with Conor McGregor’s comments about Dustin Poirier? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM


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