Conor McGregor lashes out over position in UFC rankings, Dustin Poirier fires back

Conor McGregor has some gripes about his position in the UFC lightweight rankings, and his former foe Dustin Poirier is having none of it.

McGregor defeated Dustin Poirier via first-round TKO in a 2014 featherweight fight. Nonetheless, Poirier has glided past McGregor in the lightweight rankings, settling in at No. 2, one spot in front of the Irishman.

McGregor is not a fan of their respective positioning in the division, and let fans know on Twitter on Thursday — though he promptly deleted his Tweet.

“How is the pea ahead of me in rankings?” McGregor wrote on Twitter, referencing Poirier (h/t MMA Fighting). “I sparked him in 90 seconds. Went further against most recent foe, plus took a round. After two year layoff partying and or in jail/court.

“What a weird little game you guys play. I’ll bide my time for now but watch this space. All bums.”

It didn’t take long for Poirier to respond to this gripe from McGregor. He accused the Irish star of “hand-picking” his opponents — probably a reference to McGregor’s recent 40-second TKO win over Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, who entered the fight on a two-fight skid.

Because I’ve been fighting real contenders and you’ve been hand picking opponents. https://t.co/lKWNYachoa

— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) May 7, 2020

“Because I’ve been fighting real contenders and you’ve been hand picking opponents,” Poirier wrote in response to McGregor.

Conor McGregor has not fought since his win over Cowboy, as he’s currently stuck in Ireland due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Dustin Poirier, meanwhile, is still waiting for an opportunity to rebound from a September submission loss to UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. He was expected to return to the cage opposite Dan Hooker in San Diego, but that event fell through due to the pandemic.

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

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 5/7/2020.