Conor McGregor Calls off Dustin Poirier Fight Following Claim McGregor Didn’t Follow Through With Donation

UFC fighter Conor McGregor has seemingly called off his upcoming fight with Dustin Poirier. The two had been scheduled for their third fight on July 10, though McGregor announced in a heated Monday morning tweet that the “fight is off” and he will “fight someone else” after his rival said McGregor failed to make his promised donation to The Good Fight Foundation.

The Monday tweet saw McGregor slamming Poirier with a number of insults, calling him an “inbred hillbilly,” a “brain dead hillbilly,” and a “fool” who “must be new to money” before confirming, “the fight is off [by the way],” referencing their planned July rematch at UFC 264. McGregor claimed he will instead “fight someone else,” though he did not indicate who that may be. For his part, Poirier responded with an “Ok,” sharing a clip from one of their previous fights.

The heated tweets come amid controversy surrounding McGregor. Ahead of their UFC 257 match in January, McGregor had said he would make a $500,000 donation to Poirier’s The Good Fight Foundation.” On Sunday, however, Poirier alleged in a tweet that the promised donation was never made. According to Poirier, McGregor’s team “stopped responding after the fight in January.” Poirier later explained “his team reached out fight week to initiate the process but ghosted us the past 2 months after the fight” and his “foundation has reached out 3 times since with no reply.” McGregor responded to the tweet by confirming that a donation was never made, writing, “A donation, not a debt. We’ve been awaiting the plans for the money that never came. I do with all my donations. Know where it’s going dot for dot. Otherwise, it goes walking. As is the case with a lot of these foundations, sadly. You took the McG over the belt shows I was right.”

Before McGregor called off the fight, Poirier responded to the tweet by saying, “100% never a debt,” adding that McGregor “offered, we accepted, and like I said your Team never responded to our emails regarding the process of where funds would be put to work! July 10th you will taste defeat yet again.” McGregor responded that by writing his team “does their due diligence to make sure every donation meets the mark. My generosity is known” and that Poirier “will pay with your brain for this attempt at smearing my name.”

The UFC 264 fight between Poirier and McGregor was expected to headline the July 10 pay-per-view event, though MMA Fighting notes that it has not been officially announced by the promotion. McGregor confirmed earlier in April, however, that the “fight is booked.”