Paulie Malignaggi says Conor McGregor ‘will get his ass kicked’ by Dustin Poirier but says fans have excuses ready

PAULIE MALIGNAGGI says Conor McGregor will ‘probably get his ass kicked’ by Dustin Poirier but says his fans already have their excuses ready.

McGregor steps into the Octagon to take on Poirier for the second time his year on Saturday night at UFC 264.

Paulie MalignaggiGetty Images – Getty

The Notorious suffered a shock second round knockout defeat to the American back in January and their series currently stands at 1-1, with McGregor’s win coming in 2014.

The Dubliner has won just ONE fight inside the Octagon since 2016 when he defeated Donald Cerrone last January.

And Malignaggi expects him to suffer another crushing defeat in front of a packed out Las Vegas crowd on Saturday night.

But the former boxing star, who sparred with McGregor back in 2017, says his fans will be using his financial success outside of MMA as an excuse for defeat.

Poirier defeated McGregorSportsfile

McGregor was recently crowned the highest paid athlete in the world by Forbes after earning €148 million in the last 12 months.

And Malignaggi expects his fans to point to this success as a reason for another high profile UFC defeat.

He told Helen Yee: “It’s like it is always win-win for Conor. It is amazing what he has done really.

“You know, he can win and people will be like ‘Oh he’s back’, and then he can get his ass kicked and people will say ‘Oh he’s not focused’.

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“It’s always win-win for Conor. So does it really matter? I mean the guy could lose every fight and they will all still have an excuse for him.

“You know I think he is probably going to get his ass kicked again. But that’s ok, because they will tell you that he wasn’t focused again.

“They will tell you it is because he just sold his Whiskey for like what $600 million?

“They will tell you it is because of that and they will tell you he wasn’t focused because he was too busy finishing deals. The entrepreneur himself.

“So this way he will get another fight with somebody else and they will watch it again.”