Conor McGregor takes swipe at Dustin Poirier, ‘weird’ UFC rankings – ‘I’ll bide my time, watch this space’

It was inevitable Conor McGregor wouldn’t stay quiet for too long.

“The Notorious” has been frequently weighing in on coronavirus lockdown matters in his native Ireland, but lately has been uncharacteristically silent when it comes to matters in the Octagon.

Seemingly out of nowhere, he decided to stir up some trouble on Thursday night, stoking the flames for a potential rematch with Dustin Poirier.

“How is the pea ahead of me in the rankings? I sparked him in 90 seconds. Went further against most recent foe [Khabib Nurmagomedov], plus took a round. After a two-year lay-off partying and/or in jail/court,” tweeted McGregor, who beat Poirier at featherweight in September 2014.

Poirier is now ranked No 2 in the lightweight division after moving up to claim the interim title, which he lost after a third-round submission defeat by undisputed champ Nurmagomedov at UFC 242 last September in Abu Dhabi.

McGregor, the No 3-ranked former featherweight and lightweight champ, made it to the fourth round before tapping to the Russian’s choke, but was seemingly ill-prepared after controversies – and lots of time – away from the cage.

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“What a weird little game you guys play. I’ll bide my time for now, but watch this space. All bums,” added McGregor, whose plan for a “season” in 2020 – starting with his 40-second destruction of Donald Cerrone in January – has been curbed by the pandemic.

Poirier responded to the tweet, which was soon deleted, “because I’ve been fighting real contenders and you’ve been handpicking opponents”.

“It’s simple, climb up the ladder,” wrote “The Diamond” in another tweet.