"I was his main sparring partner" - Dustin Poirier's ATT teammate Luis Pena reveals his thoughts on the trilogy fight with Conor McGregor [Exclusive]

Ahead of his UFC Vegas 24 fight on Saturday, Luis Pena spoke about the upcoming trilogy bout between Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor.

In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda, the 27-year-old gave his prediction for the UFC 264 headliner, having trained alongside Poirier prior to his victory over the Irishman in January.

UFC 257: McGregor vs. Poirier 2

The fight, which took place at UFC 257 on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi, saw Poirier write his name in the history books as the first man to knockout Conor McGregor.

UFC 257 was one of the most successful pay-per-views in the promotion's history, having attracted 1.6 million buys. With UFC 264 already sold out, the UFC will be hoping for similar success in July.

UFC 257: McGregor vs. Poirier 2

Luis Pena and Dustin Poirier - sparring partners

After making the move from the American Kickboxing Academy to American Top Team in 2020, Luis Pena became one of Dustin Poirier's main sparring partners ahead of his second matchup with McGregor.

With the pair set to complete their trilogy, Pena gave us his thoughts on his teammates' chances of completing back-to-back wins against MMA's biggest superstar.

When asked if he thought McGregor could make the necessary adjustments for the third bout, Pena said -

"To be quite honest, no I don't. A lot of people are saying like 'ah, McGregor was getting ready for a boxing match with Manny Pacquiao and that's why he lost'. But if you really go back and watch that fight, he didn't do anything that different than what Conor McGregor normally does." Luis Pena explained.

Pena went on to detail how Poirier was able to take advantage of McGregor's wide stance and style - something which he believes 'The Diamond' can do again -

"He (McGregor) came out there with that wide, kind of, karate stance again and Dustin took advantage of that with the calf kicks. When you're in that kind of stance and you don't have your hips set for dynamic movements in-and-out, it's very easy to get stuck plotting..."

Having worked with Poirier in his camp and seen his preparation first-hand, Luis Pena says the Louisianan stuck to his game plan and executed it perfectly -

"...Especially against someone like Dustin whose whole game plan the entire camp, because I was his main sparring partner, was to wear him down with wrestling and calf kicks and that's exactly what he did."

UFC Vegas 24: Luis Pena vs. Alex Munoz

Luis Pena returns to action on Saturday against Alex Munoz. 'Violent Bob Ross' last entered the octagon nine-months ago, when he was submitted by Khama Worthy.

Pena spoke to Sportskeeda this week about his latest UFC fight and his UFC career.