"We are all chasing the same dream" - When Conor McGregor accepted that there was no bad blood with Dustin Poirier

Conor McGregor's knockout win over Dustin Poirier at UFC 178 showcased the brash and outspoken Irishman's potential. While McGregor introduced an unprecedented level of mental warfare into the sport, his pre-fight antics didn't resonate well with certain MMA fans and his opponents.

Poirier was the first high-profile victim of McGregor's mind games. In the lead-up to their fight, Poirier's reactions indicated that he had a strong dislike for the Irishman. This seemed to throw the Louisiana native off his game, and he ultimately succumbed to a knockout punch in just over a minute.

Speaking at the UFC 178 post-fight show, McGregor weighed in on Poirier's emotional response to his tactics, stating:

"There is no bad blood with me and there never was. It's weird to me to see how Dustin disliked me so much. I don't get how that is. This is business at the end of the day, and we are all chasing the same dream. For me to hate on the man that's chasing the same dream as me - I can't do it! I have no emotion, good or bad."

He added:

"So for me that he was hating me so much, that was weird to me. I don't hate the guy. He came in, he came in shape and he comes to fight every single time. I spoke what I believed was fact, everything I said I believed was fact and I still do."

Check out Conor McGregor's comments below (1:27):

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When Dustin Poirier reflected on Conor McGregor's mental game after avenging the loss - "It's the art of war"

Six years after their first meeting, Dustin Poirier avenged his defeat by knocking out Conor McGregor in the second round at UFC 257. In doing so, he became the first fighter to stop the Irishman with strikes. A few days after the fight, during his appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Poirier and Joe Rogan discussed the impact of McGregor's mental games.

Rogan noted that these antics played a significant role in McGregor's victories, particularly his 13-second knockout of Jose Aldo at UFC 194. Poirier responded:

"I felt that same thing thought the first time I fought Conor. I felt like that. When the bell rang, I was like a deer in the headlights. 'It's happening, here we go.' All that talk and everything over the months just sat in my head, and I just read into it too much. I thought too much. and that's probably what happened with Aldo. It's the art of war, man! Fighting is as much mental as it is physical, I believe."

Check out Dustin Poirier's comments below (2:16):

While McGregor adopted a more respectful demeanor leading up to UFC 257, he returned to his mind games ahead of his UFC 264 trilogy fight against Poirier. However, his antics had little impact on Poirier, who appeared to be dominating the fight before McGregor suffered a brutal leg break toward the end of Round 1. The injury resulted in a TKO (injury) win for Poirier.