Daniel Cormier: UFC 264 is not a do-or-die situation for Conor McGregor

Daniel Cormier doesn’t think Conor McGregor’s back is against the wall.

The former UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight champion believes McGregor will be always close to challenging for a UFC title regardless of whether he wins or loses at Saturday’s trilogy bout against Dustin Poirier in the main event of UFC 264 in Las Vegas.

McGregor is 1-2 since 2018 and hasn’t held a UFC title since 2016. Some believe that the Irish superstar’s better days are over and his title hopes are on the line in the bout against Poirier. Cormier disagrees and feels McGregor will always have a chance at fighting for the title as long as he’s competing.

“(The bout with Poirier) is important competitively, but notice the difference,” Cormier told reporters on Friday following the weigh-ins. “In somebody’s recent fights that we’ve had, I know that in multiple occasions recently I’ve said this is a do-or-die. I want to say it’s a do-or-die in this situation, but I was reminded very recently that is not because it’s Conor McGregor.

“Even if he loses Saturday and fights another guy and goes and fights Nate Diaz a third time, say he goes and wins a fight against a guy like RDA or something, he’s right back in the title picture because he will hang around the title picture as long as he’s in this sport.”

Time will tell whether McGregor will fight for a UFC belt in the future. For now, he’s got a tough task at hand as he takes on Poirier, who’s considered one of the best in the world today.

Much different than the second bout, McGregor has switched in his approach, as he’s trash-talked Poirier and hasn’t been cordial as he was back in January leading up to UFC 257. Some claim the old McGregor is back, but Cormier is hesitant on putting too much stock on trash talk.

“I honestly don’t think it matters that much,” Cormier said. “I think that’s one of the most overstated things in the whole build-up to the fight – nice Conor vs. angry Conor.

“How much different is he going to fight? He’s going to fight. When he gets in the octagon he’s going to fight to the best of his abilities whether he’s mad or whether he’s happy. I didn’t like the build-up to the last fight with Conor holding his hot sauce and him holding Conor’s liquor. This is more fun but it’s ultimately going to come down to who is better on the night. So manufacturing hate, being angry, hating the guy or not, it doesn’t matter.”