Footage of McGregor’s first meeting with Poirier shows how relationship changed

Dustin Poirier proclaimed that he "never disliked" an opponent more than Conor McGregor when the pair first met in Las Vegas ahead of their UFC 178 bout.

But it appears that the pair's relationship has thawed since then, and Poirier is now much better at controlling his emotions towards the Irishman.

In footage shared by McGregor's coach John Kavanagh on Twitter today, the American can be seen meeting his opponent for the first time.

"My boy's coming, you want to get this on camera, first time…" Poirier says in the video as he prepares to go face-to-face with McGregor in the Las Vegas fighters' hotel.

"You're ready to fall," McGregor says when he finally meets his foe, to which Poirier replies "a few days my friend."

And that's when Poirier says the infamous line about McGregor: "I've never disliked somebody that much that I've ever fought before."

He continues to bemoan the Irishman's behavior, saying "You're in the lobby with your crews there and you're being a f***ing jacka**?"

The video was re-released by the UFC's official account ahead of the pair's trilogy bout, which takes place at UFC 264 on July 10.

Nowadays, the duo are slightly more cordial, although they won't be close to as friendly when they face off in Vegas as they were ahead of UFC 257.

In Abu Dhabi, both men were glowing in the praise of one another, and even exchanged gifts at the weigh-ins before hugging, and were respectful in the aftermath of the bout.

But when Poirier publicised an issue with a donation McGregor had promised to make to his 'Good Fight Foundation' charity, the Irishman slammed his opponent, and donated $500,000 to a different charity in the same area.

Will McGregor return to the trash talk of old in a bid to rattle Poirier? Comment below.

Their trilogy fight almost didn't happen when the Irishman publicly announced the fight was "off" due to Poirier's comments, and he included a few other choice insults as well.

In a now-deleted tweet, McGregor said: "You’re ripped you inbred hillbilly. Why do you wink with your ears? You f***ing brain dead hillbilly.

"$500k with no plan in place, yeah hang tight, fool. You must be new to money.

"The fight is off [by the way]. I’m going to fight someone else on the 10th. Good luck on your old contract kid."

However, just days later the bout was confirmed by the promotion and tickets went on sale, which sold out in record time for the T-Mobile Arena showdown.

Nowadays, their rivalry appears to be relatively low-key, but many fans and experts have tipped McGregor to return to his brash ways ahead of the bout in an effort to get into Poirier's head.

In their first fight, emotion clearly got the better of the American, and he was sloppy in exchanges before a McGregor left hand floored him and the bout was ended within seconds of the first round with ground and pound.

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