<
        >

          UFC stars Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier talk charity PPV fight in Twitter conversation

          • Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterSep 28, 2020, 10:11 PM ET

          Conor McGregor has attempted to book himself in yet another fight, despite past remarks that he's retired.

          On Monday, the UFC superstar proposed a charity MMA fight to former opponent Dustin Poirier on Twitter. The exhibition, McGregor wrote, would be on pay-per-view and proceeds would go to Poirier's The Good Fight Foundation as well as charities of McGregor's choosing. McGregor even threw out a date and location: Dec. 12 at Point Depot in Dublin, Ireland.

          "No weigh ins," McGregor wrote. "Open weight, unified rules. I will arrange all travel fare for you and family. McGregor Sports and Entertainment MMA, in association with The Good Fight Foundation. Charity Mixed Martial Arts!"

          To that, Poirier, a top UFC lightweight contender, tweeted back: "I'm in! Let's do it!"

          McGregor wrote in response that they would take the conversation offline and "progress the process from here."

          Both men are still under contract with the UFC, which would have to approve of such a contest. If the promotion did that, it would be the first such situation of its kind. A request for comment from the UFC was not immediately returned Monday.

          While McGregor said in June that he is retired, he tweeted Friday that his next fight would be a boxing match with Manny Pacquiao. McGregor's agent, Audie Attar of Paradigm Sports Management, told ESPN's Ariel Helwani that the talks between McGregor and Pacquiao, who is also managed by Attar, are real and the UFC is on board with the plan.

          No date or location has been hashed out yet for that, though McGregor tweeted that it would be in the Middle East.

          McGregor has been very active on Twitter over the past few days, upset that people -- specifically UFC president Dana White -- have said that he doesn't want to fight or has been turning down fights. On Friday, McGregor posted screenshots of Instagram direct messages between he and White, showing that he was interested in fighting Justin Gaethje and Diego Sanchez -- or anyone else -- back in February, before the coronavirus pandemic hit.

          In an Instagram post Saturday, McGregor wrote that it was "borderline criminal" that the UFC has sidelined him since his January knockout win over Donald Cerrone at UFC 246.

          White blasted McGregor on Saturday night at the UFC 253 postfight news conference, saying McGregor's posting of their messages was in violation of "man code" and "one of the dirtiest things you can do."

          "You guys have been asking me about Conor McGregor forever," White said. "Did you see Conor McGregor's tweet? The retirement tweet. 'I'm retired.'"

          White also said he had "no idea" about McGregor's talks with Pacquiao. McGregor tweeted Sunday that White should "stop lying."