‘Unbelievable that he’s apologizing’: Poirier quells McGregor row after accusing UFC rival of breaking $500K charity promise

UFC lightweight Dustin Poirier has apologized for his ugly public spat with Conor McGregor after accusing the Irishman of reversing a promise to donate $500,000 to Poirier’s ‘The Good Fight Foundation’.

“I am very passionate about my charity as you all know. I jumped the gun and took private matters between Conor & my foundation public. My mistake, we live, we learn,” Poirier tweeted on Wednesday. 

“Spreading positivity & doing good is my goal! I feel like I have brought a negative energy and personal opinions into something I am working so hard on that gives people a reason to cheer and smile. I will take this in stride and continue to fight the Good Fight.”     

The UFC announced on Wednesday that a trilogy fight between Poirier and McGregor was official for July 10 and would take place at UFC 264 in front of a full house of fans at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

That came despite McGregor suggesting he would pull out of the bout, accusing Poirier of “smearing” his name by publicly shaming the Dubliner and accusing him of not following through on a charity promise he made before their January rematch.

Poirier had claimed McGregor and his team had “ghosted” their requests for a payment pledged to the American star’s ‘The Good Fight Foundation’.

The furious Irish former two-weight champion hit back by asserting that Poirier’s team had never sent concrete plans for where the money would end up.

“My team does their due diligence to make sure every donation meets the mark. My generosity is known. You will pay with your brain for this attempt at smearing my name. Shooting a** shelling a** bitch. Little b*tch kicks from a shell. Good luck when you’re caught. You’re f*cked,” a furious McGregor tweeted at Poirier.

After Poirier's apology, some fans claimed 'The Diamond' should not have been the one to blink first in the row. 

"Unbelievable that Dustin is the one apologizing," tweeted one popular MMA account. 

"You did nothing wrong. This is on Conor and him trying to navigate dealing with his 'new money'. He wears a million dollar watch and rents a yacht for more than he offered to your charity. He had the money," added another. 

Some fans defended McGregor, however, with one reply reading: "Who gives a f*ck whether he has the money or not, you don't just send $500K to anyone without knowing what it would be used for. Plenty of non profits use the label to line their own pockets through paid expenses and salaries."

READ MORE: Next please? Fighters call out McGregor as replacements for UFC 264 – but ex-champ Cormier predicts Poirier rematch will go ahead

The scores are level at 1-1 between the pair after Poirier handed McGregor his first-ever KO defeat inside the cage when they rematched at UFC 257 in Abu Dhabi in January.

Sharing the news that the trilogy was official, the official UFC Twitter account wrote: “Let’s settle it in the octagon.”

Poirier passed up a shot at the lightweight title vacated by Russia’s Khabib Nurmagomedov, instead opting for another lucrative payday against McGregor.