Poirier hopes he and Conor McGregor will be ‘dripping blood and hurting’ and WANTS to get ‘busted open’ at UFC 257

DUSTIN POIRIER wants his rematch with Conor McGregor to be a blood and guts war.

The former interim lightweight champ will look to avenge his 2014 loss to The Notorious a fortnight on Saturday in the main event of UFC 257 in Abu Dhabi.

Poirier, 31, was knocked out old cold in just two minutes in his UFC 178 showdown with the Irishman.

And he's hoping their second meeting will be a long and drawn-out affair that leaves them both crimson red.

During an appearance on the , he said: “I didn’t even get to fight [the first time].

“The fight hadn’t even blossomed — but that’s fighting. Anything can happen under those lights.

"If you’re talking about game planning, what I want for us to both be dripping blood and hurting and suffering early in the fight.

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"Then we can find out who’s a real fighter. That’s what I want. I want to be bleeding with a minute off the first round clock."

Fan favourite Poirier is eager to see if McGregor has what it takes to dig deep in the trenches.

The American added: "I want both of us to be bleeding and really have to dig down and see who’s the better fighter. See who really wants to be in there.

“Because I don’t have a safety net. I want to be in there, and I know that, and I’d like to find out if he does. And that’s uncomfortable.

"I’m not looking forward to getting busted open but if we can get to that point where both of us are tired and bleeding, then we can see who has more grit and more want, and I think I win that fight ten out of ten times.”

Poirier, 26-6, will enter his rematch with Ireland's first UFC champion on the back of a unanimous decision victory over Dan Hooker last July.

McGregor, meanwhile, will go into his first octagon outing in over a year following his 40-second demolition of Donald Cerrone at UFC 246.

And according to UFC president Dana White, the winner of the eagerly-anticipated bout will be in contention to fight for the lightweight title - which is still in the possession of the recently-retired Khabib Nurmagomedov.

During an ESPN Q&A, White told Laura Sanko: "Whoever wins that fight is probably next in line."

He added: “It does [depend on what Nurmagomedov does].

"I get on the plane next Monday and fly to Abu Dhabi. I don’t know when he gets there, but he and I are set to meet as soon as he arrives.”