'Fight is off': Conor McGregor bombshell after $656k charity 'snub'

UFC fans have been dealt a significant blow, with Conor McGregor insisting his highly anticipated trilogy fight with Dustin Poirier "is off" in the wake of a public spat about a missing charity donation.

Poirier claimed this week that McGregor's team had failed to respond about assurances the Irishman would follow through with his pledge to donate US$500,000 to the American's charity.

'COMPLETE JOKE': Boxing fans rage after Ebanie Bridge's 'unreal' fight

'IT'S GONE': Shock moment MMA fighter loses finger during bout

The pair agreed to a July 10 trilogy fight soon after UFC 257, where McGregor pledged to donate the entirety of his purse to a charity operated by Poirier and his wife, Jolie.

The pledge amounted to $500,000 USD ($656,000 AUD).

McGregor was highly praised for the gesture and was even publicly thanked by Poirier himself for the donation afterwards.

However, Poirier called out McGregor on social media this week after claiming that he'd fail to deliver on the charity promise, sparking a war of words between the pair on Twitter.

Poirier said McGregor's team "never responded" to emails explaining where the funds would go.

Now the Irishman claims he will be fighting someone else after seemingly calling off the UFC 264 trilogy fight with Poirier in a series of sometimes expletive-laden tweets.

"A donation, not a debt. We've been awaiting the plans for the money that never came," McGregor said in an expletive-laden reply.

"500k with no plan in place ... You must be new to money.

"The fight is off ... I'm going to fight someone else on the 10th."

Fighters go at it on social media

McGregor's last UFC victory was in January 2020 and he came out of retirement to face Poirier again after winning their first contest in 2014.

Poirier called McGregor out after the Irishman posted a brash prediction on social media that he would defeat the American with a front kick to the nose.

After McGregor posted the prediction, accompanied by images of him practicing the move, to Instagram, Poirier felt compelled to point out that the Irishman was yet to actually follow through on the charity donation.

“That’s a fun prediction! @TheNotoriousMMA you also predicted a donation to my foundation and you and your team stopped responding after the fight in January. See you soon. July 10th Paid In Full!," Poirier tweeted on Monday.

The Irish fighter took to Twitter last week to tell Poirier he'd be ready for the tactics that were used to defeat him in the octagon last time.

"Good to hear Dustin, I hope so. As last time you backed up and shot inside the first 30 seconds. I’ll be in the middle from the very go if you want it. You know that. I’ll be ready for the tactics this time too tho. See you in there."

with AAP

Watch 'Mind Games', the new series from Yahoo Sport Australia exploring the often brutal mental toil elite athletes go through in pursuit of greatness:

Click here to sign up to our newsletter for all the latest and breaking stories from Australia and around the world.