Conventional wisdom might hold that Dustin Poirier (16-3) will be a step-up in competition for rising featherweight star Conor McGregor (15-2) when they meet Sep. 27. The brash Irishman, however, doesn't see it that way.

“He’s a journeyman fighter, and that’s what I see,” McGregor said in a recent interview.

“He doesn’t impress me at all. I believe he’s a basic fighter, he throws basic shots, and in my eyes he’s a journeyman. It’s that simple.”

So, despite his excellent record and three fight win streak Poirier is kinda "basic," (in club girl parlance) or "standard" (in Brit-speak. Yeah, I know Conor is a Dubliner and not from the North and the UK, it's the best I could do, ok?).

To those keeping track, that is pretty much the same criticism McGregor levied on 145 pound champ Jose Aldo, for what it's worth. In addition to his supposedly not impressive skills, McGregor says he saw a flat-out scared man when the two met recently.

“I definitely saw a broken man,” McGregor said.

“I could look through his soul when I looked into that man’s eyes. He’s been speaking his bit, but as I said before: Face-to-face, man-to-man, he was broken. It was as simple as that."

So, McGregor is talking big, per usual. Thing is, he tends to fight big as well, which makes his matchup with Poirier so intriguing. Despite his audacious and pointed criticism, McGregor says he has nothing personal against "The Diamond," or any other opponent.

“It can be cruel, it can be ruthless, but it is never personal," he said.

"I don’t ever fight with emotion. I can enter cold, calm and collected. That is it. He might have a dislike toward me, but ultimately that is not my problem.”

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