Conor McGregor had Manny Pacquiao on mind during Dustin Poirier bout

Conor McGregor claims he was thinking about a Manny Pacquiao fight during his last fight against Dustin Poirier at UFC 257.

Conor McGregor got his ass beat by Dustin Poirier at UFC 257 in January, but McGregor is now claiming he had another fight on his mind during that one.

During an interview with ESPN's Stephen A. Smith ahead of Saturday's trilogy fight against Poirier at UFC 264, McGregor said he was thinking about a training camp for a boxing match against Manny Pacquiao after UFC 257.

Via ESPN's Marc Raimondi:

“I pitied the man,” McGregor said. “I was looking past him. I had a Manny Pacquiao camp in place.”

McGregor said he “wanted to pat” Poirier on the head “almost” during the lead-up to the fight. There was a mutual respect there, and McGregor said he wanted to give Poirier his due. Poirier ended up winning via second-round TKO.

Conor McGregor now says he's out for blood and is done with the niceties:

“I'm coming in to kill this man,” McGregor said. “I'm coming in with vicious intent here. Mortar shots. What else can I say? That's the way it is. … I'm looking to take this man out cold.”

There had been talks of Conor McGregor fighting Manny Pacquiao back in the spring, but now McGregor says he's not focused on boxing at the moment and is all in on MMA, though there could be a Floyd Mayweather rematch at some point down the line.

McGregor is a big talker, so we'll see if he puts his money where his mouth is this weekend against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264.