Conor McGregor appeared to take issue with Dustin Poirier's recent comments on the UFC flyweight title fight.
Pantoja was forced to sit out due to injury, opening the door for new champion Van. Before then, it had been nearly a year since Pantoja last stepped into the Octagon.
Van's first defence came at UFC 328, where he faced Tatsuro Taira in a bout that was originally scheduled for May. The rescheduled matchup gave Van the platform to show he belonged at the top of the division.
Poirier weighed in on Taira's chances before the fight, suggesting an upset wasn't out of reach — a take McGregor clearly didn't see eye-to-eye with.
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The rivalry between Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor continues to simmer, even after three fights inside the Octagon.
Poirier was speaking in the lead-up to UFC 328 when he pushed back on the idea that Joshua Van needs a dominant win to silence critics of his title reign.
"That seems like the storyline," Poirier said via a UFC clip. "Everything I hear, everything I read is he needs to validate the belt. He is the world champion. He's not attempting to become the world champion, he's defending his belt. He's already validated. He's in the history books as an undisputed flyweight world champion."
McGregor replied by saying, "Never validated hahaha." It wasn't immediately clear what part of Poirier's comments McGregor took issue with or if it was just another case of him disagreeing with anything connected to his old rival.
With their history, there's always a chance it was more about their ongoing feud than anything related to Van himself.
Dana White recently confirmed that McGregor is expected back in action this summer, and there could be news breaking soon around Van's next fight.
Ariel Helwani said during a fan Q&A on Friday night that an official announcement regarding McGregor will be made "within the next 24 or so hours".
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