DUSTIN POIRIER has never craved the limelight during training camp – and that's not changed ahead of his return to the octagon at UFC 264.

But the former interim lightweight champion has had to put up with a significant amount of media attention ahead of his rubber match with Conor McGregor on Sunday morning.

The prying eyes of the MMA world, however, haven't thrown the pride of Lafayette, Louisiana off his tried and tested pre-battle course – nor has it distracted him from the task at hand.

As usual, Poirier's main port of call for this training camp has been the world-renowned American Top Team gym in Coconut Creek, Florida.

And in keeping with tradition, former WEC featherweight champion and UFC standout Mike Brown has once again overseen the Louisianan's preparations for his third dance with The Notorious.

When asked how fight camp went, Brown told SunSport: "It's good. Everything is good to go."

In addition to his training at ATT, Poirier has continued to call on the services of the man many credit for the constant improvement in his boxing – Dyah Davis.

Davis – the son of Olympic boxing great Howard Davis Jr – has been working with a number of ATT's standouts for years but recently opened up his own gym down the road in Boca Raton.

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In conjunction with his strength and conditioning training, which is overseen by Phil Daru, Poirier has made sure to put in plenty of hard hours with the widely-respected and knowledgable Davis.

Davis told SunSport: "Training camp has actually been marvellous, man. This is the best DP.

"I think this is the best version of DP that the audience members will see. Honestly, training camp has been going really good.

"He's been doing fantastic in sparring, he's very coachable and he's receiving things better this fight than he has in the past.

"I'm really looking forward to July 10 and putting his full display of skills on set for everyone."

Davis, like Brown, has experienced all the highs and lows of Poirier's storied UFC career – including both of the American's fights with McGregor.

In his opinion, Poirier is the sharpest he's been since they first began working with one another in 2012.

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He said of their partnership: "Close to nine years [we've been working together].

"Like I said, as far as the quality of opposition that we've had for sparring for him, he's doing things great defensively that I've never seen him do before.

"Offensively, he's countering, he's just doing a lot of good stuff.

"And I really just think he's going to put it together come fight night.

"Not that he hasn't before, but again, the best version that I've seen from him thus far."

Davis' sentiment on the tremendous improvements Poirier has made over the years is shared by Brown, who attributes a large part of his student's recent success to his mental strength.

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He said: "It's hard to say [what's been his biggest improvement] because everything is improving.

"His mental game, his ability as he would put it, 'Not give a f**k anymore.' That's helped him quite a bit.

"Obviously, his boxing is his best skill set, he works with Dyah Davis quite a bit, all the time.

"He's always fine-tuning that [and] his wrestling and his jiu-jitsu. Everything is improving.

"He's a well-rounded mixed martial arts fighter and everything is getting better all the time. So it's hard to pinpoint one thing.

"But I think his mindset and his overall MMA skillset [have been his biggest improvements]."

BT Sport Box Office will show UFC 264: McGregor v Poirier 3 exclusively live on Saturday 10^th July. UFC 264 can be watched on BT TV, Virgin Media TV, Sky, online via the web or the BT Sport Box Office App and is available to buy at www.bt.com/sportboxoffice

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