Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier is officially booked for UFC 257 on January 23.
According to an MMA Fighting report, the fight between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier is a done deal for UFC 257. There were some rumors circulating that the UFC could go in another direction and book Conor McGregor vs. Justin Gaethje instead, but it is now confirmed that McGregor/Poirier has been finalized.
Following UFC Vegas 12, Dana White confirmed that the bout was a done deal. This came after McGregor and Poirier publicly agreed to fight for charity only for Dana White to then propose a date for UFC 257 for the two instead. McGregor swiftly accepted, and after a lull in the negotiations, everything appears to be in order for the McGregor/Poirier rematch.
Though the bout will take place in the lightweight division, it will be a non-title bout despite reigning champion Khabib Nurmagomedov retiring last month. Dana White insists that Nurmagomedov will remain champion and that no lightweight title fight will take place without Nurmagomedov, interim or otherwise. One of the reasons Nurmagomedov cited for his retirement was that he had already defeated both McGregor and Poirier so there was a lack of motivation to face the winner of this fight. That said, there may be no title implications of this bout whatsoever, but it should make for an entertaining primetime scrap nonetheless.
Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier first fought six years ago at UFC 178 in the featherweight division. McGregor turned in an emphatic performance, TKOing Poirier in the first round. Much has changed since then, including Poirier now being a lightweight fighter who has only lost to Khabib Nurmagomedov since 2016. In Poirier’s most recent bout, he defeated Dan Hooker via unanimous decision in June while McGregor last fought in January at UFC 246, pouncing Donald Cerrone via TKO.
UPDATE: ESPN reports that Conor McGregor’s signature is still pending but that this is expected to be a formality. McGregor is also pushing for the fight to replace Amanda Nunes/Megan Anderson as the new UFC 256 main event.
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