Conor McGregor yells out to the crowd at the UFC 246 weigh ins. Photo Credit: Reuters
Conor McGregor officially signs to fight Dustin Poirier at UFC 257 in January
Conor McGregor is officially set to return to the UFC and has signed his contract to face Dustin Poirier at UFC 257 on January 23, 2021. The bout had been official on Dustin Poirier’s side and was just awaiting a signature from McGregor before it was official, and now an announcement is sure to follow from the UFC.
The announcement was first made by The Mac Life, McGregor’s media company which announced the fight was set after McGregor signed his side of the contract.
BREAKING: Conor McGregor (@thenotoriousmma) has signed his bout agreement for his rematch with Dustin Poirier for January 23. pic.twitter.com/2Pmh4MdZyj
— The Mac Life (@TheMacLife) November 19, 2020
McGregor seemed to confirm the news by retweeting the above post from The Mac Life, but has yet to make his own post announcing his return.
This will be a rematch between McGregor and Poirier from their first fight back at UFC 178 where they met in the featherweight division and McGregor scored a first-round knockout of Poirier. Since their first meeting six years ago, McGregor has gone on to become one of the biggest stars in the sport while obtaining UFC titles in both the featherweight and lightweight division.
Since he lost to McGregor, Poirier has gone on to become one of the best fighters inside the lightweight division and has even won the interim lightweight title over Max Holloway back in 2019. With the reigning lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov claiming he has retired from competition, the fight between Poirier and McGregor is without a doubt a high-stakes fight inside the 155-pound division.
As talks have amped up towards this fight, UFC President Dana White said that the fight is likely to take place on ‘Fight Island’ in Abu Dhabi, and this week he also stated that this fight won’t be for a title, whether it’s an interim or not. White continues to state that he believes Nurmagomedov will return to competition so there is no rush for him to put a title on the line for this fight.
Conor McGregor was last inside the Octagon at UFC 246 when he defeated Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone with a 40-second TKO in a welterweight contest. With the fight officially set, the top of the lightweight division is set to come out with matchups that will certainly have title implications.
