Dana White delivers update on Conor McGregor vs Dustin Poirier 2
While earlier in the day it was believed that a fight between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier was set for January 2021, UFC President Dana White provided some clarity and additional info surrounding the fight. The first report of the day came from MMA Fighting, citing sources, that the fight has been officially booked and set for UFC 257 on January 23.
In the update from Dana White which was released by ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, White said that the contracts have yet to be signed by both parties and that the UFC is awaiting McGregor to sign his part of the contract. White also added that the fight is likely to take place on ‘Fight Island’ in Abu Dhabi, which would be the third time that the UFC has held events on ‘Fight Island’ with events happening earlier this summer and most recently a five-week stretch that ended with UFC 254.
Dana White provided an update on the Poirier-McGregor rematch, which would currently take place on Fight Island.
(via @bokamotoESPN) pic.twitter.com/4iN6LsSOUU
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) November 10, 2020
The update from Dana White does not mean there are any real roadblocks that could prevent the fight from happening, it is more of a formality and the fight can’t be announced by the UFC until both sides have agreed to and sign their contracts.
What is known at this point and time is that the fight will take place at UFC 257 on January 23, 2021, and is likely to be held on ‘Fight Island’. This will be the second meeting between McGregor and Poirier in their respective careers, as the two competed in a featherweight fight back at UFC 178, which took place in 2014 and saw McGregor walk away with a first-round KO victory.
Things will be different in their rematch fight as both are now in the lightweight division, looking to become champions once again. Poirier was the interim champion in 2019 when he defeated Max Holloway and ultimately came up short in the unification fight against the reigning champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. McGregor is also a former featherweight and lightweight champion in the UFC, and was the first fighter in UFC history to actively hold a title in two separate weight classes.
After defending his title against Justin Gaethje at UFC 254, Nurmagomedov, who is also a bitter rival to McGregor, announced he would be retiring from the sport to honor a promise he made to his mother. If Nurmagomedov does indeed walk away from the UFC for good, the promotion could turn around and make the McGregor-Poirier fight one for the vacant lightweight title.
