OFFICIAL: Conor McGregor Makes His Return at UFC 257 Against Dustin Poirier

Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier have been linked to each other for a fight for the past month or so. However, the fact that nothing was finalized had left the fans in doubt. All such doubts will now be laid to rest as the fight between the two lightweights is finally official.

MMA Fighting first reported the news about the awaited fight being official. McGregor and Poirier will collide at UFC 257 that will take place on January 23. The card is expected to take place in Las Vegas, Nevada.

McGregor, however, is still eyeing an early return. Particularly after the fight between Megan Anderson and Amanda Nunes fell through with the latter pulling out for undisclosed reasons. This has led to many believing that the UFC may try to arrange McGregor vs Poirier for the event in December.

However, that is unlikely to happen as the UFC will not want to move the title fight between Petr Yan and Aljamain Sterling to the co-main event spot. Moreover, bringing these two fights on the same card will lead to lesser PPV numbers as compared to them being separate.

Conor McGregor vs Dustin Poirier will take place at 155-pounds

McGregor and Poirier are among the frontrunners to get their hands on the lightweight belt, granted Khabib Nurmagomedov doesn’t make comeback. There were speculations early on that the two may fight at welterweight. However, the fight will take place at 155-pounds.

As per ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, the bigger hurdle in getting the contract signed was Dustin Poirier and not Conor McGregor. As a matter of fact, McGregor has still not signed the contract. However, he has agreed to it verbally, and hence it is not considered as a hurdle in getting everything finalized.

The winner of the fight will be in a very good spot to land himself a title shot in the future. McGregor is coming off a retirement, which only lasted for a few months. He had expressed his frustrations with the UFC for not getting a fight booked amidst the pandemic. He called out Dustin Poirier for a charity boxing match. This eventually led the UFC to book a fight between the two.

Poirier will have more to gain from the fight than just the opportunity to get closer to a title shot. He will also look to avenge his loss to ‘The Notorious One’ that took place six years ago at featherweight.

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