Conor McGregor Wants Dustin Poirier Rematch to Be UFC Title Fight, Per Coach

Conor McGregor wants a rubber match with Dustin Poirier and wants it to carry significant stakes, according to his coach, John Kavanagh.

Kavanagh said Monday on Ariel Helwani's MMA Show that McGregor is "already harassing everybody to get the rematch."

He went on to say McGregor would like to challenge for the lightweight championship as well (via MMA Junkie's Danny Segura):

"That's the big drive. It's 1-1, they're right up there in the rankings, they're very popular fighters.

"I think the two of them are a beautiful matchup. Stylistically, it's beautiful to watch. I'd love to see lots and lots of rounds between the two of them. Dustin is obviously riding high with confidence now with more experience and more weight. He took some of those shots. I'm sure his confidence is super high at the moment. We have to fix that technique with the leg and a couple of other things as well, but Dustin vs. Conor 3 for the belt in maybe May, that would be amazing."

Poirier responded to the comments on social media:

Khabib Nurmagomedov is still officially recognized as the lightweight champion, but he has given no indication that he's waffling on his decision to retire. Sooner or later, the UFC will have to vacate the belt and put it up for grabs.

Pitting McGregor against Poirier makes sense because a third installment would likely give UFC one of its biggest shows of the year. Granting McGregor a title opportunity right away wouldn't make much sense, though.

The 32-year-old has now dropped two of his last three fights, registering one victory since capturing the lightweight title over Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 in 2016. If he competes for title in May, it would be based largely on reputation rather than merit.

Poirier, Justin Gaethje and Charles Oliveira all sit above McGregor in UFC's lightweight rankings, which don't reflect the results from UFC 257. Following his TKO of Dan Hooker, Michael Chandler may leapfrog the Irish star when the rankings are updated.

All four arguably have stronger credentials than McGregor to compete for a vacated championship.