Report: Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier UFC Trilogy Fight Targeted for July 10
March 19, 2021
The UFC is reportedly hopeful in making Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier III part of a card occurring on July 10.
According to ESPN's Ariel Helwani, the UFC originally wanted to put the bout on a May 15 card, but negotiations have taken longer than expected. Since the company won't put the fight on UFC 263 on June 12, which is set to be headlined by Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Brandon Moreno, July 10 is the next logical landing spot.
McGregor and Poirier last fought at UFC 257 on Jan. 24, and it ended in shocking fashion with Poirier beating McGregor by second-round technical knockout.
That marked the second time McGregor and Poirier locked horns, as they previously met back in 2014 at UFC 178.
McGregor was victorious in the first meeting by first-round TKO, meaning there is now a need for a rubber match with both McGregor and Poirier having scored a win in the series.
The fight at UFC 257 marked the end of McGregor's brief retirement and his first fight in a year. The Irishman was favored to prevail, but with the loss, McGregor has now dropped two of his past three fights and three of his past six.
Poirier, meanwhile, has bounced back nicely from a third-round submission loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 242 in 2019 with wins over Dan Hooker and McGregor since then.
"The Diamond" has now won six of his past seven fights and is once again climbing up the ladder in the lightweight division.
For their careers, McGregor is 22-5 and Poirier is 27-6 with one no contest, underscoring just how big a third fight between them would be.
While McGregor and Poirier are arguably the two biggest stars in UFC's lightweight division, their next fight will not be for the UFC lightweight title.
Per ESPN's Brett Okamoto, UFC President Dana White confirmed Thursday that Khabib is retired. As a result, he will vacate the UFC lightweight championship and it will be up for grabs when Michael Chandler and Charles Oliveira fight at UFC 262 on May 15.
Should McGregor vs. Poirier III happen thereafter, there is seemingly a good chance that the winner will go on to face the winner of Chandler vs. Oliveira for the UFC lightweight crown.