Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier Booked for UFC 257 in Las Vegas

Conor McGregor announced back in mid-October that his next fight in the UFC would be against [...]

By Connor Casey

Conor McGregor announced back in mid-October that his next fight in the UFC would be against Dustin Poirier at UFC 257 on Jan. 23. MMA Fighting reported on Tuesday that the fight is officially a done deal, with sources saying both men have signed on for the fight and that it is expected to take place in Las Vegas (McGregor initially wanted it at AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Texas). McGregor reportedly wanted the fight to happen sooner, and it still campaigning for UFC 256 now that Amanda Nunes vs. Megan Anderson is no longer on the card.

"We offered him [McGregor] a fight. We got him his own date," UFC president Dana White told ESPN in October "We didn't have a date this year. We have everything laid out for this year, with world champions fighting for titles. He wants to fight Dustin Poirier apparently, so we went to [broadcast partner] ESPN and got him his own date. He's been offered Dustin Poirier on Jan. 23. It's a yes or no answer."

McGregor has only fought once in 2020 — a January TKO victory over Donald Cerrone — and threatened to retire from MMA over his impatience for not getting booked for more fights.

Piorier lost to McGregor at UFC 178 back in 2014 via first-round TKO, but has since improved his MMA record to 26-6 (1 NC). He won the interim UFC Lightweight Championship from Max Holloway in April 2019, then lost the unification match to Khabib Nurmagomedov in September of that year.

On top of that, McGregor is also working on his second career boxing match, this time against Manny Pacquaio.

"For the sake of all the Filipino COVID-19 victims, Senator Manny Pacquiao will be fighting UFC superstar Conor McGregor next year," Pacquiao's team wrote in a statement earlier this year. "The huge portion of his earnings will proceed to those who are affected nationwide by the pandemic," the statement partially read. "But our beloved Senator doesn't want to talk about boxing since we are in the middle of the pandemic and this is not the right time for it. His main focus right now is to help here and there, providing relief, shelter, money and food, among other necessities."

"Regarding the news coming from McGregor himself, we don't deny it," he continued. "In fact, our lawyers are finalizing all the confidential detail, but both fighters are getting ready for this one epic last boxing fight. According to Paradigm Sports Management head Audie Attar, the fight may happen in the Middle East next year."

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