One of the biggest fights of the year will unfold later tonight (Sat., Jan. 23, 2021) at UFC 257 live on ESPN+ PPV from inside Etihad Arena on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E., as Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier meet in a rematch six years in the making.
McGregor, who will be competing at 155 pounds for the first time in over two years, is hoping to punch his way past “Diamond” and land a lightweight title shot later this year. “Notorious” made his last Octagon walk one year ago and ended up finishing Donald Cerrone in just 40 seconds, but that fight was contested at welterweight.
For Poirier, who is coming off a unanimous decision win over Dan Hooker this past June, this is his chance to prove he’s the best fighter at 155 pounds not named Khabib Nurmagomedov. Remember, Poirier squandered his only true UFC title shot with a submission loss to “The Eagle” back at UFC 242. A win over McGregor will put Poirier in another position to fight for the belt this year.
Leading into McGregor and Poirier’s main event clash on “Fight Island” we take a look back at their first encounter all the way back in 2014 at UFC 178. The fight was held at featherweight and Poirier was supposed to give McGregor his first true test before fighting Jose Aldo for the UFC title. McGregor ended up finishing “Diamond” in the first round and went on to capture Aldo’s title roughly one year later.
Check out the McGregor vs. Poirier full fight video replay above courtesy of UFC.
We’re going to find out later tonight if McGregor can repeat history or if Poirier has made the proper adjustments to take “Notorious” out. The oddsmakers are favoring McGregor, but “Diamond” always rises to the occasion when under the bright lights of the Octagon.
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 257 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard balance on ESPN+ and ESPN at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+.