According to Conor McGregor’s head coach, John Kavanagh, the rematch against Dustin Poirier will happen at welterweight, not lightweight as originally thought.
The news comes from a tweet by the SBG Ireland owner, where he talked about McGregor’s training and casually slipped in that it will be “fascinating” to see how he and Poirier will look at 170.
Poirier’s reply to the tweet seems to confirm that the fight will in fact take place at 170 pounds. It will be Poirier’s first time in his career fighting above lightweight.
Enjoy your Christmas Dustin, lash that cranberry sauce on the turkey. See you hydrated, glycogen loaded and healthy at 170 in January. Stick to your guns young man, let's do something special. Also work on that pull tendency, I'm sure you know what I mean
— Coach Kavanagh (@John_Kavanagh) October 16, 2020
McGregor and Poirier have both agreed to headline an unnamed pay-per-view event on January 23, but the contracts are still waiting to be signed.
McGregor has made it clear recently that he would rather not go through a weight cut, which is what resulted in his last match against Donald Cerrone also taking place a weight class up. The first matchup against Poirier took place at featherweight in 2014, where both fighters started their UFC careers. That fight marked the last time Poirier would compete at featherweight, while McGregor would of course go on to claim the division’s title, before moving up to lightweight as well.
Despite the rematch taking place in a different division, it is still believed that the winner will be the next contender for the UFC lightweight championship. Current champ Khabib Nurmagomedov defends his title against Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 on October 24.
Do you like the rematch taking place at 170? Should the winner be next in line for a lightweight title shot? Let us know!