Dana White has revealed the eagerly anticipated lightweight bout between Tony Ferguson and Dustin Poirier will most likely take place on the UFC 254 card which will be headlined by a 155lb unification fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Justin Gaethje.
Speaking to press post-fight at UFC Vegas 7 White revealed Ferguson has a fight lined up and answered “probably” when a reporter speculated the opponent for Ferguson’s return would be Poirier.
A few days later and White was chatting to media after the latest instalment of his Contender Series when the topic of Ferguson vs. Poirier came up once again. This time White was asked if the fight would take place at UFC 254, he replied again by saying “probably”.
Ferguson will be returning from his lopsided loss to Gaethje at UFC 249 in May. The loss was Ferguson’s first defeat since 2012 and snapped the longest winning streak in UFC lightweight history.
Before losing to Gaethje Ferguson was in line to face lightweight champion Khahbib Nurmagomedov before the coronavirus pandemic derailed the match-up MMA fans have long craved. ‘El Cucuy’ holds high-profile wins over the likes of Anthony Pettis, Donald Cerrone, Kevin Lee, Edson Barboza and Rafael Dos Anjos.
His potential opponent, Poirier has some big wins of his own. ‘The Diamond’ has beat Gaethje, Eddie Alvarez, Max Holloway x2 and most recently picked up a huge win over fellow contender Dan Hooker. The two lightweight fighters went back-and-forth for five rounds earlier this year with Poirier picking up the unanimous decision win on the judges scorecards.
“Probably” The UFC 254 Line up (So far)
Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Justin Gaethje.
Tony Ferguson vs. Dustin Poirier
Alexander Volkov vs. Walt Harris.
Robert Whittaker vs. Jared Cannonier.
Zabit Magomedsharipov vs. Yair Rodriguez.
Cynthia Calvillo vs. Lauren Murphy.
Do you think Dana White has made the right call by adding Tony Ferguson vs. Dustin Poirier to UFC 254?