Dustin Poirier lost to Conor McGregor at UFC 178 back in late 2014, and in order for the promotion to sell you a pay-per-view (PPV) rematch, it has to demonstrate why their second go-round may go much differently than their first.
Mission accomplished.
In the years that followed his knockout loss to “Notorious,” the 31 year-old Poirier racked up a 10-2 record with six nasty finishes. McGregor, 32, has put together a 6-2 run with five stoppages — but has only competed twice over the last four years.
No question his victory over Donald Cerrone was impressive, but we still don’t know what kind of gas tank “Notorious” has at this stage of his career, though it may not matter if he connects against Poirier like he did in their first meeting.
Their lightweight bout headlines the UFC 257 event on Jan. 23 on “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi and is likely to produce the next in line for the 155-pound title, which is expected to be vacated by Khabib Nurmagomedov in the coming weeks.
For much more on UFC 257 click here. To see the current UFC 257 fight card and lineup click here.