With UFC 256 in the books, it’s now time to look ahead to the first pay-per-view of the new year in UFC 257 featuring the return of Conor McGregor.
McGregor faces Dustin Poirier in a highly-anticipated rematch in their lightweight headliner on January 23. The winner of the bout will more than likely be in a good standing to challenge for the lightweight title next.
Whether it’s against Charles Oliveira or Khabib Nurmagomedov remains to be seen for now, but the fight on January 23 is certainly going to be one heck of a contest.
McGregor, of course, notably knocked Poirier out in the first round of their featherweight meeting back in 2014. However, Poirier has improved leaps and bounds since and would even become the interim lightweight champion.
His improvement is showcased in the UFC’s official trailer for the main event which was broadcast during the UFC 256 pay-per-view last night.
You can watch it below:
Despite the heated nature of their first fight, it’s simply business for Poirier this time around as he looks to outsmart McGregor in what he envisions to be a completely different contest.
“He was obviously a great fighter in finishing a bunch of guys before me in his UFC career, but at this point we’re both so much more established and have so much more experience, just more mature fighters, and I think you get a completely different fight here,” Poirier said last month. “I was emotional in the first one. I wanted to hurt the guy. This time I just want to outsmart him, just want to beat him. This is business. This isn’t any ill will towards the guy.
“When I was younger, I used to fight with a lot of emotion. This isn’t the same thing for me. This isn’t about getting even for me. This isn’t like a revenge type of thing for me. This is about moving my career forward, about putting my family in a better spot. It’s not trying to get back a guy who got me. This is just business.”
How excited are you for UFC 257? Who do you see winning this time?