ABU DHABI – An undefeated UFC lightweight match between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier is official for UFC 257 on Saturday, as both fighters successfully weighed in during Friday’s weigh-in.
McGregor (22-4), a former undisputed lightweight champion, weighed 155 pounds. Poirier (26-6), who won an interim lightweight champion in 2019, tipped the scales at 156. UFC 257’s headline is Saturday at the Etihad Arena.
This will be the second match between the two lightweights. The first took place in 2014 and at a spring weight limit of 145 pounds. McGregor beat Poirier just 1:46 with his infamous left hand. This would be Poirier’s last fight against featherweight, as he moved up to the lightweight division in his next game.
Surprisingly, McGregor has only competed in lightweight twice in his UFC career. He won the belt in his UFC lightweight debut at the end of 2016 by knocking out then-champion Eddie Alvarez. In 2018, he loses defending champion Khabib Nurmagomedov via submission in the fourth round. McGregor, 32, has repeatedly said that in 2021 he made his framework for a longer run of £ 155.
In the co-main event, former Bellator MMA lightweight champion Michael Chandler (21-5) and New Zealander Dan Hooker (20-9) each successfully made weight. Both Chandler and Hooker were 156 pounds.
This is a massive week for the lightweight division, as UFC president Dana White teased defending champion Khabib Numragomedov could return for another fight if one of the top four lightweights on the map impresses enough. is. Nurmagomedov, in turn, has repeatedly said he has no plans to fight anytime soon, but he remains the current lightweight champion nonetheless.
McGregor and Poirier were the first of the fighters to step on the scale on Friday. Immediately afterwards, Jon Anik of the UFC announced that the fight between Ottman Azaitar and Matt Frevola had been canceled.