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The cloud of doubt surrounding the status of the fight between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier has seemingly been lifted. Conor’s longtime coach John Kavanagh has all-but confirmed that the dotted lines have been signed and the fight is set to main event UFC 257 on January 23rd.
In their latest tweet, BT Sport have shared two snapshots of Conor McGregor’s social media handles. The first contains a picture of The Irishman facing off against Dustin during their first encounter. The second piece is more interesting though.
In reply to Conor’s post about facing Dustin, Kavanagh replied “it’s on,” perhaps confirming that the formalities to finalize the fight against Dustin have been completed.
John Kavanagh is a longtime coach and associate of Conor McGregor. He has been widely credited for his meteoric rise in the sport of MMA.
McGregor’s bout with Poirier has been in the works since July earlier this year. Both fighters were interested in the rematch taking place at Welterweight, however, UFC President Dana White confirmed that the fight made "no sense" at 170-pounds.
Khabib Nurmagomedov’s shock retirement at UFC 254 then forced the fighters to confirm that they will in fact go heads up in the Lightweight division. It is noteworthy to observe that UFC newcomer Michael Chandler had also shared his opinion about the bout being finalized before McGregor’s coach.
While Chandler called out Conor McGregor accusing Dustin of "holding up the contract," he later shifted his focus towards Tony Ferguson.
Conor McGregor first fought Dustin Poirier in 2014
The first encounter between the two Lightweight stalwarts took place at UFC 178 in 2014, albeit at Featherweight. McGregor would walk out of the Octagon the winner on that occasion, knocking Dustin out in the first round.
Conor McGregor would then go on to capture the Featherweight gold against Jose Aldo, before becoming a two-division champion after knocking out Eddie Alvarez at 155-pounds.
Dustin in his own right would go on to mass an impressive win streak, which culminated in “The Diamond” winning the interim Lightweight strap against Max Holloway.
The rematch promises to be an interesting affair with major title ramifications in the near future.
