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The highly-awaited trilogy fight between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier could be announced as soon as this week. According to an initial report from ESPN's Ariel Helwani, all parties involved seem quite optimistic at the moment, and the fight could soon be made official.
Taking to social media, Helwani wrote that multiple sources have confirmed that Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier 3 is being finalized for UFC 264 on July 10th. Hours prior to Helwani's report, Poirier also took to Twitter and hinted towards a potential date for his third fight against McGregor.
Here is the report from Ariel Helwani:
At UFC 257, Dustin Poirier stunned the world by handing Conor McGregor the first TKO/KO loss of his career. Poirier seemed much more relaxed and composed, especially in comparison to his first fight against The Notorious One back in 2014.
During the rematch, the former interim UFC lightweight champion used calf kicks on McGregor to devastating effect. The kicks ultimately turned out to be the turning point of the fight and severely hurt McGregor's chances of executing his game plan.
The Diamond also teased a potential date for the trilogy:
Dustin Poirier chose a third fight against Conor McGregor over the UFC lightweight title
Since the beginning of 2021, the landscape in the UFC's lightweight division has completely changed. With Khabib Nurmagomedov officially retiring from the sport, the UFC lightweight title is currently vacant. Top contenders Michael Chandler and Charles Oliveira will face-off to decide the new champion of the 155-lbs division.
That being said, Dustin Poirier was in the driver's seat to challenge for the UFC lightweight title following his win over Conor McGregor. However, with the Irishman looking to avenge his loss to the former, Poirier agreed to a third fight over fighting for the vacant lightweight belt.
The new UFC lightweight champion will be crowned on May 15th at UFC 262, whereas UFC 264 is scheduled for July 10th. The winner of McGregor vs. Poirier 3 could face the new lightweight champion for the belt unless the UFC decides to throw Justin Gaethje into the mix and make things further interesting.
