Conor McGregor has a date and dance partner for his UFC return.
McGregor, the former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion, will take on Dustin Poirier in a rematch Jan. 23 at UFC 257. The two had accepted the fight weeks prior on social media, but the fight became official Thusday after McGregor signed his bout agreement, according to his The MacLife website. Poirier had already signed last week, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.
UFC 257 does not have an officially announced location or venue as of this writing.
McGregor (22-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC) hasn’t competed since January when he stopped Donald Cerrone in just 40 seconds at UFC 246. The victory marked McGregor’s first inside a UFC cage since November 2016, when he defeated Eddie Alvarez to become the promotion’s first simultaneous two-division champ. After that, McGregor went on to lose by TKO to Floyd Mayweather in a boxing match. Prior to the Cerrone win, McGregor lost by fourth-round submission to 155-pound champ Khabib Nurmagomedov in October 2018 at UFC 229.
Meanwhile, Poirier (26-6 MMA, 18-5 UFC) last fought in June, out-pointing Dan Hooker in a “Fight of the Night” contest at UFC on ESPN 12. Poirier is 5-1 in his last six bouts, with his only defeat being against Nurmagomedov in September 2019 at UFC 242.
The McGregor-Poirier rematch could serve as a No. 1 contender fight at 155 pounds. Although Nurmagomedov announced his retirement last month at UFC 254, “The Eagle” has not vacated his title and could fight again to go for a perfect 30-0 record. Prior to his win over Justin Gaethje, Nurmagomedov had expressed he wasn’t interested in granting either McGregor or Poirier a title rematch since he’s already submitted both of them.
McGregor and Poirier fought once before in September 2014 at UFC 178, with the Irishman winning by first-round TKO in their featherweight contest.
