The weekend before last at UFC 257 we saw the return of the former two-division champion, Conor McGregor (22-5). McGregor was competing for the first time in over a year and for the first time since his brief retirement in 2020.
In the main event of UFC 257, McGregor had a rematch with Dustin Poirier (27-6, 1 NC). The two had previously fought back in 2014 and McGregor had knocked Poirier out in the first round. However, since then, Poirier has been much more active inside the octagon.
The fight started out well for McGregor. He won the first round on all three judges scorecards, and Poirier admitted that McGregor stunned him in the first. However, Poirier was doing damage that was adding up.
Poirier was peppering McGregor’s lead leg with leg kicks. McGregor was failing to properly check the kicks and the damage was really adding up. In the second round, McGregor’s leg completely wobbled from a kick and Poirier swarmed.
A few massive shots put McGregor down and Poirier walked away the winner at UFC 257. Since then, we haven’t heard much from Conor McGregor. Well, today he posted a lengthy Instagram post where he went through the fight and discussed what’s next.
Will the UFC do the trilogy next?
“I enjoyed racking up some more time inside the famed UFC Octagon,” McGregor said. “40 seconds in 3 years is all I’d had up to this bout. I was savoring every second and enjoying my work. A little single disciplined in my approach and stance with mostly boxing.”
The former UFC champion continued, “I deserved to get the legs kicked off me going in with this thinking. This is not the game to play around with. Besides this tho my shots where sharp and I was in full control. Albeit the leg attacks where building up on me throughout the course. 18 in total thrown at me, with the final one buckling my leg fully, that was that.”
“First time to experience it. Then a tremendous finishing flurry by my opponent. Hats off! A well fought fight by The Diamond. 1 a piece now with a Trilogy bout for all the marbles! Wow! Exciting!”
It’s clear that McGregor wants the trilogy with Poirier for his next outing. Right now, Poirier has said that he wants either McGregor, Nate Diaz (20-12), or Charles Oliveira (30-8, 1 NC) for his next UFC bout.
Both Nate Diaz and Charles Oliveira have said this is what they want as well. There are three viable options for Poirier. From a rankings perspective, Oliveira is the fight that makes sense. However, Diaz and McGregor are the money bouts. It’ll be interesting to see what the UFC decides.