Last weekend at UFC 257, we got to see the highly anticipated rematch between Dustin Poirier (27-6, 1 NC) and Conor McGregor (22-5). Both men had their moments in the fight, but just like the first one, this fight didn’t go the distance.
After losing the first round, Poirier really started to do damage to the lead leg of McGregor in the second. Eventually, Poirier kicked McGregor’s calf to the point where his leg seriously buckled. Once Poirier saw McGregor hurt, he never let up.
Poirier pushed McGregor against the fence and unleashed a combination from hell. Eventually, he connected on a right that sat McGregor down and gave him the victory at UFC 257. Arguably the biggest win in the career of Dustin Poirier.
After the fight, Dana White said that it didn’t look good for UFC lightweight champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov (29-0), in terms of coming back. White said that Poirier would get the next shot at the title.
Dana White said that he’d love to see Poirier fight Michael Chandler, however, Poirier wasn’t interested. In the UFC 257 post-fight press conference, Poirier said he’s mainly thinking of three guys: McGregor, Nate Diaz (20-12), and Charles Oliveira (30-8, 1 NC).
McGregor’s head coach came out this week and said that McGregor wanted the trilogy for the title in April or May. While it seems a little off, is that what the UFC is going to end up doing?
What will the UFC do?
Would there be an ounce of my body that would be surprised if Poirier – McGregor 3 is next? No, because the UFC is a business and that fight would do massively well. Especially considering a title would be attached to it.
Both men want the trilogy and both men have knocked each other out. While it would be a massive fight, I’m not sure it makes the most sense for the lightweight division.
Then again, I can’t see Oliveira getting the shot at Poirier because that fight wouldn’t sell well. The UFC has several options for Dustin Poirier. However, the one fight that would sell the least is a fight with Charles Oliveira.
After hearing Poirier’s comments and comments from the McGregor camp, I would not be shocked at all to see the trilogy get made next. I personally think McGregor and Diaz should fight next, but the promotion might want to capitalize on the heat of the moment between McGregor and Poirier.