The biggest combat sports star in the world will make his return next Saturday. The UFC‘s first champ-champ, Conor McGregor (22-4), will be fighting for the first time since he knocked out Donald Cerrone in 40 seconds at UFC 246.
McGregor will be taking on Dustin Poirier (26-6, 1 NC) in a rematch from UFC 178. That night, McGregor stopped Poirier in the first few minutes in a fight that showed the world that Conor McGregor was the real deal.
Fast forward more than six years later and both men are in drastically different spots. McGregor became a two-division world champion and he’s even boxed Floyd Mayweather. Meanwhile Poirier rose to the top of lightweight and became the interim champion.
Going into UFC 257, it’s safe to say that both men are at their peaks. I think we are probably going to see the best versions of Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier when they fight next weekend.
The one thing that’s been pointed out about McGregor leading up to this fight is his mentality. When McGregor appears fully focused, he might be the best fighter in the world. However, outside distractions have sometimes hindered his performance in the cage.
There has been a lot of speculation about what will be next for McGregor should he win at UFC 257. Will he box Manny Pacquiao? Will he stay at lightweight? Or will he pursue welterweight superfights? McGregor told The Mac Life his plans earlier this morning.
McGregor wants a UFC title run at lightweight
“I never got a good stint at 155 pounds. A consecutive stint as I did in the featherweight division. I would like to do it the same in the lightweight division as I did in the featherweight division. Give it a good run and tear through the division,” McGregor said.
This has to be music to the ears to everyone at the UFC. There would be nothing better for their business than having McGregor go on a run in the lightweight division. McGregor appears to be fully committed to that or at least he’s appearing that way as of now.
Conor McGregor also discussed his fellow competitors at lightweight and said that there’s many great competitors that he wants to fight. He also mentioned being very interested in the trilogy with Nate Diaz (20-12) at some point in the lightweight division.