Arguably the biggest money fight for the UFC in 2021 is close to being finalized. Dana White said last night in his post-fight press conference that the promotion is targeting UFC 264 on July 10th for the trilogy between Dustin Poirier (27-6, 1 NC) and Conor McGregor (22-5).
Today, Poirier seemingly confirmed the date on Twitter saying, “July 10th.” The promotion has been working on booking the trilogy fight as it’s the fight that both men want after their second fight at UFC 257.
Both men hold a knockout win over the other and there’s no bigger fight to make. Dana White said this week that Poirier turned down a shot at the vacant UFC lightweight title in order to pursue the McGregor trilogy.
In terms of a business decision, that was definitely the right move. Originally, the promotion wanted to do the trilogy in May, but there were some negotiation hurdles. We know appear to be clearing those hurdles and it looks like were getting close to UFC 264 being official.
July 10th ?
— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) March 28, 2021
UFC 264: Poirier – McGregor 3
White also said last night that the promotion has high hopes that UFC 264 would be in Las Vegas at the T-Mobile arena. Last night might have been the final UFC PPV that was held inside the APEX.
Starting with UFC 261, the promotion is wanting to have PPVs in front of full audiences. Time will tell how feasible that is with other venues and locations. We know the next two events are already booked to have full audiences.
If the UFC does return to Las Vegas in July with a full crowd, they are doing it with the biggest fight possible. Despite the loss in the rematch, Conor McGregor is still the biggest star in the sport.
With Khabib Nurmagomedov retired, Dustin Poirier is the best lightweight in the UFC. This is a much bigger fight than the title fight in May between Michael Chandler and Charles Oliveira. I would expect this fight to be the biggest PPV buy rate of 2021.