UFC president Dana White gives an update on Conor McGregor vs Dustin Poirier 2; says fight still not signed yet
The rematch between former two-division UFC champion Conor McGregor and former UFC interim lightweight champion Dustin Poirier is still not finalized according to UFC President Dana White.
Speaking to ESPN’s Heidi Androl, White provided an update on the fight. The UFC head said that while he isn’t sure McGregor has signed the contract yet, he’s confident that he will.
“I don’t know (if he signed it yet). Listen, I’m not worried about it. Conor McGregor has never said, ‘Listen I want to fight,’ gone out the way that he’s gone out, talked about it. We got him his date. Conor McGregor’s going to show up and fight. I’m not worried about his bout agreement, but I don’t know if it’s been signed. I’m assuming it has, but it wasn’t the other day when I texted the fight wasn’t done yet,” White said.
The rematch saga has been nothing but dramatic so far.
After the initial announcement by White in August where he said he may be interested in a rematch between the two, both fighters indicated their preference in fighting at welterweight.
Dana White’s point-blank dismissal of this idea coupled with Khabib Nurmagomedov’s surprise retirement announcement at UFC 254, however, had them agreeing to a 155 pound bout.
In between all of this, the Irishman wanted to fast-track the bout in 2020 and even made public plans to fight Poirier outside of the UFC, under the banner of his own promotion - McGregor Sports and Entertainment.
While there were initial allegations about UFC dragging its feet in handing out the contracts, especially from Dustin, recent tweets by Conor McGregor's coach John Kavanagh and his teammate Dilon Danis have all but confirmed that the fight is on.
Conor McGregor first fought Dustin Poirier in 2014 at UFC 178
The initial encounter between the two fighters took place in September 2014 at UFC 178.
Conor McGregor walked away the victor in the fight, making short work of Dustin Poirier and ending the fight within 2 minutes of the very first round.
The fight took place at featherweight and while McGregor would go on to win titles in two weight divisions, Poirier returned to his natural weight class of 155 pounds and would later capture the interim lightweight strap.
The rematch is certain to be an exciting spectacle with major ramifications on the lightweight title scene in the UFC.