Published 12:29 IST, October 15th 2020
Conor McGregor ready to face Poirier on Jan 23, demands Cowboys' AT&T Stadium as location
Conor McGregor has publicly accepted to face Dustin Poirier on January 23, 2021. The Notorious made the announcement via social media on Wednesday.
McGregor vs Poirier is one step closer to its final agreement after The Notorious accepted to face his former opponent on January 23, 2021. However, not without making a special demand. Posting a tweet on Wednesday, Conor McGregor said he wanted the fight to be hosted at the AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Texas.
The stadium is the home ground for NFL franchise Dallas Cowboys. The 32-year-old Irish MMA star further claimed Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is a good friend of his and the 105,000-seater AT&T Stadium should have no problem of hosting the fight. UFC president Dana White is yet to respond to McGregor latest demand.
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McGregor vs Poirier confirmed?
McGregor vs Poirier, a rematch from their 2014 bout, has been all over the headlines ever since McGregor stirred social media by leaking Dana White's chat messages on Twitter. The Notorious was willing to get back in the octagon with The Diamond, but he wanted the fight to take place by the end of 2020.
As per reports, McGregor was hoping a fight with Poirier in 2020 could help him earn a rematch with lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2021. Conor McGregor failed to regain the lightweight title in 2018, losing via fourth-round submission to The Eagle. Since his 2018 loss, the only time McGregor stepped inside the octagon was in January this year, knocking out Donald Cerrone inside 40 seconds.
Despite both McGregor and Poirier publicly stating they wanted to face each other, Dana White insisted he could not fulfil McGregor's request of scheduling the fight this year. During an interview with ESPN, White said he offered McGregor a 'take it or leave it' deal as there was no room for negotiation with the date for the fight.
"We offered him a fight, we got him his own date. We didn’t have a date this year. We have everything laid out for this year, with world champions fighting for titles. He wants to fight Dustin Poirier apparently, so we went to ESPN and got him his own date. He’s been offered Dustin Poirier on Jan 23. It’s a yes or no answer," White said during the interview.
McGregor is also expected to make his return to professional boxing as he close to agreeing to a deal to face Manny Pacquaio in 2021. As for Dustin Poirier, the 31-year-old, scored a unanimous decision win over Dustin Hooker earlier this year. Poirier, 26-6-1 (win-loss-no contest), failed to win the lightweight championship from Khabib last year. He lost via third-round submission at UFC 242.
(Image Credits: McGregor, Poirier Instagram)
Updated 12:29 IST, October 15th 2020