Dana White says Conor McGregor vs Dustin Poirier 2 is a “done deal” at lightweight

During the post-fight conference of UFC Vegas 12: Hall vs Silva, Dana White made some major announcements, one of them regarding the highly anticipated rematch between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier. While giving reporters an update on McGregor vs Poirier 2, Dana White revealed that the bout is a “done deal”. The rematch is likely to go down at UFC 257 on January 23, 2021.

"Yeah, the fight's done. I think (it's signed), yeah. As far as I know, it's done," White stated.

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Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier first faced off in 2014 when the two used to fight in the featherweight division. Conor McGregor, surging in the 145-pound division, won the fight via first-round TKO. Dustin Poirier then moved to the lightweight division and dominated, even winning the interim title. However, his streak was ended by Khabib Nurmagomedov in September 2019 (UFC 242), who had also bested Conor McGregor a year prior at UFC 229.

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McGregor vs Poirier 2 won’t be for the title

A few days ago, rumours went viral claiming that Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier could collide for the lightweight title which champion Khabib Nurmagomedov was going to vacate as he announced his retirement after beating Justin Gaethje at UFC 254. However, during the UFC Vegas 12 post-fight conference, Dana White squashed those rumours, stating that “there’s no vacant belt” as he hopes for Khabib Nurmagomedov's return.

Nurmagomedov retired with an unbeaten record of 29-0 and White believes The Eagle will come back for one final fight, to take his record to 30-0, which was his late father’s dream.

"He (Khabib Nurmagomedov) is still the champ. There's no vacant title right now or no interim title happening. He's the champ and we'll give him some time to figure out what he wants to do," Dana White added.

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Conor McGregor’s last bout was at UFC 246 where he stopped Donald Cerrone in just 40 seconds. A few weeks after the event, Conor McGregor retired from the sport for the third time but soon agreed to fight Dustin Poirier. McGregor is also in talks to fight boxing legend Manny Pacquiao which could go down later next year at Abu Dhabi. The Diamond, on the other hand, returned to the cage in June and outpointed Dan Hooker to rebound from his loss to Nurmagomedov.

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Image Source: AP, Conor McGregor/ Instagram