UFC 257: Dustin Poirier vs. Conor McGregor 2 fight card
UFC 257: Dustin Poirier vs. Conor McGregor 2 fight card.
“The Notorious” is back again. The UFC 2021 pay-per-view event calendar begins with UFC 257 on January 23, and it features the in-cage return of former two-weight UFC champion Conor McGregor, as he takes on former interim UFC lightweight champion Dustin Poirier in the main event of the card on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi.
It will be the second meeting between Poirier and McGregor. The pair first collided at UFC 178 in September 2014, a time in which both were competing at featherweight. The then-rising McGregor finished Poirier in less than two minutes.
McGregor would go on to become the first fighter in UFC history to simultaneously hold two titles by claiming the UFC featherweight championship at UFC 194 and UFC lightweight championship at UFC 205. Since then, however, McGregor has barely been seen in the Octagon, losing to Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 and starching Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone at UFC 246.
Poirier, meanwhile, moved up to 155 after the loss to McGregor and won eight of his next 10, earning three Fight of the Night bonuses and a performance bonus. This streak led him to a showdown with Max Holloway at UFC 236, with Poirier winning by unanimous decision in the Fight of the Night to claim interim gold. He’d lose a lightweight title fight with Nurmagomedov at UFC 242 but rebounded with a win over Dan Hooker in an entertaining classic in June.
Full UFC 257: Dustin Poirier vs. Conor McGregor 2 fight card
UFC 257 will be the third and final Fight Island event in an eight-day span the UFC holds to kick-off 2021.
The full UFC 257 match card and details have yet to be finalized as of publication.
Here are the bouts confirmed for UFC 257 thus far in no particular order (and subject to change):
Dustin Poirier vs. Conor McGregor
Jessica Eye vs. Joanne Calderwood
Khalil Rountree Jr. vs. Marcin Prachnio
Marina Rodriguez vs. Amanda Ribas
Brad Tavares vs. Antonio Carlos Junior
Matt Frevola vs. Ottman Azaitar
Shane Burgos vs. Hakeem Dawodu
Andrew Sanchez vs. Makhmud Muradov
Julianna Pena vs. Sara McMann
Nasrat Haqparast vs. Arman Tsarukyan
Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Sergey Morozov
Matheus Nicolau vs. TBD
While the two Fight Island cards prior to this event are more friendly to those MMA fans in the Eastern Hemisphere, the UFC 257 pay-per-view will be a return to normal broadcasting time.
The early prelims are scheduled to begin at 6:15 p.m. ET/5:15 p.m. CT/3:15 p.m. PT (or 11:15 p.m. GMT), with ESPN televised prelims beginning at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT/5 p.m. PT (or 1 a.m. GMT). The UFC 247 main card will start at 10 p.m. ET/9 p.m. CT/7 p.m. PT (or 3 a.m. GMT).
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