ABU DHABI – The untitled UFC lightweight rematch between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier is official for UFC 257 on Saturday, with the two fighters winning Friday’s weigh-in.
McGregor (22-4), an undisputed former lightweight champion, weighed 155 pounds. Poirier (26-6), who won the interim lightweight champion in 2019, swung the scales with 156. The dispute is the headline for UFC 257 on Saturday, inside the Etihad Arena.
This will mark the second competition between the two lightweights. The first took place in 2014, at the 145-pound featherweight limit. McGregor knocked out Poirier with just 1:46 of fight, with his infamous left hand. This would be Poirier’s last featherweight fight, as he moved up to the lightweight division in the next fight.
Surprisingly, McGregor only competed at lightweight twice in his UFC career. He won the belt on his UFC debut in late 2016, by knocking out then champion Eddie Alvarez. In 2018, he lost to defending champion Khabib Nurmagomedov via submission in the fourth round. McGregor, 32, has repeatedly stated that he designed his structure for an extended 155-pound run in 2021.
In the main co-event, ex-Bellator MMA lightweight champion Michael Chandler (21-5) and New Zealander Dan Hooker (20-9) successfully weighed in. Chandler and Hooker weighed 156 pounds.
It’s a massive week for the lightweight division, as UFC president Dana White joked that defending champion Khabib Numragomedov could return for another fight, if any of the card’s four main lightweights are impressive enough. Nurmagomedov, meanwhile, has repeatedly stated that he does not intend to fight anytime soon, but remains the current lightweight champion.
McGregor and Poirier were the first fighters to step on the scale on Friday. Then Jon Anik of UFC announced that the duel between Ottman Azaitar and Matt Frevola had been canceled.