Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor had to wait six years for a rematch, but it doesn’t look like that will be the case for a trilogy fight.
UFC President Dana White told ESPN Rise on Friday he has a summer date for a third meeting between Poirier and McGregor, after UFC 257’s main event in January. Poirier won by TKO in the second round in the rematch to avenge the defeat to McGregor in September 2014.
Shortly after the defeat, McGregor said he would like to have a rubber match with Poirier for “all marbles”, a suggestion to which White agrees.
“Well, when you have two guys who are in their positions – Dustin is the guy ranked first in the world, you have Conor who is in sixth place, and they want the trilogy, you have to go with the trilogy,” said White. “We will probably try to fight this fight this summer.”
In a separate interview addressing the status of newly retired champion Khabib Nurmagomedov (White has not given up on Nurmagomedov fighting again), White set out a scenario where the current crop of light contenders struggle to determine who will compete for the next 155-pound championship. That list includes Poirier and McGregor, as well as Charles Oliveira, Michael Chandler, Justin Gaethje, Tony Ferguson and Rafael dos Anjos.
Poirier and McGregor may be the first dominoes to fall to start fights being reserved. If they meet again, White hopes that a more motivated McGregor will perform better than UFC 257.
“If you look at Conor, if you look at the way he fought, the kicks in the legs he was eating, the posture he was in, he was completely forgotten about Dustin Poirier,” said White. Rise. “I’m not taking anything out of Poirier, but when you arrive on a super yacht [in Abu Dhabi] and you’re living the life that Conor lives, you need to be hungry and take each guy seriously. No matter how you beat Dustin Poirier the first time, this is not the same guy you will face and obviously Dustin Poirier is training as if it were the most important fight of his life.
“There were a lot of things lined up there for the upset. I think the good part is the trilogy that McGregor is more hungry than ever, he wants this fight back, he wants this fight a lot, so it will be a fun third fight. “