After a social media back-and-forth over the last few days between two of the best in the lightweight division put the fight in jeopardy, the UFC made it official that the trilogy fight between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier will indeed take place.
The match will be fought in the main event of UFC 264 on July 10 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas in front of a full capacity crowd.
The combination of Poirier’s win over McGregor and the retirement of longtime lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov looked like he was poised to fight for the vacant championship. Instead, the Lafayette native opted for the big money and the trilogy fight with the biggest star in the sport.
“That’s smart. That’s what he should do,” UFC president Dana White said during the UFC 260 post-fight press conference. “He should take the rematch, take that fight. It’s a big fight for him. Kid’s worked hard his whole life, his whole career to be in a position like this. That’s the fight you take. We’ve been in positions like this before with others who have made the mistake of not taking that fight, and [it was the] biggest mistake of their lives.”
The two have traded barbs back and forth over the last week with Poirier claiming McGregor never followed through on making a sizable donation to his foundation.