Conor McGregor doesn’t look beyond Dustin Poirier, but “The Notorious” definitely had a big picture in mind as he prepared for his UFC 257 main event Saturday on “Fight Island”. And that big picture includes staying active and finally fighting for the lightweight belt.
Current champion Khabib Nurmagomedov has made it clear that he intends to retire, and it seems a matter of whether, not when, Nurmagomedov relinquishes the belt, so Saturday’s main event has huge implications for the title.
ESPN has positioned Poirier at No. 3 and McGregor at No. 10 in the world with 155 pounds. It will be McGregor’s first fight since a 40-second game against Donald Cerrone at UFC 246 in January 2020, and his first lightweight bout since the 2018 loss to Nurmagomedov. McGregor and Poirier fought earlier, with McGregor winning a featherweight fight for first-round TKO at UFC 178 in 2014.
McGregor (22-4) has won three of his last four fights, with the only defeat during that period coming to Nurmagomedov in a title fight. The Irishman was the first simultaneous double champion in UFC history and won the lightweight belt against Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 in November 2016 while holding the featherweight title. McGregor, 32, is the biggest money winner in UFC history and even transcended MMA in 2017, moving into boxing in a match against Floyd Mayweather.
Poirier (26-6, 1 NC) has only one defeat in his last eight fights, also against Nurmagomedov. The Louisiana native, who joins the largest U.S. team in Florida, gets a unanimous victory over Dan Hooker last June. Poirier, 32, has been 10-2 (1 NC) since the 2014 loss to McGregor and has been a perennial lightweight contender.
In the main event, former three-time Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler will make his long-awaited UFC debut against Hooker. ESPN has Hooker no. 6 and Chandler no. 7 in the world in light weight. The winner would also be put in the title conversation.
Also on the card, Jessica Eye and Joanne Calderwood are in a women’s match of resentment; Amanda Ribas faces Marina Rodriguez in a fight against women’s weight; and top potential Arman Tsarukyan faces Matt Frevola in a lightweight contest.
Fight in progress:
Heavyweight (150 pounds): Movsar Evloev (13-0, 3-0 UFC, -575) vs. Nik Lentz (30-11-2 1 NC, 14-8-1 1 NC UFC +425)
Results:
Men’s Flyweight: Amir Albazi (14-1, 2-0 UFC) vs. Zhalgas Zhumagulov (13-5, 0-2 UFC) by unanimous decision
Recap to come.
Still to come:
Lightweight: Dustin Poirier (26-6 1 NC, 18-5 1 NC UFC, +250) vs. Conor McGregor (22-4, 10-2 UFC, -310)
Light: Dan Hooker (20-9, 10-5 UFC, -140) vs. Michael Chandler (21-5, 0-0 UFC, +120)
Women’s Flyweight: Jessica Eye (15-8 1 NC, 5-7 1 NC UFC +100) vs. Joanne Calderwood (14-5, 6-5 UFC, -120)
Middleweight: Andrew Sanchez (13-5, 5-3 UFC, +120) vs. Makhmud Muradov (24-6, 2-0 UFC, -140)
Strawweight: Marina Rodriguez (12-1-2, 2-1-2 UFC, +260) vs. Amanda Ribas (10-1, 4-0 UFC, -330)
Light: Matt Frevola (8-1-1, 2-1-1 UFC, +475) vs. Arman Tsarukyan (15-2, 2-1 UFC, -650)
Middleweight: Brad Tavares (17-7, 12-6 UFC, -125) vs. Antonio Carlos Junior (11-4 1 NC, 7-4 1 NC UFC, +105)
Women’s Rooster Weight: Julianna Pena (10-4, 5-2 UFC, +110) vs. Sara McMann (12-5, 6-5 UFC, -130)
Light Heavyweight: Khalil Rountree Jr. (9-4, 2-2 UFC, -330) vs. Marcin Prachnio (13-5, 0-3 UFC, +260)