After some public posturing and haggling, it appears that Conor
McGregor and Dustin
Poirier have finally agreed to square off in a lightweight bout
at
UFC 257.
MMAFighting.com reported that both sides came to terms late
Monday night However, the report also states that McGregor is
pushing to have the bout moved to UFC 256 on Dec. 12, since that
card lost its original headliner of Amanda
Nunes vs. Megan
Anderson at the beginning of the week, and the Irish star has
recently expressed a desire to compete before 2021.
The promotion was reportedly having difficulty getting Poirier to
agree to a deal, but
ESPN on Tuesday also confirmed that Poirier signed a bout
agreement. McGregor already previously verbally agreed to the fight
but has not yet signed a bout agreement, according to ESPN. In
September, McGregor and Poirier struck an informal agreement over
Twitter to lock horns in an
exhibition match in Ireland on Dec. 12 for charity before the
UFC stepped in and offered both lightweights the fight.
UFC president Dana White told ESPN that a bout agreement was sent
to McGregor on Tuesday.
„Jan. 23 on Fight Island, if everything goes according to plans,“
White said of the bout. „There are a ton of if’s right now. I have
to see where the world is at in the next couple of months.“
UFC 257 will take place on Jan. 23, and the card will also include
a strawweight showdown between Michelle
Waterson and Amanda
Ribas.
McGregor and Poirier initially squared off at featherweight at UFC
178 in September 2014. The Irishman won that contest via
first-round knockout. Donald
Cerrone at UFC 246 in January. He later announced his
retirement for a third time.
Poirier was reportedly in negotiations to meet Tony
Ferguson at UFC 254, but that proposed bout fell apart when
“The Diamond” and the promotion were unable to come to terms. The
American Top Team representative last appeared at UFC on ESPN 12,
when he took a five-round verdict over Dan Hooker on
June 12.
Note: This item was updated at approximately 5 p.m. ET to
include a quote from Dana White.