Dustin Poirier reacts after his knockout victory over Conor McGregor of Ireland in a lightweight fight during the UFC 257 event inside Etihad Arena on UFC Fight Island on January 23, 2021 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
The winner of Conor McGregor vs Dustin Poirier 3 might just get a shot at UFC gold
Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor are all set to complete a trilogy of fights later this year. The two have met before, of course.
Their 2014 bout at UFC 178 ended in a win for ‘The Notorious One’ Quite comfortably at that. And equally comfortable was Poirier’s victory the second time they met.
The UFC 257 main event ended in a round 2 TKO win for ‘The Diamond’. And immediately after the fight, as you would expect him to do, McGregor was crying out for a rematch.
His name is just so big in the sport that he always seems to get what he wants. And that’s exactly what happened here as well when Poirier accepted his challenge.
Poirier could have challenged anyone he wanted and tried for it to be a title fight. Charles Oliveira always looked a likely contender as the 155 weight class looks for an active champion.
But that didn’t happen, of course. With Khabib Nurmagomedov officially retired, it looks like the division is all ready for a new champion. And Chael Sonnen, on Beyond the Fight podcast, seems to think that the winner of the trilogy fight will be fighting for it.
“I believe that that fight is going to be named as a number 1 contender’s fight. I think it’s going to draw in to Chandler and Oliveira. That’s just me talking.”
Sonnen makes a very valid point here that the equation for the title at 155 will involve Charles Oliveira and Michael Chandler.
It does seem a little harsh that Poirier won at UFC 257 and has to face McGregor again in what seems like starting from square one for him, but no one forced ‘The Diamond’ to do it.
And at the end of the day, money is a big part of just about everything. There is no doubt that the trilogy will do insane numbers.
But it still remains to be seen what it means for the lightweight division. Poirier winning it should make him a contender at the very least.
But McGregor winning it might complicate matters as many would not agree that he gets a shot at gold despite not earning it as much as the others, especially recently.
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