Conor McGregor appears to have finally agreed on a date to fight Dustin Poirier in the UFC, with January 23rd now believed to have been marked on the calendar for the rematch.
Last week McGregor had suggested he would accept the fight, but only if it happened before the end of the year. However, speaking to ESPN, Dana White had pushed back against that plan.
“We offered him a fight, we got him his own date,” White told ESPN. “We didn’t have a date this year. We have everything laid out for this year, with world champions fighting for titles. He wants to fight Dustin Poirier apparently, so we went to ESPN and got him his own date.
“He’s been offered Dustin Poirier on Jan. 23. It’s a yes or no answer.”
Now McGregor has given the green light for that date on social media.
“I accept, Jan 23rd is on!” McGregor wrote.
McGregor wasn’t finished there though as he went on to suggest a venue for the fight.
“My goal is to see this fight take place in Cowboy stadium. Proper Style! Jerry Jones is a friend and the stadium can hold our crowd. I will be ready for Texas and Texas will be ready for my fans! Then Manny.”
The fact that the Cowboy’s AT&T Stadium is getting ready to open up at 25% of it’s capacity soon after implementing Covid-19 safety measures may be what’s led McGregor to believe he can draw a crowd for his fight, although it remains to be seen if the UFC will go along with that, having so far been holding all their recent shows behind closed doors at their own HQ in Las Vegas and on Fight Island, Abu Dhabi.
Whenever and wherever the fight takes place though, Poirier appears to be all-in.
“Close to home for me on my birthday weekend!” Poirier responded to McGregor’s post. “What weight?”
McGregor and Poirier fought once before back in 2014 at featherweight, with ‘The Notorious’ emerging victorious by TKO in less than two minutes before going on to win the 145lb and 155lb titles in the years to come.
Meanwhile, Poirier returned to lightweight after his loss to McGregor and has since compiled a 10-2 (+1nc) record, defeating the likes of Justin Gaethje, Max Holloway, Eddie Alvarez and Dan Hooker along the way.
