Conor McGregor accepts Jan. 23 Dustin Poirier bout, targets Cowboys Stadium
After some pushing and shoving, Conor McGregor on Wednesday said that he accepts UFC president Dana White's offer for him to fight Dustin Poirier on Jan. 23, 2021.
McGregor's response came following White telling ESPN's Brett Okamoto that plans had already been laid out for the remainder of 2020, so McGregor would not get his date with Poirier as demanded before the end of the year.
“We offered him a fight, we got him his own date. 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 [broadcast partner] ESPN and got him his own date. He’s been offered Dustin Poirier on Jan. 23," White told ESPN.
“It’s a yes or no answer."
McGregor responded via Twitter a few hours later, saying, "I accept, Jan. 23 is on! 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."
https://twitter.com/TheNotoriousMMA/status/1316512687543783424?s=20
White has not yet addressed the location of the McGregor vs. Poirier bout nor has he announced that contracts have been issued or signed. He has however said that he doesn't intend to hold UFC events open to fans until arenas are back at capacity.
AT&T Stadium (aka Cowboys Stadium) is currently able to allow fans at 25 percent capacity (or roughly 20,000) for Dallas Cowboys NFL games. Unless things change drastically, it doesn't seem likely that White would hold a UFC event at AT&T Stadium as soon as January.
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How did we get to Conor McGregor agreeing to fight in January?
McGregor declared himself retired in June. He and White have since been adamant that he was indeed retired. That is until he recently had a public dust-up with White over a private conversation that McGregor recently made public.
In part of making that conversation public, McGregor pushed the envelope, saying that he was preparing to box Manny Pacquiao in the Middle East. Shortly thereafter, he cut a deal with Poirier to do an exhibition MMA bout for charity in December in Dublin.
When the exhibition bout was made, White stepped in and offered the two the fight in the Octagon. With the rest of the UFC’s pay-per-view plans laid out for 2020 with multiple championship fights, White offered McGregor and Poirier a Jan. 23 date.
McGregor pushed back, saying he accepted the fight with Poirier, but only with the stipulation that it had to take place in either November or December of 2020. He wasn’t willing to wait any longer.
Though White has often acquiesced to McGregor’s wants in the past, he was adamant that he was holding to his Jan. 23 offer on this one.
That is when McGregor responded that he would indeed fight Poirier on Jan. 23 with his "goal" being for the fight to be held at AT&T Stadium.
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