Conor McGregor accepts UFC offer to fight Dustin Poirier, but won’t wait
Conor McGregor on Thursday tweeted that he has accepted the UFC's offer to fight Dustin Poirier in the Octagon... with one caveat. The fight has to take place in 2020.
McGregor started the year with a blistering finish of Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone in the UFC 246 main event in January. He had planned to fight at least three to four times during his 2020 season. That didn't happen.
The Irishman butted heads with the UFC over dates and opponents. Then the world nearly came to a standstill because of the coronavirus pandemic. With everything combined, McGregor's frustration led him to announce his retirement from fighting in June.
Just recently, however, McGregor began saying that he was going to fight again. Initially it was a boxing match with Manny Pacquiao. Then it was a mixed martial arts exhibition bout with Poirier to raise money for charity. McGregor promised a $500,000 donation to Poirier's The Good Fight Foundation as part of the deal.
Once McGregor and Poirier had seemingly come to an agreement on the exhibition bout, UFC president Dana White made an offer to the two to meet in the Octagon instead.
Poirier quickly accepted the UFC's offer.
At the time the offer was initially made, White was aiming for a January or February 2021 date.
That isn't going to fly with McGregor, who said that he would fight Poirier, but only if the bout were to take place in 2020. He promised to still make good on the donation to Poirier's charitable foundation.
"Hello Dustin! I accepted the UFC offer to fight you, but told them it must happen in 2020. I'm ready for Nov. 21, given that card's recent injury issues, as well as any of the December dates, the 12th and the 19th. I'll also still donate the $500,000 to The Good Fight Foundation."
https://twitter.com/TheNotoriousMMA/status/1314237969436475393?s=20
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UFC 255 and UFC 256 main events blown apart
For his part, Poirier told ESPN that he was agreeable to fight McGregor at UFC 255 on Nov. 21 or UFC 256 on Dec. 12. Both of those fight cards recently had their main events blown apart.
UFC bantamweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo was supposed to defend against Cody Garbrandt in the UFC 255 main event, but his opponent fell out because of an injury. Garbrandt has since been replace by Alex Perez, but that bout certainly doesn't hold the allure of a Figueiredo vs. Garbrandt bout.
UFC 255 also features Valentina Shevchenko putting her flyweight title on the line opposite Jennifer Maia.
UFC 256 was initially slated to feature Kamaru Usman finally putting his welterweight belt on the line against Gilbert Burns. But that bout was also pushed back when it was determined that Usman needed more time to be ready.
Dual-division champion Amanda Nunes is slated to defend her featherweight belt against Megan Anderson at UFC 256.
Poirier sounded optimistic that he and McGregor would make the fight happen.
https://twitter.com/DustinPoirier/status/1314248709228695555?s=20
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