BEEVRLY HILLS, April 14, (THEWILL) – On Wednesday, Dana White, President of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), went on Twitter to announce that a third fight between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier was not only official, but that tickets were going to go on sale this week.
The bad blood, which is beginning to brew between both fighters after each won one of the first two fights, will now be settled in the next meeting of the two lightweight superstars, scheduled for July 10 in UFC 264 at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena.
THEWILL recalls that Irish mixed martial artist, McGregor, recently cast some doubt over the possibility of a third fight taking place after a Twitter blow-up that was evoked by the accusation that he failed to be faithful to a promised charity donation of $500,000 after the previous bout.
In a Twitter spat that lasted the whole of Sunday and some of Monday, Poirier and McGregor had squabbled over the donation McGregor promised to make to Poirier’s foundation before their fight at UFC 257. When McGregor predicted that he was going to win their upcoming fight by TKO, Poirier publicly called out McGregor because the previously promised donation had yet to be paid.
As an excuse, McGregor responded to Poirier by explaining that he never received any plans for the money and it was against his principles as he apparently never makes any charitable donations without knowing exactly where the money was going “dot for dot.”
However, it would appear, as the authority of the UFC President is backing this announcement, that the fight is still on and will be expected to be fought in front of a sold-out arena. That was alluded to when White captioned his Twitter announcement with the words “Vegas is OPEN!!!”
White was direct in the short video message as he said that the Poirier/McGregor trilogy fight at UFC 264 will take place in front of a 100-percent capacity crowd. “Ladies and Gentlemen, that’s 20,000 fans,” White boasted to anyone who needed to get the facts straight.
The initial bout between both fighters took place in 2014 at UFC 178. It was an easy win for McGregor who took out Poirier in a first round technical knockout (TKO) and then went on to clinch the UFC’s featherweight title with wild acclaim. With his loss, Poirier moved to lightweight and went on a storied run that led to a title fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov, which he unfortunately lost.
The resilient Poirier rebounded with a win over Dan Hooker last year learning the lessons of dealing with loss and returning unbowed and confident. In January, at their rematch, Poirier and McGregor clashed at UFC 257 in Abu Dhabi, where Poirier exacted revenge on McGregor beating the boastful Irishman with a second round TKO victory.
Poirier therefore became the first man to stop McGregor by strikes in the mixed martial arts division. The trilogy will therefore be a chance for both men to contest and determine which of them is truly the better fighter. The UFC 264 in July will settle it.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
