MMA

Conor McGregor v Dustin Poirier 3: All you need to know

2 years ago

| BY News Team

The trilogy in MMA is the rarest of commodities. Not often do the careers of two fighters converge so perfectly that they can peak public interest in seeing them battle on three separate occasions.

The timing, the story and the match-up have to be completely in sync and Conor McGregor v Dustin Poirier is certainly that.

We run through all the key information, including fight time, date, the undercard, fight odds and the story so far in the blog below.

Check out the latest McGregor v Poirier odds and other UFC betting odds at William Hill.

McGregor v Poirier 3: Fight time, date and location

McGregor v Poirier is scheduled to take place at UFC 264 on Saturday July 10th from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada in the US.

While official start times have not yet been confirmed, fans in the UK can expect the Prelims to start at 1am, the Main Card to start around 3am and the ring walks for the Main Event to begin at around 5.15am.

McGregor v Poirier 3: Fight card

Any UFC fight card featuring McGregor v Poirier at the top of the bill is sure to be worth watching, but there are a number of other intriguing battles on the UFC 264 undercard. The full McGregor v Poirier 3 card is below:

Dustin Poirier v Conor McGregor – Lightweight
Gilbert Burns v Stephen Thompson – Welterweight
Tai Tuivasa v Greg Hardy – Heavyweight
Jessica Eye v Jennifer Maia – Women’s Flyweight
Ryan Hall v Ilia Topuria – Featherweight
Jerome Rivera v Zhalgas Zhumagulov – Flyweight
Omari Akhmedov v Brad Tavares – Middleweight

*Subject to change.

McGregor v Poirier 3: The story so far

McGregor v Poirier is the convergence of two different stories; two different routes to the top of the MMA ladder. McGregor’s is the story of a star, who always seemed destined to shine on the biggest stage in combat sports; and Poirier’s, the story of a diamond, forged under years of pressure of fighting the best of the best in the UFC.

When the two met in 2014, McGregor had reeled off three spectacular wins in his first 15 months in the UFC, while a young Poirier had impressed by racking up a 9-2 record in three years within the organisation. They were undoubtedly two of the sport’s future stars and it was only a matter of time until their paths crossed in the octagon.

The first fight in truth was a testament to how far Poirier had to go to make it to the top of the game, and perhaps also a testament to the difficulty he had found in depleting his body in order to make the featherweight limit of 145lbs. He looked frantic in the opening exchanges, whilst a relaxed McGregor waited for his openings and finished the fight with a left hook inside two minutes of round one.

Seven years on, while McGregor had only recently began his comeback to the sport, Poirier had become arguably the best lightweight in the world following the retirement of then champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, having racked up wins against the likes of Eddie Alvarez, Justin Gaethje, Max Holloway and Anthony Pettis. Physically and mentally, he was a transformed fighter compared to the one McGregor faced in 2014.

So, it proved on the night. Poirier took some of Conor’s big shots early on and this time did not wilt. Instead, he landed a series of brutal calf kicks that immobilised his opponent, before putting on a boxing clinic. He would finish McGregor in round two after a series of huge punches was followed by with a thunderous short-arm right hook. The trilogy of a lifetime was set.