Does the Dustin Poirier Fight Give Conor McGregor Just One Last Shot?

As it is still some time out, MMA fans are enthusiastically anticipating UFC 264 in July. The mega-hyped trilogy battle between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier will headline the case, which will be held at the T-Mobile Arena in Nevada, and the anticipation for the match is palpable. According to sports journalist Aaron Bronsteter, pre-sale seats were selling for up to $10,000 each, although McGregor triumphantly posted that all tickets had "sold out in seconds." The number of tickets available for purchase is restricted to eight (8) per user. UFC Fight Club owners will be able to buy tickets from the UFC 264 Live Stream on Thursday, April 15 at 10 a.m. PT.

Is McGregor's rematch with Poirier his only chance?

Of course, any battle involving McGregor – undeniably the biggest MMA star on the world – would be huge news. But there is particular excitement surrounding this rematch with Poirier, in part because their history dates back almost seven years, and in part because there are questions about McGregor's potential as a boxer. To be honest, McGregor has fueled the questions – back in June 2020, he sensationally tweeted that he was withdrawing from war. “The game simply does not excite me,” McGregor said in an interview. “All this standing about. There isn't much going on. I'm looking through opponent choices, and there aren't much of them right now. Nothing excites me.”

McGregor came out of "retirement" to tackle Dustin Poirier at UFC 257 in January 2021, and it was not a happy trip to the Octagon. In the second round, the Louisiana resident clobbered the Irish superstar, cleverly unbalancing him by hitting his legs before scoring a tactical knockout with a series of punches that left the Notorious shocked.

“I'm gutted, it's a difficult one to swallow,” McGregor said. “I looked better than him, but his leg kicks were excellent. I didn't alter. My leg was heavily damaged, I'd never seen those low calf kicks, and I wasn't as relaxed as I wanted to be.”

It was a watershed moment for Poirier, who demonstrated that he was no longer frightened by McGregor's aura of invincibility. “The first time I was a deer in the headlights,” he said. “This time, I was just battling another guy who bled like me.” That was, of course, a nod to their first clash in 2014, when McGregor defeated Poirier in 106 seconds, placing himself on track to becoming the sport's most talked-about athlete. According to journalist Nick Peet, McGregor's first battle with Poirier "transformed him from an Irish asset to a global commodity."

This is the hard-won status that McGregor will be fighting for in July. What are his odds of defeating Poirier 2-1? Although it tends to be a toss-up, bookmakers tend to have McGregor as the marginal favorite, according to odds sourced by TopRatedCasinos Ireland. Though there is no denying McGregor's brute strength in the Octagon, his relative inactivity in recent years would be a source of worry for his supporters – his only victory since 2018 came over Donald Cerrone in January 2020.

Of necessity, Conor being Conor, his personality has loomed big over the sport in these years of turmoil. There has also been loads of high-energy publicity about the Poirier rematch, with the competitors sharing a Twitter dispute about McGregor reportedly breaking a pledge to contribute $500,000 to Poirier's Good Fight Foundation charity. The American tweeted that McGregor had practically abandoned the organisation, leading the Irishman to reply that he was waiting to learn more about how the contribution would be invested.

Poirier has since smoothed it out, and it's obvious that the match is just as vital to the Diamond as it is to the Notorious. Indeed, Poirier bravely turned down a lightweight championship match against Charles Oliveira in favor of the trilogy fight with McGregor. Commentators have praised this as a wise decision; after all, though winning the championship would be a significant honor, defeating McGregor a second time would do even more for Poirier's media profile (and, frankly, his bank balance).

As a result, all sides have a ton riding on the outcome. If McGregor is feeling the pressure, he's not revealing it, most notably tweeting that he's "thinking of purchasing Manchester United" – not necessarily the language of a man who sees nothing but lavish prosperity on the horizon. But maybe we can listen to McGregor's boss, Audie Attar, who has said that "the one thing about Conor McGregor is it's not just about wins and defeats, it's about the path." And, wherever the adventure leads him in the run-up to July and beyond, it will be fun to see.