UFC 257: ‘McGregor vs Poirier 2’ Fight Card and Start Times

By Harry Kettle - January 12, 2021

The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to pay-per-view on Fight Island with a blockbuster main event at UFC 257 as Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier meet inside the Octagon for the second time.

Conor McGregor

Event: UFC 257: Poirier vs. McGregor 2
Date: Saturday, 23rd January 2021
Location: Etihad Arena, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Broadcast: ESPN+ – 10pm EST (Main card)

More than six years on from McGregor’s dominant win over Poirier at UFC 178, the two men will clash once again – but this time, they’ll be moving from featherweight up to lightweight with a potential shot at the 155-pound title being on the line.

McGregor will be returning to the cage for the first time since his win over Donald Cerrone last January whereas Poirier will be attempting to build off of his June victory against Dan Hooker.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztl8PLyqpYE

The following fights have so far been confirmed by UFC.com.

UFC 257 – Confirmed Bouts

  • Lightweight – Dustin Poirier vs. Conor McGregor
  • Lightweight – Dan Hooker vs. Michael Chandler
  • Women’s Flyweight – Jessica Eye vs. Joanne Calderwood
  • Light Heavyweight – Khalil Rountree Jr. vs. Marcin Prachnio
  • Women’s Strawweight – Marina Rodriguez vs. Amanda Ribas
  • Middleweight – Brad Tavares vs. Antônio Carlos Júnior
  • Lightweight – Matt Frevola vs. Ottoman Azaitar
  • Middleweight – Andrew Sanchez vs. Makhmud Muradov

UFC 257 – Announced Bouts (not confirmed by UFC.com)

  • Lightweight – Nasrat Haqparast vs. Arman Tsarukyan
  • Women’s Bantamweight – Sara McMann vs. Julianna Pena
  • Featherweight – Movsar Evloev vs. Nik Lentz

One man who has been at the forefront of making this card become a reality is UFC president Dana White. It’s no secret that he and Conor McGregor have been pretty close in the past, but apparently, that relationship hasn’t always been so consistent – especially during the Diego Sanchez saga.

“We were in a really bad place then, I was really upset,” White told ESPN recently. “It wasn’t because he put out private messages. We were talking about another fighter. And I like Diego Sanchez. I have a lot of respect for Diego Sanchez. I care about Diego Sanchez. I talked to Diego face-to-face about it, and being the great human being he is, we’re all good.

“I was really upset with Conor, but we fixed that and now we’re all good.”

Will you be tuning in for UFC 257 on January 23?