By — Joey Hudson
On January 24, 2021, Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier faced off in a Lightweight UFC 257 match at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Due to COVID-19, the in person attendance had to be reduced to 2,600 people.
However, 1.6 million people bought pay-per-view in order to watch the fight on the TV.
Before UFC 257, McGregor and Poirier previously fought in the UFC 178 back in 2014. During that match, McGregor was able to secure a win against Poirier in the first round with 3:14 minutes still remaining with a knockout/technical knockout. Due to UFC 178 as well as McGregor’s notorious background in the sport, who has previously claimed the UFC championship as well as Featherweight and Lightweight champion, many predicted that McGregor was the clear winner of this rematch against Poirier, with McGregor being a -305 favorite to win. However, Poirier also held many accomplishments throughout his career, holding a title of Interim UFC Lightweight Champion and also winning many notable victories against other fighters. Despite these accomplishments, Poirier was still seen as an underdog to UFC fans and placed him at +250 to win against McGregor.
During the first round of the fight, Poirier was able to land a takedown after tying McGregor up, however McGregor was able to quickly recover from this and was able to get himself back up after scooting over to the cage. McGregor was able to respond back by pulling a reverse on Poirier. The two continue to trade hits and McGregor is able to land three knees to Poirier’s body. Later on, McGregor is able to pull off a combination attack and leaves Poirier stunned for a second. Poirier then tries to retaliate with a combination of his own, but misses. The two continue to trade blows and Poirier gets a left kick onto McGregor. McGregor then tries to hit a spinning kick to the head, but is unable to connect and round one comes to an end.
During the second round of the fight, Poirier hits McGregor with another kick, but McGregor is able to take it and deal a combination onto Poirer. Poirier tries to throw another kick onto McGregor, however, McGregor catches it and throws another combination of punches onto Poirier. The two continue with more punches, McGregor being able to get a left hand off and Poirier landing a jab and a left hand. Poirier also continues to try to land his kicks, but McGregor is able to stop them multiple times. Poirier was able to get McGregor against the cage and uses this to his advantage and throws punches towards McGregor that take McGregor to the floor. While McGregor is laying down, Poirier throws two final punches that KO’s McGregor, resulting in Dustin Poirier as the victor of the rematch.
