Excitement building for third Dustin Poirier-Conor McGregor fight

Trilogy. The most exciting word in combat sports.

Over the years, the UFC has had some epic trilogies, including Daniel Cormier-Stipe Miocic, Chuck Liddell-Randy Couture and Georges St-Pierre-Matt Hughes.

But in terms of buildup, no other trilogy can compare to the Dustin Poirier-Conor McGregor clash on Saturday, July 10.

Since the first fight between the two fighters at UFC 178 in 2014, where McGregor scored a knockout victory over Poirier, the two fighters’ paths to stardom have been radically different.

For McGregor, the rise to fame was incredibly fast. After capturing the featherweight title in 2015 with a knockout victory over Jose Aldo in just 13 seconds, McGregor then made the move up to welterweight where he had a pair of exciting fights against Nate Diaz splitting the pair, losing by a rear naked choke and winning by decision. McGregor eventually became a double champ by securing a knockout victory over Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 in Madison Square Garden.

McGregor became a mainstream superstar after boxing Floyd Mayweather in August of 2017, despite his losing effort. Since then McGregor has hit a rough stretch going 1-3 in his last four fights, with his only win coming against Donald “Cowboy” Cerone at UFC 246 in January 2020, as McGregor recorded his 15th knockout in 22 Victories.

In contrast to McGregor, Poirier has been one of the most active fighters in the lightweight division in recent years. Poirier earned wins over Anthony Pettis, Justin Gaethje and Eddie Alvarez on his way to earning a interim lightweight title shot against Max Holloway at UFC 236 in April 2019. Poirier went the distance with Holloway and captured the interim title. Unfortunately for Poirier, Kahbib Nurmagomedov dominated him in the title unification bout.

After more than a year layoff due to injury, Poirier, a Louisiana native, came back and put on a striking clinic in a decision victory over Dan Hooker. The fight with Hooker turned out to be an absolute war and one of the best fights in 2020. Poirier gained a lot of momentum going into the second fight with McGregor, and shocked most of the world by earning a knockout victory over McGregor at UFC 257. Poirier used his wrestling and calf kicks very effectively to limit McGregor’s striking ability.

Going into the third fight, it is a crossroads fight for both fighters. The winner will have a title shot versus Charles Olivera in his future. The loser will likely be eliminated from title contention for the rest of his career. Poirier thinks the key to victory will be his heart and toughness.

“You can have all the money in the world, but you can’t buy heart,” Poirier said.

With both fighters winning one fight in the matchup, there is a score to be settled Saturday night when the octagon door locks. Either way it goes, the biggest fight of the summer promises to be entertaining. The 28,000 fans in T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas will not be disappointed.

The trilogy is not the only intriguing fight on the UFC 264 card. The co-main event marks the return of former NFL defensive lineman Greg Hardy to the octagon versus Tai Tuivasa in the heavyweight division. Hardy, will look to bounce back from a loss to Marcin Tybura. Hardy will no doubt be looking for a knockout, as six of his seven wins have come in that fashion.

The UFC 264 main card also features a title contender fight in the welterweight division between Gilbert Burns and Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson. Burns is looking to bounce back from a loss against welterweight champion Kamaru Usman. Burns has wins over some of the UFC’s best, including UFC Hall of Famers Damien Maia and Tyron Woodley. Both Thompson and Burns have tasted defeat on the championship stage. Thompson is a respected fighter with 21 wins and 16 knockouts. However, the South Carolina native lost and both of his championship opportunities against Tyron Woodley. Wonderboy looks to get back into the title picture with a win over Gilbert Burns Saturday night.

Main Card: Dustin Poirier vs. Conor McGregor (155 pounds)

Preliminary Rounds: Gilbert Burns vs. Stephen Thompson (170 lbs)

Tai Tuivasa vs. Greg Hardy (265 pounds)

Irene Aldana vs. Yana Kunitskaya (135 pounds)

Sean O’Malley vs. Kris Moutinho (135 pounds)

Max Griffin vs. Carlos Condit (170 pounds)

Niko Price vs. Michel Pereira (170 pounds)

Dricus Du Plessis vs. Trevin Giles (185 pounds)

Ryan Hall vs. Ilia Topuria (145 pounds)

Jennifer Maia vs. Jessica Eye (125 pounds)

Omari Akhmedov vs. Brad Tavares (185 pounds)

Z. Zhumagulov vs. Jerome Rivera (125 pounds)

Alen Amedovski vs. Yaozong Hu (185 pounds)