Conor McGregor-Dustin Poirier trilogy bout set for UFC 264

6/17/2021 6:50:35 PM EST

In what can only be described as the most anticipated MMA fight currently booked for 2021, Irish superstar Conor McGregor (22-5 MMA, 10-3 UFC) will challenge rival Dustin Poirier (27-6 MMA, 19-5 UFC) for a third time to settle the score between the two once and for all at UFC 264 on July 10, live from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The two first met in September 2014, when McGregor scored a vicious first-round knockout over Poirier in the featherweight division. Both fighters went on to great success in future years, with McGregor becoming a two-weight UFC champion and Poirier capturing the UFC interim lightweight title.

The tables turned in the pair's rematch in January 2021, with Poirier proving the more effective striker en route to a second-round TKO -- McGregor's first loss by knockout as a professional -- at the blockbuster UFC 257 event.

McGregor, 32, rose to UFC stardom thanks to his fiery trash talk and his even more entertaining fighting style, wowing fans with eight knockouts in ten UFC victories as he captured both the featherweight and lightweight titles in the promotion.

Outside of the Octagon, "The Notorious" has proven to be potentially even more successful. In addition to luring boxing great Floyd Mayweather (50-0, 27 KOs) out of retirement in 2017 for a mega-million dollar payday, he founded and sold his own whiskey brand, Proper No. 12, for a reported $600 million. McGregor's savvy business skills, endorsements, and in-cage earnings landed him the top spot on Forbes' highest-paid athlete rankings for 2021.

Poirier, also 32, has won seven of his last ten fights and four of his last five, the lone loss of which came at the hands of retired, undefeated UFC great Khabib Nurmagomedov (29-0).

"The Diamond" captured the interim lightweight title in April 2019 when he bested then-featherweight champion Max Holloway (22-6) by unanimous decision in what many consider to be one of the greatest fights of all time.

Now the winner of two straight, Poirier will look to move to 2-1 against McGregor -- while McGregor will look to rebound from his first TKO loss -- as both men seek to position themselves squarely in line for a title shot at 155 pounds.

As such, the stakes are astronomically high for both lightweights heading into UFC 264. Not only are bragging rights on the line, but newly-crowned Brazilian champion Charles Oliveira (31-8) has already confirmed to the media that his first title defense coming against the winner of this matchup is "the fight to make."

Elsewhere on the card, welterweight contenders Gilbert Burns (19-4) and Stephen Thompson (16-4-1) will each aim to stake their claim for a shot at UFC welterweight kingpin Kamaru Usman (19-1), former NFL star Greg Hardy (7-3) will take on Australian power puncher Tai Tuivasa (12-3) in a heavyweight bout, and bantamweight fan-favorite Sean O'Malley (13-1) will look to earn another highlight-reel finish against Hawaii's Louis Smolka (17-7).

--Field Level Media

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