The UFC is back with its first pay-per-view of the year this Saturday night and Conor McGregor is back in a main event, which always makes things a lot more exciting.
McGregor, who we last saw in the Octagon a little over a year ago when he needed just 40 seconds to knockout Donald Cerrone, will take on Dustin Poirier in a rematch from a 2014 fight that McGregor won the first round.
That was a long time ago, though, and Poirier has become one of the best lightweights in the UFC who is a very dangerous fighter with a number of big wins under his belt.
Let’s get ready UFC 257, which you can order through ESPN+, by looking at three things to watch.
3. Michael Chandler makes his long-awaited UFC debut.
Chandler was a prized free-agent acquisition after making the move from Bellator to UFC last year and now we finally get to see what he can do on a bigger stage. He was the longtime Bellator lightweight champ and is looking to see where he stands in a stacked UFC lightweight division. Chandler will fight Dan Hooker in the co-main event on Saturday. Hooker has a number of big wins as well and is coming off a tough loss to Dustin Poirier in June in which he went five rounds before losing via decision. This will be a great test for Chandler and a win will only increase his chances of getting a shot at the UFC belt sooner rather than later. This should a very fun fight with a lot on the line for both fighters, but especially for Chandler as he looks to make a good first impression in the UFC.
2. Can Dustin Poirier beat Conor McGregor?
Poirier has become a star in the stacked UFC lightweight division and now he gets his chance to shine even brighter in a showdown with the UFC cash cow, McGregor. Poirier lost to the GOAT, Khabib Nurmagomedov, two fights ago but some of his last wins have been over Max Holloway, Dan Hooker, Eddie Alvarez, Justin Gaethje, and Anthony Pettis. So yeah, he’s a phenomenal fighter with a tremendous resume. A win over McGregor would be gigantic for his career and his reputation. Can he get it done? We’re gonna find out Saturday night and I can’t wait.
1. Can Conor be Conor?
The last time we saw McGregor, as I said before, was when he was knocking out Cowboy Cerrone in 40 seconds in a fight that was disappointing because we didn’t get to see McGregor get tested at all. Of course, his skills had a lot to do with that but we still don’t know where McGregor is currently as a fighter. His fight before Cerrone was the loss to Nurmagomedov in 2018, in which he was totally dominated. Before that we hadn’t seen him since 2016 when he knocked out Eddie Alvarez at Madison Square Garden. McGregor has said this week that he’s going to end this one quickly but what happens if he doesn’t? And what if he losses? McGregor has a ton on the line in this fight and if he wins it in style his stardom will once again be through the roof. We’ll see if he’ll be able to do just that.