Dana White confirms winner of Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier in line for lightweight title shot
Dana White confirmed the UFC 257 main event winner between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier will be in line for a title lightweight shot.
The UFC lightweight title is currently held by Khabib Nurmagomedov, though the champion is currently in a quasi-retirement and may or may not fight again. The Russian will meet with White on Fight Island to try and hash out a deal. He could agree to defend his belt again, vacate it, or the UFC could create an interim belt. There are many question marks about the belt, but we now know who at least one half of the next lightweight title bout will be.
The UFC president recently held a Q&A with ESPN+ subscribers and one of the questions White was asked was where the winner of McGregor vs. Poirier sits in the lightweight title landscape. White confirmed the winner will be in line for a title shot, though against who that would be is still very much a mystery.
“Yeah, whoever wins that fight is probably next in line,” White said (h/t MMAjunkie.com).
Most fans figured that the winner of McGregor vs. Poirier would be in line for a title shot, but it’s nice to get confirmation from the UFC bossman White. With a title shot on the line, it gives even more motivation for McGregor and Poirier to go out there and put on an incredible performance. Of course, there is also the outside chance that Nurmagomedov vacates the belt before UFC 257, which could potentially turn this fight into a vacate lightweight title bout.
Though McGregor hasn’t won a lightweight bout in the UFC since 2016 over Eddie Alvarez, he is the biggest superstar in MMA. In his last bout, he knocked out Donald Cerrone at welterweight. As for Poirier, he is one of the best lightweights in the world and is coming off of a great win over Dan Hooker, who coincidentally takes on Michael Chandler in the UFC 257 co-main event.
Do you agree with Dana White giving the winner of Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier a lightweight title shot?
