Conor McGregor handled his TKO loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 257 – his first in mixed martial arts – with grace and humility. Just a few days later, he was already clamoring for another rematch.
Speaking with ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, McGregor’s head coach John Kavanagh said if it’s up to MMA’s brightest star for what’s next in his career, it would be a trilogy fight with Poirier.
McGregor won their first fight at UFC 178 via a first-round TKO stoppage.
“(Conor is) already harassing everybody to get the rematch, so we would love the rematch. I don’t think Dustin is against that,” Kavanagh said. “If we could get the rematch before the summer, that’d be amazing.”
The promotion’s uncertainty regarding whether or not undisputed UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov would return from retirement heading into UFC 257 prevented the main event from becoming a title fight.
Hindsight being 20/20, many fans and pundits believe the main event should have been for the lightweight strap.
Should Poirier vs. McGregor 3 be a fight for the UFC championship?
Now that the score is one to one between McGregor and Poirier, Helwani suggested the potential trilogy should be for the undisputed lightweight title now that it is clear Nurmagomedov will not be coming back, despite not having his title stripped by the UFC.
Kavanagh liked the sound of that.
“That’s the big drive, that’s the story. It’s one to one, one apiece,” Kavanagh said in reference to the first two McGregor and Poirier bouts. “They’re right up there in the rankings, they’re very popular fighters.”
Even if this idea comes to fruition, McGregor needs time to recuperate from the first knockout loss of his MMA career.
Kavanagh, however, is well aware. The SBG Ireland head coach already has a month in mind for the potential trilogy title fight.
“Dustin vs. Conor three, for the belt,” Kavanagh said. “Maybe May or something like that, wouldn’t that be amazing?”
What’s your ideal scenario for a UFC lightweight title fight to replace Khabib? Do you think it should be Poirier vs. McGregor 3?
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Conor McGregor’s coach says they are angling for Dustin Poirier immediate rematch