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ESPN's Ariel Helwani has given two possible dates for the trilogy fight between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier. Their third meet-up inside the octagon is considered a viable fight that could headline a UFC pay-per-view event without a title in contention.
Speaking to retired MMA legend Daniel Cormier, who now works as a color commentator and analyst for the UFC, Helwani presented an idea of why he believes the fight could unfold in May or July.
According to the ESPN reporter's reasoning, there is a big gap in the UFC title fight's schedule in May. Helwani and Cormier ran through all of the known and next possible dates of the bouts with a belt on the line.
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Light heavyweight, bantamweight, and women's featherweight title fights will happen this weekend at UFC 259. But Israel Adesanya and Amanda Nunes, who will be involved in the event, will take longer than two months to recover in Helwani's eyes.
UFC 260 on March 27 will have the heavyweight and featherweight belts on display. The promotion has already confirmed the women's flyweight title fight and is close to adding a women's strawweight title scrap for UFC 261 on April 24.
UFC 263 on June 12 will have a rematch of the flyweight title fight that between Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno. Jorge Masvidal and Kamaru Usman seem to have also agreed on a rematch for the welterweight belt later in the year. This leaves the lightweight weight class as the only division in the UFC without a championship bout in the works at the moment.
According to Helwani, Khabib Nurmagomedov, the current 155 lb titleholder, would not return from his retirement in May due to Ramadan. What makes Conor McGregor versus Dustin Poirier III the only suitable option for a pay-per-view event in that month.
Why would Conor McGregor fight in July?
The second option presented by Ariel Helwani was July of 2021. As the reporter informs, both Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier want the trilogy fight to happen.
However, the promotion seems to be far from reaching a deal with both parties at the moment. That would push the fight to a later date, probably July, as there are no title fights pencilled in for that month either.
Another strong point for the bout to take place in July, according to Helwani, is that summer would attract tourists and a wider public for the event. It is understood that the UFC wants a full arena for Conor McGregor's next fight.
Daniel Cormier then added a second opinion into the mixture. He suggested that the promotion could consider having Poirier fighting for the title next instead of a third time with Conor McGregor.
Although Conor McGregor's title chances are not null, Charles Oliveira and even Michael Chandler are believed to be ahead of him in the line for 155 lb gold.
