Dana White has praised Dustin Poirier for taking the trilogy fight with Conor McGregor
UFC president Dana White has called Dustin Poirier "smart" for choosing to face Conor McGregor for the third time rather than taking a title opportunity; White on Poirier: "He wants the rematch and that’s smart. That’s what he should do"
Friday 26 March 2021 11:02, UK
UFC president Dana White has called Dustin Poirier 'smart' for taking the trilogy fight with Conor McGregor and expects the showdown to happen this summer.
Earlier this week the UFC announced plans to crown a new UFC lightweight champion after Khabib Nurmagomedov made his retirement official to White. Many thought No 1 ranked Poirier would fight for the 155-pound title, but it was announced that former Bellator champion Michael Chandler would face Charles Oliveira at UFC 262 in May.
White has confirmed that Poirier was offered the opportunity at the title, but decided that he wanted a third fight with McGregor.
Speaking at the UFC 260 press conference White said: "'Dustin wants the rematch (with McGregor). It's smart, that's what he should do. He should take the rematch, take that fight. It's a big fight for him.
"[The] kid's worked hard his whole life, his whole career to be in a position like this and that's the fight you take.
"We've been in positions like this before with others who have made the mistake of not taking that fight, and it's the biggest mistake of their lives."
McGregor and Poirier are tied at 1-1 after 'The Diamond' stopped the Irishman in the second round of the main event of UFC 257 in Abu Dhabi. McGregor won the first fight in 2014 at UFC 178.
White would also say that the fight taking place around July "makes sense", but wouldn't go into further details.
