Dana White confirms UFC 257 plans with Connor McGregor to face Dustin Poirier on Fight Island

UFC president Dana White has confirmed his January plans for the promotion after announcing the first three events will take place on ‘Fight Island’ in January.

The headline of these acts will see Connor McGregor take on Dustin Poirier to complete the week of action on January 23 on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi.

White has long targeted the plans that are now confirmed after he posted a promotional poster of the trio of headline acts across the week on in his Instagram account.

It will be the first UFC event staged on the island since October, with Yas Island and the UFC APEX facility in Las Vegas staging most of the promotion’s bouts since the coronavirus outbreak in March. 

McGregor’s bout with Poirier is a rematch following a 2014 clash which saw the ‘Notorious’ knock out his opponent in under two minutes at UFC 178 in 2014. 

The featherweight and lightweight champion is back in UFC action for the first time in a year after defeating Donald Cerrone in just 40 seconds last January.

Confirmation of the fight also completes another U-Turn from McGregor, with the 32-year-old having stated he had retired, for a third time, back in June. 

His rematch with Poirier was confirmed by the UFC last month after strong rumours that he would face Manny Pacquiao in a boxing match next year.

The triple header bill in January gets underway with a Fight Night on January 16 when featherweight contenders Max Holloway and Calvin Kattar meet.

They will be followed by a mid-week bout that sees Leon Edwards and Khamzat Chimaev clash on January 20.

The welterweight contest is a rescheduled fight from December which was postponed after both fighters produced a positive test for coronavirus in the build up to the bout.

McGregor (right) will fight Poirier (left) in a rematch of their one-round 2014 bout

‘Notorious’ had previously beaten his opponent in just under two minutes back at UFC 178