UFC: Conor McGregor Wants To Face Dustin Poirier in Dublin?
Ultimate Fighting Championship Conor McGregor offered to headline Dublin card against Dustin Poirier on Saturday.
Poirier was scheduled to face Joseph Duffy in the main event of the Dublin UFC fight card, but the latter withdrew from the fight on Wednesday after reportedly suffering concussion while training for the fight.
When he heard about Duffy's decision to withdraw from the fight, McGregor took to Twitter to express willingness to face Poirier on short notice to headline the fight card in Ireland.
"I will give peanut another crack at the King no sweat. I'll take the gate," McGregor posted on Twitter. "It's my gate anyway. A cool 7. Cash. See you at the weigh ins."
McGregor, who holds an 18-2 MMA record, faced Poirier at UFC 178 in September last year. The 27-year-old Ireland native ran away with a first-round knockout victory.
But while he is willing to fight on short notice, a rematch against Poirier is highly unlikely. McGregor, who has said all along that he wanted to headline a fight card in Ireland, is scheduled to face Jose Aldo at UFC 194 on Dec. 12, which will be too close to his proposed bout against Poirier.
According to another report from MMA Fighting, UFC reached out to Norman Parker about facing Poirier on short notice, but the replacement bout was not finalized. In turn, the lightweight showdown between Patrick Holohan and Louis Smolka will be the main event on Saturday.
UFC also issued a statement, confirming that Duffy was hit in the head during a training session and was later diagnosed with concussion, and will not recover in time for the fight.
"Duffy received a strike to the head during training earlier this week," UFC said in a statement. "UFC sent him for medical tests in Ireland for precautionary purposes. The results determined that Duffy suffered a mild concussion and due to the proximity of the fight this Saturday UFC will not permit him to compete."
UFC also announced that Poirier will be rescheduled for another fight card. Duffy and his camp has yet to address the media about the cancelation of the bout, but manager Graham Boylan told MMA Fighting in an email that they will issue a statement on Friday.
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