As this is being written, Conor McGregor versus Dustin Poirier II isn’t official. But, recently Poirier outlined what McGregor has to gain by agreeing to face the man he defeated back in 2014.

Poirier explains the “upside” for McGregor to accept a rematch

Ever since Poirier was quickly stopped by McGregor back in 2014, “The Diamond” has repeatedly said he’d like to run it back. But, although Poirier has established himself as one of the planet’s best lightweights, for quite some time, a lot of people doubted the rematch would happen.

Not while Poirier wasn’t holding the lightweight title at least.

The contention was that since McGregor has already taken out Poirier, he has more to lose than gain by fighting the veteran again. Further, in more recent years, McGregor has been fixated on securing a second fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Following McGregor’s quick win over Donald Cerrone this past January, Dana White said McGregor had earned another shot at the lightweight crown.

But, more recently, McGregor challenged Poirier to a charity match. Then, word came the UFC has tabled an offer for McGregor – Poirier 2, and the “Notorious” one has said he’s down, provided it takes place this year.

So, why is McGregor willing to face Poirier next? Aside from his desire to raise money for charity?

Recently Poirier appeared on the UFC’s podcast, and he outlined what McGregor has to gain by facing him again (quotes via MMA Junkie).

“Look at it from his side, for sure there’s some upside there,” Poirier said. “Khabib said if him or Tony beat me that he would give them a shot at the title, so if that holds any weight, he’s looking at that.

I don’t know what his ambition is, I don’t know how hungry he is to be the UFC lightweight world champion.

If it is, a fight with me makes a lot of sense to get the next title shot.”

“He could push for a fight with Tony. That would be an exciting fight. I’m a fan of the sport, and I think that would be a good fight to watch, but Tony is coming off of a loss,” Poirier added. “I just had the interim title; I’m No. 2 (in the UFC rankings).

I’m coming off of a win, a ‘Fight of the Year’ contender. I think it makes more sense. Every fight is a chance or a risk, no matter how prepared you are.

If you’re gonna risk something, do it with the top guy and get a title shot.”

Poirier makes some solid points

The former interim champ hit on several good points, and a lot of those points, are tied to the current lightweight landscape. Timing often plays a crucial part in matchmaking, and there’s a lot of that here.

Khabib did say not long ago that if Conor beats Poirier, then he’d be willing to face him again (provided Nurmagomedov defeats Justin Gaethje on October 24th of course).

That was a departure from Khabib’s previous statements, where he claimed Conor would need to record multiple wins before securing a title shot (although, Nurmagomedov was apparently pretty upset about Conor’s recent exchanges with Dana White, where he shared text messages).

In addition, when 2020 began, Ferguson was riding a 12 fight winning streak, and he was knocking on the title shot door. Gaethje changed all that, however, at UFC 249.

McGregor could wait out to see if Gaethje beats Khabib, and his title shot prospects would dramatically improve. But if Conor does beat Poirier again, regardless of who wins at UFC 254, he’ll be the #1 contender officially and in the minds of most fans too.

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