ufc-257-timeline-dustin-poirier-conor-mcgregor-since-2014-fight

UFC 257: Timeline of Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor Since 2014 Fight

When Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor meet in the center of the Octagon on Saturday night at UFC 257, it will be a rematch over six years in the making.

As a result, we are taking a look back at the timeline of both UFC stars since they last fought in 2014.

https://youtu.be/ztl8PLyqpYE

Dustin Poirier Timeline

After multiple losses at featherweight, Dustin Poirier made the change to move up ten pounds to the lightweight division in 2015.

Poirier would go on to win his first four fights at lightweight. He beat the likes of Diego Ferreira, Bobby Green, Yancy Medeiros, and Joseph Duffy and won all four bouts via KO/TKO. It was clear that his transition to 155 pounds was the right move. However, Poirier would soon meet No. 10 lightweight contender Michael Johnson in September of 2016. Johnson went on to knock Poirier out in less than two minutes. That halted his hopes of a potential title fight.

Meanwhile, Poier got back up and went on a 6-fight win streak to help resurge his career. He put together huge wins over fighters like Eddie Alvarez, Anthony Pettis, Justin Gaethje, and Max Holloway. Poirier then beat Max Holloway for a second time at UFC 236 to become the UFC interim lightweight champion.

Poirier was next tasked with fighting one of the best fighters of all-time in Khabib Nurmagomedov. After a back-and-forth match, Nurmagomedov would eventually submit Poirier via rear-naked choke.

Most recently, Poirier fought against Dan Hooker. Hooker came into the bout riding a three-fight winning streak, including a win over Paul Felder via split-decision. However, Poirier was able to stop Hooker in his tracks.

The 31-year-old is now trying to contain his excitement about what will be the biggest fight of his career to date. And, based on recent statements he made, he’s more than confident that he’s up for the challenge.

“This is one of the biggest fights you can have in combat sports,” Poirier said. “A guy like Conor is one of the biggest names possible that you can be standing across from.”

Conor McGregor Timeline

Conor McGregor officially arrived as a championship contender after his win against Poirier in 2014.

And in December of 2015, McGregor would go on to face Jose Aldo for the UFC Featherweight Championship. McGregor knocked out Jose Aldo in just 13 seconds to win the title. It was McGregor’s fifth consecutive win by knockout and is the fastest finish in the history of UFC title fights.

The following year would be a year of bounce back and more history making for Notorious. McGregor picked up his first loss as a UFC fighter when he faced off against Nate Diaz. Diaz submitted McGregor via rear-naked choke after accepting the fight on just 13 days notice.

McGregor then tweets that he’s decided to retire on April 19, 2016. And after he doesn’t show up for a news conference later that week, and the UFC pulls McGregor from the UFC 200 card, canceling his rematch vs. Nate Diaz.

A month later, rumors of a crossover bout between boxing star Floyd Mayweather and McGregor pick up steam.

However, McGregor finally got his rematch against Nate Diaz in August of 2016. He battled back from adversity and was able to pull out a majority decision win. McGregor then made history again, becoming the first UFC fighter to hold belts in two weight classes simultaneously after he destroyed Eddie Alvarez just a couple of months later.

McGregor Fights Mayweather, Nurmagomedov

The following August of 2017, the Mayweather-McGregor matchup finally came to fruition. Money Mayweather was able to beat McGregor by TKO.

McGregor then had his lightweight title belt stripped by the UFC due to inactivity and Khabib Nurmagomedov would quickly win it. That started an ugly back and forth between the two fighters until they were able to finally face off in the octagon.

After months of nasty trash talk from McGregor that crossed lines into religion and culture, Nurmagomedov finishes McGregor by submission in the fourth round with a choke.

Two years later, McGregor faced Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone on Jan. 18, 2020. McGregor won that fight easily in just 40 seconds. McGregor then announced on social media yet again that he was retiring in June. That didn’t last long, however, as the UFC announced that a McGregor-Poirier rematch would take place in January of 2021.

UFC 257 is set for Saturday, January 23 at 10 p.m. ET on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi. The preliminary fights will be starting two hours earlier. The pay-per-view event is available exclusively through ESPN+, the exclusive home for all UFC pay-per-views.