Dustin Poirier vs Conor McGregor 2 Prediction, Preview, Odds & Bet Bonuses for 1st Round Knockout

Dustin Poirier vs Conor McGregor 2 Prediction

The first pay-per-view event of the new year kicks off with UFC 257 which takes place Saturday night at the Etihad Arena in Yas Island, Abu Dhabi. Headlining the event is a highly-anticipated rematch between Conor McGregor (22-4) and Dustin Poirier (26-6, 1NC) which will be contested at lightweight. Read our verdict and Dustin Poirier vs Conor McGregor 2 prediction for the big fight match below.

Dustin Poirier vs Conor McGregor 2 Odds

24901 Dustin Poirier +255

24902 Conor McGregor -305

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With that said, let’s preview what should be an exciting main event.

The Diamond

Poirier returned to the win column following a five-round war with Dan Hooker last summer that saw him earn the unanimous decision victory. Of course, his last outing prior to that was a third-round submission defeat to current lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov in September 2019.

Not that there’s anything to be ashamed about with that as Nurmagomedov remains undefeated and is arguably the greatest lightweight of all time. However, Poirier was on one heck of a run before running into Nurmagomedov.

He was unbeaten in seven in a run that saw him boast victories over the likes of Anthony Pettis, Justin Gaethje, Eddie Alvarez and Max Holloway. It only goes to show how much “The Diamond” has improved since his first-round knockout defeat to McGregor in their featherweight clash back in 2014.

He will undoubtedly be looking to exact revenge on McGregor as well as add the former two-weight champion’s name to what is already one of the most impressive resumes in the sport.

The Notorious

McGregor, meanwhile, will look to get a proper season under his belt this time.

The Irishman last competed in January last year when he TKO’d Donald Cerrone just 40 seconds into the first round of their UFC 246 headliner. It was his return to the win column following his own submission defeat to Nurmagomedov when they met at UFC 229 in October 2018.

Despite his desire to remain active last year and ultimately regain the lightweight strap, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic put those plans on the shelf as McGregor would be sidelined for another year. Such was his frustration that he even retired again in June. Of course, as we all know, it was never a serious retirement.

“I’ll probably never retire from the game, to be honest,” McGregor said in a recent interview. “I’ll be competing for a long, long time yet. It is certainly brought out of frustration when you’re trying to get these events going.

“You’re trying to get things moving and it’s just not happening. It felt like I was shelved almost. I felt like if I’d have been ran out a couple of more times that year, not only would my skill set and my sharpness and everything be in tune a lot more, we’d also be talking about $800 million in revenue for the company, it was certainly out of frustration.”

2021 will hopefully be different.

Dustin Poirier vs Conor McGregor 2 The matchup

When it comes to a McGregor vs. Poirier fight, the matchup is pretty simple. Both fighters love to strike with their boxing. This was evident in their first fight which was contested solely on the feet until Poirier was eventually put out cold by McGregor’s left hand in the first round.

It’s definitely possible McGregor emulates that performance again on Saturday night. More so, it would be extremely impressive as Poirier is now fighting at lightweight and has shown to be much more durable in recent years now that he is cutting less weight.

This was evident in his fights with Gaethje, Holloway and Hooker where the former interim champion took a number of huge shots as well as over 100 significant strikes in each of those contests. On the flipside, damage accumulates and it’s possible that Poirier’s chin might be slowly deteriorating. Add the precision of a McGregor left hand and it’s certainly possible Poirier gets countered and possibly finished as it’s no secret that the former is the superior striker and will be looking for a quick statement knockout.

“I like Dustin, I think he’s a good fighter,” McGregor said. “He’s even a great fighter. But great is still levels below me. I’ll knock Dustin out inside 60 seconds.”

However, Poirier definitely has paths to victory. If he can survive the early onslaught of McGregor and drag the fight beyond the second round, the momentum will shift his side thanks to his conditioning and overall gas tank.

Poirier is not a predominant wrestler and given McGregor’s excellent takedown defense, he is unlikely to take him down early on. That said, there is certainly a greater chance if Poirier goes that route later on in the fight as McGregor has shown that he gasses the longer a fight goes.

Another path to victory is if Poirier chops up McGregor’s lead leg early on which will take away some of the power of his shots and additionally, hamper his movement. Of course, McGregor won’t just let him do that either as the Irishman boasts some of the best distance management in the sport. That is why it is imperative Poirier sets the pace early on and lands some shots to earn McGregor’s respect while mixing things up at the same time with body kicks and leg kicks.

All this is not to say “The Diamond” has no power as he can hurt McGregor with his strikes, but he also tends to earn his knockouts after an accumulation of strikes as the fight goes on rather than one-punch knockouts. It’s no surprise why Poirier is hoping for a war.

Dustin Poirier vs Conor McGregor 2 Prediction

This is one of the best matchups in the lightweight division today and Poirier is a much bigger threat for McGregor than Cerrone was.

But while Poirier has significantly improved and shown to be more durable at lightweight, McGregor has been improving as well and still boasts arguably the best striking in the sport today.

We expect McGregor to get the first-round knockout.

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