UFC 257: Poirier vs. McGregor 2
The poster for UFC 257: Poirier vs. McGregor 2
Promotion	Ultimate Fighting Championship
Date	January 24, 2021 (2021-01-24)
Venue	Etihad Arena
City	Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Attendance	2,600[1]
Buyrate	1,504,737[2]
Event chronology
UFC on ESPN: Chiesa vs. Magny UFC 257: Poirier vs. McGregor 2 UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Volkov

UFC 257: Poirier vs. McGregor 2 was amixed martial arts event produced by theUltimate Fighting Championship that took place on January 24, 2021 at theEtihad Arena onYas Island,Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.^[3][4]

Starting withUFC on ABC: Holloway vs. Kattar, a limited number of fans were allowed inside the newly builtEtihad Arena, marking the first time sinceUFC 248 on March 7, 2020, that non-essential event personnel were in attendance.^[5] The venue has maximum capacity of over 18,000, but the UFC was expecting to have closer to 2,000 fans for each of the Fight Island's events during the week.^[6]

For the event to be broadcast live duringPrime time hours on theeast coast of North America, the main card began at 7:00 am (January 24) local time in Abu Dhabi, with a full preliminary card beginning at approximately 4:00 amGulf Standard Time.^[7]

A lightweight rematch between formerUFC Featherweight andLightweight ChampionConor McGregor and former interim championDustin Poirier headlined this event.^[8][9] They met previously in a featherweight bout atUFC 178 on September 27, 2014, where McGregor won by first-round TKO.^[10]

After defending his lightweight title atUFC 254 in October,Khabib Nurmagomedov immediately announced his retirement, citing his father's death from complications related to COVID-19 in last July as the main reason behind it.^[11] Despite his announcement, the title was never officially vacated as UFC PresidentDana White said several times that he believed Nurmagomedov would still fight again.^[12][13][14] A meeting between both of them to discuss the champion's future was then expected to happen this week during the organization's stint atFight Island, eventually taking place on January 15.^[15][16] The following day, White made an appearance live onABC during the main card ofUFC on ABC: Holloway vs. Kattar and revealed the outcome of the meeting: the Russian left the door open to a potential return, depending on how the main and co-main event fighters perform at this event, while also praisingCharles Oliveira's performance atUFC 256.^[17][18] Despite White's announcement, Nurmagomedov indicated in another interview that "fighting again is not in my plans".^[19]

A bantamweight bout between promotional newcomersUmar Nurmagomedov andSergey Morozov was initially scheduled to take place atUFC 254, but Nurmagomedov pulled out due to an illness.^[20] The pairing was then rescheduled for this event.^[21] Finally, the bout was set to take place 3 days prior atUFC on ESPN: Chiesa vs. Magny.^[22]

A flyweight bout betweenAmir Albazi andZhalgas Zhumagulov was expected to take place atUFC on ESPN: Smith vs. Clark, but Zhumagulov pulled out due tovisa issues and the bout was rescheduled for this event.^[23][24]

FormerInvicta FC Atomweight ChampionMichelle Waterson was expected to faceAmanda Ribas in a women's strawweight bout at this event.^[25] However, Waterson pulled out of the bout in early December due to undisclosed reasons.^[26] She was replaced byMarina Rodriguez.^[27]

Tagir Ulanbekov was briefly scheduled to face returning veteranMatheus Nicolau in a flyweight bout.^[28] However, Ulanbekov withdrew in late December due to undisclosed reasons.^[29] The pairing was eventually rescheduled forUFC Fight Night: Edwards vs. Chimaev on March 13.^[30]

A middleweight bout betweenThe Ultimate Fighter: Team Joanna vs. Team Cláudia light heavyweight winnerAndrew Sanchez andAndré Muniz was expected to take place at this event.^[31] In late December, Muniz withdrew due to an injury and was replaced byMakhmud Muradov.^[32]

A women's bantamweight bout betweenThe Ultimate Fighter: Team Rousey vs. Team Tate bantamweight winnerJulianna Peña and formerUFC Women's Bantamweight Championship challengerSara McMann (also2004 Olympic silver medalist in wrestling) was originally scheduled to take place a week earlier atUFC on ABC: Holloway vs. Kattar, but it was eventually pushed back to this event.^[33][34]

A featherweight bout betweenShane Burgos andHakeem Dawodu was scheduled for the event.^[35] However, on January 9, Dawodu was forced to withdraw from the bout citing a shoulder injury.^[36] The UFC confirmed three days later that Burgos was also injured and the bout was canceled.^[37]

On the day of the weigh-ins, a couple of lightweight bouts suffered major changes due to several issues:Ottman Azaitar andMatt Frevola were scheduled to meet in the preliminary portion of the event.^[38] However, it was announced that Azaitar was pulled from the bout and had his contract terminated after it was determined that he had violated COVID-19 health and safety protocols, as he attempted to help others enter the UFC's designated safety zone.^[39] The other bout that suffered alterations featuredNasrat Haqparast andArman Tsarukyan.^[40] Haqparast withdrew from the bout due to an undisclosed illness and Tsarukyan weighed in at 157 pounds, one pound over the lightweight non-title fight limit.^[41][42] As a result, the promotion arranged a catchweight bout between Frevola and Tsarukyan to keep both athletes on the card.^[43][44] Subsequently, Tsarukyan forfeited 20% of his purse to Frevola as a result of missing weight.^[45]

^[46]

The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses.^[47]

• Fight of the Night: No bonus awarded.
• Performance of the Night: Dustin Poirier,Michael Chandler,Makhmud Muradov andMarina Rodriguez

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