UFC 257
| Industry | Mixed martial arts promotion |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1993 |
| Founder | Art Davie, Rorion Gracie |
| Headquarters | Las Vegas , United States |
Key people | Dana White (President) |
| Products | Mixed martial arts events |
| Website | www |
UFC 257: Poirier vs. McGregor 2 was a mixed martial arts competition organized by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on January 24, 2021, hosted at the Etihad Arena located on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Background
Beginning with UFC on ABC: Holloway vs. Kattar, a limited number of spectators were permitted inside the newly established Etihad Arena, marking the first UFC event since UFC 248 to allow attendance beyond essential personnel. Although the venue can accommodate over 18,000 individuals, the UFC anticipated approximately 2,000 attendees for each Fight Island event.
To align with North American prime-time broadcasting, the main card commenced at 7:00 am local time in Abu Dhabi, while preliminary fights started around 4:00 am Gulf Standard Time.
The headline bout featured a lightweight rematch between former UFC Featherweight and Lightweight Champion Conor McGregor and former interim lightweight titleholder Dustin Poirier. Their initial encounter occurred at featherweight during UFC 178 in 2014, where McGregor secured victory via first-round TKO.
After defending his lightweight championship at UFC 254 in October, Khabib Nurmagomedov announced his retirement, citing the passing of his father due to COVID-19 complications. Despite this announcement, UFC President Dana White suggested that Nurmagomedov might return to competition and left the status of the lightweight title undecided. On January 15, during Fight Island, White met with Nurmagomedov and later revealed that Khabib left open the possibility of a comeback depending on performances at UFC 257; he also commended Charles Oliveira’s recent performance. Nonetheless, Nurmagomedov subsequently indicated that he did not plan to fight again.
Several bouts underwent scheduling adjustments: bantamweight newcomers Umar Nurmagomedov and Sergey Morozov were initially set for UFC 254 but were moved to this event before ultimately competing earlier at UFC on ESPN: Chiesa vs. Magny. The flyweight contest between Amir Albazi and Zhalgas Zhumagulov was postponed due to visa complications and rescheduled here. Former Invicta FC Atomweight Champion Michelle Waterson withdrew from her women's strawweight matchup against Amanda Ribas for undisclosed reasons and was replaced by Marina Rodriguez.
Flyweight Tagir Ulanbekov pulled out of his scheduled fight against Matheus Nicolau; their bout was deferred to March. Middleweight Andrew Sanchez was slated to face André Muniz; however, Muniz withdrew because of injury and was substituted by Makhmud Muradov. Additionally, a women's bantamweight fight between Julianna Peña and Sara McMann was postponed from an earlier event to UFC 257.
The featherweight pairing of Shane Burgos versus Hakeem Dawodu was canceled after Dawodu suffered a shoulder injury and Burgos also sustained an injury.
On weigh-in day, several lightweight matchups encountered complications: Ottman Azaitar was removed from the card and had his contract terminated due to breaches of COVID-19 safety protocols; Nasrat Haqparast withdrew because of illness; as a result, Arman Tsarukyan missed weight. Consequently, Tsarukyan faced Matt Frevola in a catchweight bout and forfeited 20% of his fight purse.
Bonus awards
The following competitors were granted $50,000 bonuses:
- Fight of the Night: No bonus was distributed.
- Performance of the Night: Dustin Poirier, Michael Chandler, Makhmud Muradov, and Marina Rodriguez