Conor McGregor to weigh in heavier for third Dustin Poirier fight

Conor McGregor will take full advantage of the UFC's weight rules to scale more for his trilogy bout with Dustin Poirier than he did for their January rematch.

The promotion allows fighters taking part in non-title bouts to weigh in one pound lighter than for bouts when a belt is on the line.

And six months ago McGregor scaled 'championship weight' when he registered 155lb, one pound lighter than Poirier.

But the Irishman has no plans to strip any more weight from his frame than is absolutely necessary ahead of Friday's weigh-in.

Asked about not taking to his stool after the first round of the rematch, McGregor told BT Sport: "It was nice to showcase that my cardiovascular abilities are improving but there will be none of that in this fight.

"There is nothing being given for free here, there were a lot of freebies in the last fight.. 155lb on the scale, that's gong to be 156lb on this scale.

"Free shots in the octagon, not taking the stool etc. All of these things are gone, I'm taking everything now."

McGregor's frame has changed considerably since his early years in the UFC when he made the featherweight limit of 145lb.

He came into the premier promotion having fought at lightweight in Cage Warriors where he also won both 145lb and 155lb belts.

But he was forced to cut down in order to secure a shot at the big time and the Dubliner went on to KO Jose Aldo in 13 seconds to win featherweight gold.

He moved up to lightweight to defeat champion Eddie Alvarez but has also fought three times at 170lb, swapping victories with Nate Diaz before knocking out Donald Cerrone inside 40 seconds.

And McGregor will remain at lightweight for at least one more fight – assuming he exacts revenge on Poirier.

He has already earmarked the 70,000-capacity Allegiant Stadium for a title fight against champion Charles Oliveira later this year.

And UFC president Dana White all but confirmed that either McGregor or Poirier will be next for the Brazilian.

"He'll go down as one of the greatest of all time [if he wins back the belt]," White told ESPN. "To have lost the belt and gone through the things that happened to him personally, professionally… to come back and beat the No. 1 contender, who just beat him, and then fight for the title and win? Financially, it's off the charts. Professionally, it's off the charts."

Poirier on the other hand has never won a full title in the UFC having lost to Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2019.

He did hold the interim lightweight title having outpointed Max Holloway but suffered the same fate at the hands of Nurmagomedov as McGregor did a year earlier.

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