Conor McGregor fight with Dustin Poirier for ‘Khabib’s UFC lightweight belt’ according to leaked then deleted tweet
UFC appeared to accidentally reveal on Twitter that Conor McGregor will be fighting Dustin Poirier for Khabib's lightweight belt at UFC 257.
McGregor makes his return to the octagon on January 23 as he rematches Poirier - who he beat in 2014 - on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi.
FREE BETS: GET OVER £2,000 IN SIGN UP OFFERS HERE
The pair will headline at lightweight and do so with the division up in the air.
Khabib Nurmagomedov still holds the title, despite announcing his shock retirement in October.
With UFC boss Dana White hoping to convince champion Khabib to fight on, he insisted the UFC 257 main-event will NOT be for the vacant strap.
But the UFC's Twitter direct message chatbot appeared to suggest McGregor, 32, and Poirier, 31, would in fact fight for the lightweight crown.
A message read: “Don’t miss Poirier take on McGregor for the lightweight title bout. Who do you think will walk out of the Octagon with the W.?”
Fans were quick to reveal the automatic message had then be changed to take out any reference to the title.
The new reply read: “Don’t miss Poirier take on McGregor for the lightweight bout. Who do you think will walk out of the Octagon with the W.?”
Former interim champion Poirier - who was beaten by Khabib in 2019 - and McGregor's head trainer John Kavanagh both argued the belt should be on the line.
Most read in MMA
Nurmagomedov, 32, hung up his gloves just one fight after the loss of his influential father Abdulmanap, who passed away aged 57 in July.
But beforehand, Nurmagomeov had confirmed it was always their plan to retire unbeaten in 30 fights.
And with the Russian one win away from doing so, White will try and talk Khabib back for one more.
The pair are set for talks on Fight Island on the week of McGregor's UFC comeback.