For several weeks it has been an open secret that Khabib Nurmagomedov will defend his lightweight title against Dustin Poirier at UFC 242. The show is set for Abu Dhabi on September 7th and this week the first poster was released.
The UFC confirmed the matchup on its official Twitter account:
It’s signed! (C) @TeamKhabib vs (IC) @DustinPoirier is official for #UFC242!
Get your tickets & join us #InAbuDhabi ➡️ https://t.co/d7ivYbEf6S ⬅️ pic.twitter.com/zEhhFtnaUP
— UFC (@ufc) June 4, 2019
The fight pits undefeated champion Nurmagomedov (27-0) against recently crowned interim champion Poirier (25-5-1). The former established himself as a marquee name by stopping Conor McGregor at UFC 229 last year and has recently signed a new contract.
Poirier claimed the interim belt after beating Max Holloway by unanimous decision in a barn burner at UFC 236. He’s riding a four fight winning streak into this bout but faces one of the few fighters on the roster who can lay claim to a perfect professional record.
The UFC has put on two events in Abu Dhabi but has not been back there since 2014. The first card took place at a purpose build stadium on Yas Island and featured the likes of Anderson Silva and B.J. Penn while the second card was at Du Arena and didn’t have such a stellar line up.
At present there is no venue confirmed for this event. However tickets are scheduled to go on sale before the end of the week so an announcement is likely to be imminent.
