Saturday’s UFC 264 card pits Dustin Poirier against Conor McGregor for their third meeting. The lightweight bout is the main event on a loaded card taking place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Click To Watch Free UFC 264 Live Stream
Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier will step into the octagon together for the third time when they meet at UFC 264 on July 10 in the Las Vegas T-Mobile Arena.
To watch all the action, those in the Middle East will be able to stream the event on Starzplay Arabia and UFC Arabia early on July 11 UAE time, with the preliminary fights kicking off at 2:15 AM GST and the main event starting at 6:00 AM GST.
You can watch UFC 264 on Starzplay for AED 40 per month after a seven-day free trial with an additional AED 18.99 per month to subscribe to UFC. Or you can subscribe to UFC Arabia standalone, and watch on either your laptop, tablet, Chromecast, or any device you choose.
What time will it start?
The early prelims will likely begin at 11 pm BST on Saturday 10 July, with the prelims expected to follow at 1 am on Sunday (11 July). The main card should then start at 3 am BST on Sunday, with McGregor vs Poirier likely beginning at around 5 am.
Who Ya Got? – An Analysis Of The UFC 264: Poirier vs. McGregor 3 Main Event
Big shift at the Moneyline over the weekend. Conor McGregor is officially listed as the underdog for his trilogy bout against Dustin Poirier, this Saturday (July 10, 7 p.m. PST / 10 p.m. EST on ESPN+ PPV) at UFC 264.
While those odds still may change in the leadup to fight night, the game plans will not. By now, both McGregor and Poirier know exactly how they intend to finish the other. Both of them have done it in the past, so visualizing victory should be simple. Executing it, however, will be a bit more tricky when Conor vs Dustin are finally locked inside the Octagon for the third time.
Despite their lengthy rivalry, which dates back to 2014, McGregor and Poirier have, in actuality, shared less than 10 minutes of cage time. They’ve felt the other’s power and dished out their own, but there are so many more possible outcomes to this intriguing stylistic matchup. So many more that I’m convinced this will be the best fight of the Poirier vs. McGregor trilogy. No doubt
Dustin Poirier Is A More Well Rounded MMA Fighter
There are other articles in this UFC 264 preview series where we highlight the PPV main event on ESPN+ from different angles, talking more about the story of McGregor and Poirier and how their fighting careers are intersecting to dominate the MMA storylines in 2021. But this article is purely analytical, so we can not over, or under, state that Dustin Poirier is a more well-rounded fighter than Conor McGregor. He demonstrated that at UFC 257 in January when he used wrestling, clinch work, and clever striking (both kicks and punches) to finish McGregor in the second round.
A legit black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu with a proven submission game, Poirier has shown he can wrestle. He knows all the tricks of the trade, which is why he didn’t buckle under pressure when McGregor caught him with a heavy jab in the first round at UFC 257. He’d already lived that scenario once before, at UFC 178, when he folded under McGregor’s heat. But the second time around, Poirier combined his nasty MMA arsenal with the veteran’s savvy he acquired during a decade with the UFC. The extra 10 pounds didn’t hurt him either.
Boxing Changed Conor McGregor, Can He Change Again?
There. I said it out loud. “The Notorious” Conor McGregor has never been the same fighter since he captured the featherweight and lightweight titles and went off to box Floyd Mayweather.
This is not some cheeky editorial on his life outside competition. It’s just an observation that since he decided to rebuild his frame for boxing, Conor has never quite fought in the same style that propelled him to international fame and multiple titles.
See, Conor needs to finesse Dustin in the trilogy fight at UFC 264, rather than attempt to bully “The Diamond” as a boxer. If he plays that game, he’ll leave his lead leg overexposed to the calf kicks that did him in last time around.
Instead, Conor needs to use that wider stance and those capoeira-type kicks to create distance early on. If he can use his length to change the striking game, making use of long punches, rather than tight shots up close, he can find a way to land that deadly left without taking too much punishment from Poirier.
The In-Between Spaces: Poirier vs. McGregor 3 Will Be Dirty
Given that McGregor vs Poirier knows each other so well, they also know there’s more to this fight than the outcomes of the first two. They both believe they can win, and they both know they need to be prepared for a completely different fight.
For McGregor, he needs to be specific about his range. He needs to be close enough to land, but elusive enough to protect his leg.
For Poirier, on the other hand, he needs to keep it close, while at the same time allowing McGregor moments of space only to capitalize on the range.
The question is, who can dominate the in-between spaces?
If Conor and Dustin end up clinched against the cage, or on the mat, who can force the scramble, and who can land punches when the clinch is broken? That’s who will be able to impose their will.
Unfortunately for this technical breakdown, it’s heart, grit, and fight IQ that often override at these times, giving some fighters the edge. So, for all the tactical moves McGregor and Poirier throw into their game plans, it’s likely that their heads and hearts that will determine victory at UFC 264
It’s gonna be wild, for sure.
UFC 264 Pay Per View Main Card (on ESPN+ PPV) 7 p.m. PST / 10 p.m. EST
UFC 264 Prelims (on ESPN+ & ESPN) 5 p.m. PST / 8 p.m. EST
- Carlos Condit vs. Max Griffin
- Niko Price vs. Michel Pereira
- Ryan Hall vs. Ilia Topuria
- Dricus du Plessis vs. Trevin Giles
UFC 264 Early Prelims (on ESPN+ & ESPN) 3 p.m. PST / 6 p.m. EST
- Jessica Eye vs. Jennifer Maia
- Omari Akhmedov vs. Brad Tavares
- Zhalgas Zhumagulov vs. Jerome Rivera
- Alen Amedovski vs. Hu Yazong
