Coach: Conor McGregor Wants Trilogy Bout vs. Dustin Poirier to Be for Lightweight Belt

In the aftermath of his loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 257, Conor McGregor didn’t waste much time before mentioning the possibility of a trilogy.

According to his coach, John Kavanagh, the Irish superstar wants the stakes raised: Ideally, a third meeting between the two lightweights would be for the vacant 155-pound belt.

“That’s the big drive,” Kavanagh told ESPN. “It’s 1-1, they’re right up there in the rankings, they’re very popular fighters. I think the two of them are a beautiful matchup. Stylistically, it’s beautiful to watch. I’d love to see lots and lots of rounds between the two of them.

“Dustin is obviously riding high with confidence now with more experience and more weight. He took some of those shots. I’m sure his confidence is super high at the moment. We have to fix that technique with the leg and a couple of other things, as well, but Dustin vs. Conor 3 for the belt in maybe May, that would be amazing.”

McGregor defeated Poirier via first-round TKO in their first meeting at UFC 178 before falling by second-round KO in the rematch this past Saturday in Abu Dhabi. It was just his second Octagon appearance in 29 months, but it sounds as though the SBG Ireland representative wants to remain active in the Las Vegas-based promotion.

Kavanagh hopes that the UFC can get McGregor back in action soon so that his interest doesn’t wane.

“He’s already harassing everybody to get the rematch, so we would love to rematch,” Kavanagh said. “I don’t think Dustin is against that. If we can get the rematch before summer, that would be amazing.

“If it’s not to be, then I guess I don’t really know. Maybe he drifts off into the boxing. So if the MMA community could help me out here, get behind me, and pester the UFC to give him another fight sooner rather than later  – so I don’t lose him to boxing for six months – I would appreciate it.”