Unsurprisingly, former two-division champion and top pay-per-view draw Conor McGregor (22-4-0) is a heavy favorite to topple Dustin Poirier (26-6-0) in the main event of this weekend’s UFC 257 pay-per-view.
On Wednesday, ESPN’s David Purdum reported that multiple sportsbooks recently accepted six-figure bets on the outspoken Irishman to win for the second consecutive January. As of early Wednesday afternoon, BetOnline.ag listed McGregor as a -310 favorite to earn his 23rd professional victory.
Poirier was a +260 underdog at that same time.
“Saturday is trending to be our biggest UFC event ever, surpassing UFC 246, when McGregor took out Donald Cerrone,” PointsBet communications director Patrick Eichner told ESPN.
McGregor hasn’t competed since he stopped Cerrone in 40 seconds in the main event of UFC 246 last January. News broke on Tuesday that the 32-year-old former champion is the subject of a multimillion-dollar lawsuit filed by a woman who reportedly has known McGregor for years, but that potential distraction isn’t yet impacting the odds for his bout versus Poirier.
Poirier, also 32, defeated Dan Hooker via unanimous decision last June.
McGregor got the better of Poirier when the two first met in September 2014:
Poirier is currently ranked No. 2 in the official UFC rankings for the lightweight division, while McGregor sits at No. 4.