UFC has disclosed the prize fund of the upcoming match of the UFC 257 tournament, in which The Notorious will try to defeat the American Poirier for the second time, the Daily Star reported Saturday.
The Irishman is reported to have a $5 million disclosed purse, and Poirier is said to have a $1 million purse. For their first bout, which took place at UFC 178 back in 2014, with McGregor defeating Poirier, McGregor earned a total of $200,000, including a $75,000 win bonus and a $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus, and Poirier received $34,000.
This time both UFC stars will also earn a slice of the pay-per-view sales, although it is predicted that McGregor's will be much bigger.
Last June, Poirier took home a guaranteed $150,000 for his unanimous decision win over Dan Hooker, but after that victory, the 32-year-old American signed a new eight-fight deal with the UFC and is believed to have earned a substantial pay boost.
"I just signed a new eight-fight contract with the UFC. My plan is to fight eight more times," Poirier said recently in the podcast "This Past Weekend". "I want to finish this contract I'm on, fight eight more times and we'll see where we're at there. But I'm not looking past that or before that. I'm going to fight eight more times."
This week, McGregor, who is 32 now, reportedly explained why he continues to break his own promises to retire.
"I feel like I’m only starting, man. Everyone wants to say, ‘Hey, Conor, you’ve done it all! You’re so rich! You’re richer than Dana! What are you doing here?’ I want to be here. I want to perform for the fans," The Irishman said.
On how he wanted to be remembered, he added a telling remark. He wanted his name to be mentioned along with such greats as Mike Tyson and Muhammad Ali.
"All the money, all the belts, all that comes and that goes," he said. "You know what lives on? A fighter’s highlights. Look at Roy Jones Jr.’s highlights, Mike Tyson’s highlights. I still look at them today. Ali’s highlights. I want my highlight reel to be like a movie. That’s what I’m after. I’m looking to get in and perform and put on amazing highlights that I can sit as an old man with my son, and just watch back and just enjoy life."
Earlier in the month, UFC President Dana White claimed in an interview that Poirier is a very different fighter from the one McGregor defeated seven years ago.
"I just saw a thing with Poirier yesterday where Poirier is like, 'Let me tell you what. If you think that I’m the same guy that fought Conor last time, you’re out of your mind. You’re going to see a war," he said. "I believe every word of it. This is the right fight at the right time for both of these guys and I think it’s going to be fun."
