UFC officials are “willing to replace” Dustin Poirier as Conor McGregor’s next opponent, and that stunning move could open the door for recently felled ex-interim champ Justin Gaethje to nab the coveted gig standing across the cage from the sports biggest superstar at his next fight on January 23.

ESPN’s Ariel Helwani reported on Monday that sources informed him that “Poirier remains a hurdle” in making the McGregor vs. Poirier rematch happen, and that “the UFC has said it would be willing to replace Poirier with Gaethje” in the proposed showdown.

According to that same report, the reason for the potential change is that Poirier and the UFC have still not come to terms in regards to financial compensation for “The Diamond”.

That has to be troubling news for Poirier fans because it’s also something that happened when the UFC tried to set up a contest earlier this year between Poirier and Tony Ferguson.

Poirier and UFC officials also couldn’t agree to financial terms for that fight, so the proposed Poirier vs. Ferguson bout never happened.

Now, the world waits to see if the same thing happens with McGregor vs Poirier 2.

If it does, McGregor vs. Gaethje might be on its way instead.

heavy.com