Despite Conor McGregor's suggestions that he would walk away from his trilogy fight with Dustin Poirier, the UFC has gone ahead and officially announced the match-up for July 10 in front of a full house of fans in Las Vegas.
UFC boss Dana White excitedly confirmed that the lightweight showdown would top the bill at UFC 264 at the T-Mobile Arena.
"This summer, Las Vegas is back open for business and on July 10, UFC 264 will be at the T-Mobile Arena at 100% capacity. Ladies and gentlemen, that’s 20,000 fans!" White exclaimed.
"This card will be headlined by the third fight between Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor...
"Finally, Vegas is open again, and you know you’ve been wanting a badass weekend in Vegas. So do not miss it!"
That announcement was followed by the fight poster for the event featuring McGregor and Poirier, with the caption: "Let's settle it in the Octagon."
That appears to be a hint at the ugly social media war which has broken out between the pair in recent days, after Poirier accused McGregor of reneging on a pledge to donate $500,000 to his 'The Good Fight Foundation' after their bout in January.
The American claims that McGregor's team have "ghosted" his representatives when they reached out over the donation, while the Irishman has hit back furiously, claiming that no plans were sent for where the money would end up.
Accusing Poirier of "smearing" his name, McGregor announced that the fight was "off" and that he was seeking a new dance partner for his next Octagon outing.
Also on rt.com ‘The fight is off’: Furious Conor McGregor cancels UFC rematch with ‘f***ing braindead’ Dustin Poirier over charity donation claim"Looking to start the foundations of a good fight you guys, who’s in? McGregor Vs ... ?" the former two-champion tweeted on Tuesday.
However, McGregor was either up to his old marketing tricks or belatedly realized that he would be hard-pushed to pull out of the bout, and himself retweeted the UFC's official announcement of the Poirier showdown.
Some fans, meanwhile, were confused.
"Didn’t Conor literally just cancel it?" asked one fan, adding a laughing emoji.
Others claimed McGregor was up to his classic mind games, in a similar vein to his previous announcements that he was retiring from MMA.
"They already signed the contract, McGregor can only pull out with a injury or serious personal problems or he is liable to get sued he can’t just demand a new opponent. All the McGregor fan boys believe everything he says when he’s a habitual liar," scorned one fan.
"So the fight that was never cancelled is now back on. #Marketing101," read another response.
"You gotta hand it to Conor, he REALLY REALLY REALLY knows how to sell a fight. Hell, I kinda know that the new 'beef' a bit staged, sure there's real emotions there I'm not denying that, but I am still getting intrigued about their going back and forth!," came another reply.
Others claimed it was clear that UFC boss Dana White would have the final say, with one person writing: "Conor: it's over I'm not fighting Dustin. Dana: it's over when I say it's over."
With the contest now looking well and truly on, McGregor will aim to reverse the brutal second-round defeat he suffered to Poirier in Abu Dhabi in January.
That was the first time 'The Notorious' had been knocked out inside the cage, and leveled the scoreline between the two fighters at 1-1.
A win would also see McGregor reinsert himself into the title frame at 155lbs, after his Russian nemesis Khabib Nurmagomedov officially vacated the belt in March.
Commenting to ESPN reporter Ariel Helwani, McGregor said: “I signed my bout agreement this morning. I’m going to rip this game a new asshole July 10th. The Mac is back in Sin City! Full house!”
Also on rt.com Next please? Fighters call out McGregor as replacements for UFC 264 – but ex-champ Cormier predicts Poirier rematch will go ahead